Questions for the Revolution: A Movement Toward Justice in Ballet
Sarah Cecilia Bukowski, Photo by David DeSilva for Imagery, 2011.
[ Image description: A female dancer with bronze skin and short, dark hair against a light gray background. She wears a long, flowing emerald green skirt that hides one leg. Her back faces the camera, with her leg posed at a right angle in a deep lunge, her arms outstretched to the sides with hands flexed, and her face turned in profile to look ahead. Text overlay on the image reads: “Looking forward: What’s next for ballet?” ]
The second installment of Imagery’s SKETCH FILMS: Red Thread series featured themes of racism and isolation spoken from the perspective of Black artists. Jennifer Archibald directed and choreographed “WeAIghT” in collaboration with cinematographer Andrew Cashin and longtime, much-loved Imagery artist James Gilmer. If you haven’t had a chance to see this incredibly moving film, please take a moment to check it out. I’ll wait.
Whew! Pretty heavy, right? So let’s talk about it.
In Imagery’s history it’s been relatively rare to tackle such heavy subject matter head-on. But in the light of recent events that have challenged our perceptions of racial justice and cultural equity, Imagery is taking meaningful steps toward embodying the changes we wish to see in the world. In partnership with our creative collaborators, audiences, and supporters, we ask: How can Imagery’s mission of risk-taking, collaboration, and experimentation speak to issues of racial and social justice both within the dance community and in the world at large?
As I move more deeply into social justice advocacy through dance, I (like most people) have more questions than answers. Questions lead to more questions, generating a web of interconnected inquiry that forms a map of the dynamics at play in the overlapping spheres of ballet, dance, media, culture, and society. While this can sometimes be overwhelming, I find that the best part is that all these questions invite conversation. This work starts with conversations. Listen to and talk with your family, friends, colleagues, even strangers! We have so much to teach and learn from one another if we have the patience, openness, and kindness to approach the challenge. As you embark on new conversations about what justice looks like in the dance landscape, here are some questions to get started:
Racism and oppression are far more than abstract concepts, they are real issues that affect people deeply in physical, psychological, and emotional ways. How does injustice make you feel? Where and how do you feel it in your body?
Together we must work to dismantle intersectional systems of oppression that are perpetuated by overt actions as much as they depend on the complacency of privilege and tradition. What can dancers, dance companies, and dance patrons do to support and sustain cultural change and move toward justice?
Art and life reflect one another. Artists and arts institutions have a moral responsibility to speak to our society as it is now and to the cultural change we wish to see. How can we reflect on our cultural and aesthetic values and commit to actions that support and uplift historically marginalized voices?
Change tends to be slowest in classical Western art forms like ballet that are deeply ingrained in Eurocentric history and traditional practices. How can ballet learn to speak to the 21st-century experiences and identities of all people?
It is not enough to invite communities of color into existing institutions centered around whiteness. The structure of institutions must change and build trust in order for everyone to feel truly recognized and welcome. We must do more than “open the door”; we must fundamentally change what’s behind those doors. How can performance programming, school curricula, organizational structures, and funding models reflect and connect with diverse communities?
We do not create art in a vacuum; we create as part of a society that reflects our personal experiences and biases, including those we might not want to see. As artists we must be activists. We must show that we see everyone in the work that we do and the art that we create and support. How can dance companies seek out opportunities to participate in larger discussions and presentations of arts activism?
Art speaks, heals, and unites people and that is why we do what we do. We must examine the processes and institutions in which we create and continually question whether we are actively engaged in promoting justice and representing a multiplicity of voices reflective of our society. What conversations and actions can you initiate with your community of colleagues, collaborators, presenters, and supporters?
Racism and oppression creep insidiously into our dance studios and onto our stages far too often. Waking up to our biases in order to change the way we look at dancers and dancing requires rigorous self-examination, forgiveness, and a steadfast commitment to change. I ask you this because I have asked myself the same difficult question: When and how have you encountered racist or oppressive attitudes and implicit bias in the field of dance, whether it was directed at you or at a colleague or stranger? What did you do to address it? If you did nothing, what will you do now?
Dear reader, I know these are not easy questions. Here at Imagery we are taking concerted steps--baby steps--in the right direction, motivated by the buoyant force and guiding light of justice. We are committed to commissioning more artists of color to make work with the full autonomy of their voices. We stand firmly by standards of pay equity, transparency, and accessibility in our company culture and structures. And we remain humble to the room we have to learn and grow. There is still a long road ahead, and where we go from here depends entirely on us. You are an important part of this process. If you have questions for Imagery about how you can take part, please reach out in the comments or by emailing admin@asimagery.org. Thank you for your continued curiosity and support.