Racial Diversity at The Washington School of Ballet

[Anonymous]

^ *but you are

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here — thank you for the responses. I understand the racial barriers in classical ballet generally for sure, but it was still a bit jarring to see.

why is it jarring?

Unless you’re a Black person or person of color I don’t think you will understand. I assume you’re neither since you asked the question. Even though something is known more generally, it can still look jarring once it’s right in your face. And honestly, a ballet school in DC in 2022 that doesn’t have decent URM representation in its classes tells me a lot.

I’m trying to understand, what does it tell you here? Demographics of the immediate area? Narrow racial diversity in classical ballet? Or something more or different about WSB, or this campus of WSB? Thank you.

I'm the one who recommended City Dance. Please don't play dumb. Ballet is known for being extremely racist, and not only that, selecting for a certain height and body shape that has nothing to do with technique level or artistic talent. Traditional school directors have corps de ballet visuals in mind, and want a homogeneous line, with dancers of the same height, skin tone, and slimness. They forget that they are first and foremost a TEACHING organization, and that they need to give opportunities to all young people.

So this puts off people who are not pale, slim and of a certain height. They tend to leave at some point, or maybe they visit and don't even enroll.

Thanks for following up on my behalf (this is OP). My DD feels somewhat comfortable — meaning no one has been unfriendly, etc — but has asked if she could attend classes somewhere with other brown and black dancers. You can’t be what you can’t see.

I think you should teach your kid to see themselves in more than skin colour. I say this as a black woman who was often the "only" black student in my social Millue. I recognise I am fortunate in my experience as I never experienced any racism or felt discomfort, but I largely attribute that to my parents never teaching me that my success, dreams, wants and desires are limited by external factors. Yes, as an adult, I recognise It is more complex than that and not true in many cases, HOWEVER, as a child, it was fundamental to my development. As a young adult it led me to have mentors who were men and woman, as I was never put off by something as superficial as someone needs to "look like me". If you can't be what you can't see, then who is supposed to go first?

I note that you write with British spelling. You are not African American, I suspect? But rather black and from England or former commonwealth?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here — thank you for the responses. I understand the racial barriers in classical ballet generally for sure, but it was still a bit jarring to see.

why is it jarring?

Unless you’re a Black person or person of color I don’t think you will understand. I assume you’re neither since you asked the question. Even though something is known more generally, it can still look jarring once it’s right in your face. And honestly, a ballet school in DC in 2022 that doesn’t have decent URM representation in its classes tells me a lot.

I’m trying to understand, what does it tell you here? Demographics of the immediate area? Narrow racial diversity in classical ballet? Or something more or different about WSB, or this campus of WSB? Thank you.

I'm the one who recommended City Dance. Please don't play dumb. Ballet is known for being extremely racist, and not only that, selecting for a certain height and body shape that has nothing to do with technique level or artistic talent. Traditional school directors have corps de ballet visuals in mind, and want a homogeneous line, with dancers of the same height, skin tone, and slimness. They forget that they are first and foremost a TEACHING organization, and that they need to give opportunities to all young people.

So this puts off people who are not pale, slim and of a certain height. They tend to leave at some point, or maybe they visit and don't even enroll.

Thanks for following up on my behalf (this is OP). My DD feels somewhat comfortable — meaning no one has been unfriendly, etc — but has asked if she could attend classes somewhere with other brown and black dancers. You can’t be what you can’t see.

I think you should teach your kid to see themselves in more than skin colour. I say this as a black woman who was often the "only" black student in my social Millue. I recognise I am fortunate in my experience as I never experienced any racism or felt discomfort, but I largely attribute that to my parents never teaching me that my success, dreams, wants and desires are limited by external factors. Yes, as an adult, I recognise It is more complex than that and not true in many cases, HOWEVER, as a child, it was fundamental to my development. As a young adult it led me to have mentors who were men and woman, as I was never put off by something as superficial as someone needs to "look like me". If you can't be what you can't see, then who is supposed to go first?

I note that you write with British spelling. You are not African American, I suspect? But rather black and from England or former commonwealth?

No, I am African- American. I attended HS in Switzerland and went to Uni at Oxford, so my spelling changes.

[Anonymous]

Current parent to a TWSB student, URM family. Diversity is still an issue, the leadership is aware that it's an issue and are moving to make improvements. They've made some baby step improvements with AA casting and filling out their student body (more so in their SE campus), but not yet in non-white hispanics, south asian, and other backgrounds that are under represented in ballet.
The awareness of this problem from the leadership does give me hope for increasing progress in the coming years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here — thank you for the responses. I understand the racial barriers in classical ballet generally for sure, but it was still a bit jarring to see.

why is it jarring?

Unless you’re a Black person or person of color I don’t think you will understand. I assume you’re neither since you asked the question. Even though something is known more generally, it can still look jarring once it’s right in your face. And honestly, a ballet school in DC in 2022 that doesn’t have decent URM representation in its classes tells me a lot.

Now let's talk about sports classes in DC.

No, let’s stay on topic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here — thank you for the responses. I understand the racial barriers in classical ballet generally for sure, but it was still a bit jarring to see.

why is it jarring?

Unless you’re a Black person or person of color I don’t think you will understand. I assume you’re neither since you asked the question. Even though something is known more generally, it can still look jarring once it’s right in your face. And honestly, a ballet school in DC in 2022 that doesn’t have decent URM representation in its classes tells me a lot.

I’m trying to understand, what does it tell you here? Demographics of the immediate area? Narrow racial diversity in classical ballet? Or something more or different about WSB, or this campus of WSB? Thank you.

I'm the one who recommended City Dance. Please don't play dumb. Ballet is known for being extremely racist, and not only that, selecting for a certain height and body shape that has nothing to do with technique level or artistic talent. Traditional school directors have corps de ballet visuals in mind, and want a homogeneous line, with dancers of the same height, skin tone, and slimness. They forget that they are first and foremost a TEACHING organization, and that they need to give opportunities to all young people.

So this puts off people who are not pale, slim and of a certain height. They tend to leave at some point, or maybe they visit and don't even enroll.

Yes, because only certain races are slim and Misty Copeland is not a principal dancer.

Nor should she be. I have watched her dance and she is good but not principal ballerina good.

It is this exact kind of attitude why we’ll be leaving the school. You’ve literally named one Black principal dancer and you think that should be enough to appease us. And you don’t even think she’s qualified, which also tracks generally w/white sentiment toward Black or brown people who are perceived to have stolen something from them and been given something they don’t deserve. It’s disgusting. Truly.

Yeah, this person played the One Black Friend card and really thought they said something. Ignore the morons like that one, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here — thank you for the responses. I understand the racial barriers in classical ballet generally for sure, but it was still a bit jarring to see.

why is it jarring?

Unless you’re a Black person or person of color I don’t think you will understand. I assume you’re neither since you asked the question. Even though something is known more generally, it can still look jarring once it’s right in your face. And honestly, a ballet school in DC in 2022 that doesn’t have decent URM representation in its classes tells me a lot.

I'm a person of color. As an Arab and a Muslim I've been called a terrorist to my face. Honestly who gives a sh** about racial diversity in ballet school? I take my kids to ballet lessons in Arlington. Other than one Black girl, all the other kids are white. My kids don't care. We don't care. Its exhausting for every little thing to be analyzed with a racial lens. Can we all calm down a bit. People are more than their race and a lot of problems in the US can be resolved in a race neutral manner even though they disproportionately help people of color. This over emphasis on victimhood is exhausting. I am shia Muslim and grew up in the Arab world. Our places of worship are bombed. My husband is Palestinian and grew up under apartheid and occupation. Yet I don't go around telling my kids they are victims of discrimination every day. I teach them the facts. I teach them the history of racism, colonialism, sectarianism and then I move on. God living here is so exhausting. Its more exhausting than growing up in a place where your actual life is at risk and you can be jailed for simply who you are. I am seriously considering moving back if this over emphasis on race continues.

Please do, and take your crap attitude with you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here — thank you for the responses. I understand the racial barriers in classical ballet generally for sure, but it was still a bit jarring to see.

why is it jarring?

Unless you’re a Black person or person of color I don’t think you will understand. I assume you’re neither since you asked the question. Even though something is known more generally, it can still look jarring once it’s right in your face. And honestly, a ballet school in DC in 2022 that doesn’t have decent URM representation in its classes tells me a lot.

I'm a person of color. As an Arab and a Muslim I've been called a terrorist to my face. Honestly who gives a sh** about racial diversity in ballet school? I take my kids to ballet lessons in Arlington. Other than one Black girl, all the other kids are white. My kids don't care. We don't care. Its exhausting for every little thing to be analyzed with a racial lens. Can we all calm down a bit. People are more than their race and a lot of problems in the US can be resolved in a race neutral manner even though they disproportionately help people of color. This over emphasis on victimhood is exhausting. I am shia Muslim and grew up in the Arab world. Our places of worship are bombed. My husband is Palestinian and grew up under apartheid and occupation. Yet I don't go around telling my kids they are victims of discrimination every day. I teach them the facts. I teach them the history of racism, colonialism, sectarianism and then I move on. God living here is so exhausting. Its more exhausting than growing up in a place where your actual life is at risk and you can be jailed for simply who you are. I am seriously considering moving back if this over emphasis on race continues.

Please do, and take your crap attitude with you.

Please ignore this boring poster.

Continue teaching your children to be level-headed.

[Anonymous]

We are Latinos and my daughter audition twice at the WSB. She was rejected both times. She was 7 and I didn’t know how to explain she could not study there after all her excitement. They were rude to me when I tried to find an explanation for why she disqualified. First time was about “not enough spots”, second time - “her feet are not straight”. That year all of her friends that were white or from wealthy families got in, some of them with less interest than our daughter. The selection process is not transparent, and they make the parents wait while they do the evaluation, so you have no idea of what they do in the room, especially if you are tying with a very young child. I am glad that we did not get in. I certainly don’t want our daughter in a toxic environment or surrounded by people with such limited minds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are Latinos and my daughter audition twice at the WSB. She was rejected both times. She was 7 and I didn’t know how to explain she could not study there after all her excitement. They were rude to me when I tried to find an explanation for why she disqualified. First time was about “not enough spots”, second time - “her feet are not straight”. That year all of her friends that were white or from wealthy families got in, some of them with less interest than our daughter. The selection process is not transparent, and they make the parents wait while they do the evaluation, so you have no idea of what they do in the room, especially if you are tying with a very young child. I am glad that we did not get in. I certainly don’t want our daughter in a toxic environment or surrounded by people with such limited minds.

Unfortunately you just described every ballet audition at every major school. When children are young, not having the right feet is one of the disqualification factors. Not saying it’s right, just that it’s normal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are Latinos and my daughter audition twice at the WSB. She was rejected both times. She was 7 and I didn’t know how to explain she could not study there after all her excitement. They were rude to me when I tried to find an explanation for why she disqualified. First time was about “not enough spots”, second time - “her feet are not straight”. That year all of her friends that were white or from wealthy families got in, some of them with less interest than our daughter. The selection process is not transparent, and they make the parents wait while they do the evaluation, so you have no idea of what they do in the room, especially if you are tying with a very young child. I am glad that we did not get in. I certainly don’t want our daughter in a toxic environment or surrounded by people with such limited minds.

Unfortunately you just described every ballet audition at every major school. When children are young, not having the right feet is one of the disqualification factors. Not saying it’s right, just that it’s normal.

I’ve also noticed that the girls are thin and long limbed— at least at the NWDC campus. They are looking for particular body types.

[Anonymous]

Have you looked at classes at the Dance Institute in Columbia Heights?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'll bite.
Historically, in order to be technically excellent and considered "principal" material in ballet, you have to be born into a very specific body - not dissimilar to basketball, swimming, etc.
The right proportion of leg to torso, the right kind of feet, hip rotation, muscle mass distribution, spinal flexibility, etc.

Auditions for major companies may include someone measuring your neck, leg, arm, etc. like you were a horse.
It's incredibly and unrelentingly specific

There are truly exquisite dancers of every color who will simply never be considered "the best" because the bodies they were born into do t fit the mold. I'm white, but I would never be considered a good ballet dancer because I have very limited turnout in my right hip. Like I said. Specific.

This could be said of ANY extremely competitive sport. Misty Copeland is good, but Judith jamieson was great for this reason.

Of course there is a racist history in ballet, and also a sexist one. But there are also some amazing companies, teachers, schools who embrace a broader idea of what excellence in ballet looks like.

If your daughter wants to dance, educate her fully on the history of ballet and all the other dance forms. Encourage her to learn from the best teachers and also to know that any art form is going to be subjective and to learn how to stand up for herself and be proud of her body, voice, and artistic perspective.

I’m not sure the metaphor to swimming and basketball hold up. You’re the best at swimming if you swim the fastest. You’re the best at basketball if you score the most. Dancing, as PP said, is somewhat subjective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here — thank you for the responses. I understand the racial barriers in classical ballet generally for sure, but it was still a bit jarring to see.

why is it jarring?

Unless you’re a Black person or person of color I don’t think you will understand. I assume you’re neither since you asked the question. Even though something is known more generally, it can still look jarring once it’s right in your face. And honestly, a ballet school in DC in 2022 that doesn’t have decent URM representation in its classes tells me a lot.

I'm a person of color. As an Arab and a Muslim I've been called a terrorist to my face. Honestly who gives a sh** about racial diversity in ballet school? I take my kids to ballet lessons in Arlington. Other than one Black girl, all the other kids are white. My kids don't care. We don't care. Its exhausting for every little thing to be analyzed with a racial lens. Can we all calm down a bit. People are more than their race and a lot of problems in the US can be resolved in a race neutral manner even though they disproportionately help people of color. This over emphasis on victimhood is exhausting. I am shia Muslim and grew up in the Arab world. Our places of worship are bombed. My husband is Palestinian and grew up under apartheid and occupation. Yet I don't go around telling my kids they are victims of discrimination every day. I teach them the facts. I teach them the history of racism, colonialism, sectarianism and then I move on. God living here is so exhausting. Its more exhausting than growing up in a place where your actual life is at risk and you can be jailed for simply who you are. I am seriously considering moving back if this over emphasis on race continues.

You grew up in the Arab world. Exactly. You cannot relate to being Black in America, which is just not even remotely the same thing as what you’re describing in terms of your background. I understand you’ve face discrimination, but you, in fact, Caucasian. Black people in America are not. It is a luxury to come here as an immigrant and then tell Black people whose ancestors were forcibly brought to this land to move on because we talk about race too much.

Well I’m a black person in America and I totally agree with the Shia Muslim PP. Posts like OP’s reflect a mindset that is exhausting. You truly don’t have to go into ever situation looking for proportionate racial representation to feel comfortable.

[Anonymous]

^^^ meant every not ever