Bodies are Equal
A simple Google image search of “ballet” and “ballerina” returns images of thin, white women standing on their toes. Then, with a quick scroll down, there is an image of Misty Copeland standing on her toes yet still surrounded by images of white women on their toes. The image of a ballerina is steeped in centuries long ideas about what it means to be beautiful and who is able to be worthy of being beautiful. Due to this historical inequality and unequal opportunities, black dancers have been prevented from pursuing training and performance opportunities in dance. Institutionalized racism exists in the dance world due to a Eurocentric standard of beauty and dance which gives unequal attention and advantage to dancers based on their race.
To start with, there is a Eurocentric ideal of beauty in the dance world that prohibits black dancers from accessing the same opportunities as their white counterparts. In her Op-Ed, Theresa Ruth Howard summarizes the image of the ballerina by writing that “The ‘ballerina’ represents the unattainable ideal of woman: the chaste, fragile beauty, …show more content…
Yet, it is happening in the dance world and in society. Racism is supposed to be a byproduct of the past, but it is common knowledge that it is alive in society and in the dance world. We look to dance as a way to make us feel and be awed through beautiful forms and want to turn a blind eye to the ugliness that is created from the Eurocentric standards that permeate the stage. In order to facilitate progress, the performing arts, specifically all types of dance need to be incorporated into public schools. Building a community of dance that is accessible to all will lead to more black dancers being able to pursue formal training in dance, will allow for greater diversity due to a stronger pipeline of dancers and ultimately, create fair representation of black dancers on all