The chairwoman and executive director of the International Association of Blacks in Dance, an organisation that has existed in the United States for over 25 years, has recently voiced her opinions on the lack of female African-American dancers in ballet companies. Denise Saunders Thompson held auditions as a result, in conjunction with the association’s annual conference for women seeking contracts with American companies.
Attending the audition were representatives from Ballet Memphis, Pennsylvania Ballet, San Francisco Ballet and Washington Ballet, amongst others, in addition to the Pacific Northwest Ballet School and the School of American Ballet. Thompson’s aim was to attract 50 dancers who were aged over 15 with at least two years experience en pointe. Ahead of the audition Thompson maintained that there was room for many more dancers and that there was no application deadline, opening the opportunity further to more dancers.
The objective of Thompson’s work was to demonstrate to companies’ artistic directors that there are many minority dancers available to them, in addition to being a call to action for these dancers, fulfilling the need identified for the artistic directors. There has recently been much focus on equity, inclusion and diversity in dance – as well as the celebration of Misty Copeland’s talents as a ballerina – so the audition comes as a follow-up to that.
The audition has been lauded as a positive and worthwhile experience for both the auditionees and the panel; it is a rare moment to have Houston Ballet Academy, Dance Theater of Harlem, Ballet Memphis and Washington Ballet in the room at the same time. Thompson aims to continue in this vein and strengthen the process in alignment with the companies. Ultimately she is looking to bridge the two parties together and work further to diversify the landscape of the ballet world, particularly in the United States.