It's at the core of American identity and yet, so often, our country is afraid to face it: race. I know, if it were me, I'd hit the back button in a second, but bear with me. As a woman of color I deal with race all the time, I mean all the damn time. Add to that, I'm performing in Milwaukee Repertory Theater's current production of "Ragtime," analyzing race gets exhausting. But during a recent lunch break, I had the chance to watch an episode of my favorite shows called "Breaking Pointe" about the inner workings of a BalletWest, one of the nations premier ballet companies.
In this particular episode, the cast list for Cinderella is to be revealed. There is steep competition for one role in particular, Napoleon, for whom two dancers are in the running for. One, Zachary Prentice, is young, gossip-hungry dancer from the Ballet 2 Apprentice Company and the other is Joshua Whitehead, a young dancer from the ghetto who is in the primary company Corps. The first white, the latter black. (Must we always have a dancer from the ghetto story... I digress). The role requires someone with amazing comedic timing, characters skills, and ability to be the butt of everyone's jokes. It goes to the white guy. No biggie... EXCEPT... when there is.
Josh bravely approaches the Artistic Director, Adam Sklute, about the casting and asks "Is it because I'm black?" Adam reveals that he chose not to cast this young man because he cared very deeply for the dancer and didn't want to make a joke of the only African-American male in the entire company. Conversely, this young dancer wanted to be seen only for this talent, not his race (a rather naive standpoint, but perhaps I'm much more of a realist than I realize). If an audience member read something into the performance, it was on them.
I felt a wealth of complex emotions for the both men. The Artistic Director wanted to respect this young dancer. But in doing so, he has limited this young man's chance to perform because of his race. In one moment, this dance company highlighted the subtlety of race and injustice in America but also the generational transformations that are occurring over time. The Artistic Director, by all accounts (and assumptions) is an open-minded and educated individual. He made a decision from a point of power based on race. The dancer lost an opportunity due to the fear of how his skin would add/change the story.
I was heartbroken and reminded again of the reality of my race. I am always the other with weighted meaning, and white is the litmus test of neutrality. As an actress, among other things, I found it a wonderful insight into race politics for America, but largely, race politics in the performance world. Hopefully, I will not always be relegated to roles that only a black person could play, but rather I will be given the opportunity to perform.
-EazeWaySays
In this particular episode, the cast list for Cinderella is to be revealed. There is steep competition for one role in particular, Napoleon, for whom two dancers are in the running for. One, Zachary Prentice, is young, gossip-hungry dancer from the Ballet 2 Apprentice Company and the other is Joshua Whitehead, a young dancer from the ghetto who is in the primary company Corps. The first white, the latter black. (Must we always have a dancer from the ghetto story... I digress). The role requires someone with amazing comedic timing, characters skills, and ability to be the butt of everyone's jokes. It goes to the white guy. No biggie... EXCEPT... when there is.
Josh bravely approaches the Artistic Director, Adam Sklute, about the casting and asks "Is it because I'm black?" Adam reveals that he chose not to cast this young man because he cared very deeply for the dancer and didn't want to make a joke of the only African-American male in the entire company. Conversely, this young dancer wanted to be seen only for this talent, not his race (a rather naive standpoint, but perhaps I'm much more of a realist than I realize). If an audience member read something into the performance, it was on them.
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| Center - Josh Whitehead |
I was heartbroken and reminded again of the reality of my race. I am always the other with weighted meaning, and white is the litmus test of neutrality. As an actress, among other things, I found it a wonderful insight into race politics for America, but largely, race politics in the performance world. Hopefully, I will not always be relegated to roles that only a black person could play, but rather I will be given the opportunity to perform.
-EazeWaySays