Deidra Riggs contacted me recently. She writes a blog called Jumping Tandem and talks life and faith, family and Christianity and race. I’ve trailed her brilliance for a few months now. Followed her on twitter. Made comments on her blog. She dances across boundaries in a way I haven’t seen many accomplish. Graceful. To the point. Fearless. Yes! I am a fan.
She asked if I’d host her blog link-up – The Sunday Community, while she was away on vacation. After making sure she’d made contact with the right person…I prayed. I heard from God, and knowing only He could be in the middle of something like this, said yes.
I’ve built my blog with YouTube tutorials, the help of Sandi Krakowski and Jeff Goins. I follow directions well and am not afraid of technology. So when she asked if I could handle HTML code? I said sure.
The night before the big day I decide to write my post. I wanted it to be fresh but I wanted it to be ready. I was nervous. I’ve never written on the blog under pressure – with a real deadline. With a guaranteed audience waiting for my words? More praying. So I sat down to do the work and pushed aside the voice that screams my inadequacy. Do you have one? An inner voice that consistently denies God’s brilliance in you? Well I do, and once she was bound and gagged, I was free to pour out what He provided. A sigh of relief and finally…sleep.
The next morning I was ready for a test run. Well before my 8pm CST deadline, I set everything up and click preview. It doesn’t work. I followed the instructions. I see my words, only they’re followed by a jumbled mess on the screen – what happened? I inserted the codes in the proper view. I did everything right but still, not working. More prayer.
At this point, I have less than 2 hours to figure this thing out. Something (God)tells me to type the code in by hand. Every word and space..no cutting…no pasting. I carefully type every letter and symbol. I check and recheck. I save the draft. And click for a preview. It works. I exhale.
The post went live. On time. Praise God!
I learned a lot during my weekend as a “pro-blogger”, and so much more than html. The big takeaway? – Each comment and link up is a little piece of love delivered via the internet. The connection is real.
I loved seeing the traffic.But the traffic comes with a commitment and we have to be mindful of the exchange. Our word, this connection, means nothing if we aren’t giving back, one to another. The reciprocity of our exchange is priceless and I am thankful for it. I felt compelled to connect with each person, to make contact with those that responded with words of encouragement or simple hellos. I know it isn’t realistic to think you can respond to every comment but it’s how I felt this weekend. So I’m reaching out to every extended hand – to say thank you.
Blogging is about connection. Blogging pulls out every bit of you and won’t settle for less than complete authenticity and committment. The people that link up are real, with hearts God has placed in our path for a reason. We should say thank you. We should pray for them.
With me chained to the the computer all day, my beautiful family was a bit annoyed, but ultimately understood. I explained it to The Lovelies this way : Deidra planned a party and realized she wouldn’t be able to attend. Instead of cancelling, she asked if I’d come over to her place to greet her guests. I had the opportunity to meet and pray for all her friends.
Joshua Whitehead imagine the life of a male African-American ballet dancer lets go Behind the Scenephoto: beau pearson
Last week I wrote a piece in response to the happenings on a reality show about ballet called Breaking Pointe. You can read that here. We covered a lot on the history on African-Americans in ballet. We back-tracked to truthfully explore the original question. So, why didn’t Josh get the part?
I watched the show and questioned whether this episode might have been engineered…reality shows have a way of doing that. I’m not sure I’m past that possibility but I was disheartened by the reason given by the artistic director. In the end Josh was told he wasn’t given the part because “they didn’t want to make a joke of the only African – American male dancer in the company.”
Josh didn’t get the part because he’s black. Different shadings and glossings, a fresh spin you might say, on the same old drama, but the reason is the same. Josh missed an opportunity to display his talents in a role he was prepared to perform. He was overlooked because off his color and the job was given to a less experienced white dancer. Tears aside, it seems the artistic director made a decision for his company above any feelings he had for this young man. Hey, ballet is a business. Right? But lets for a moment consider who funds the majority of ballet companies…who sits on the board and writes the checks. Every decision from casting to curtain call is made by this select few. This decision was presented to the powers that be and a choice was made that favored old regimes and played out attitudes. This is hard stuff.
Are we still there? Initially I struggled with the reality of the directors answer. I want terribly for us to move past this. However, in reviewing the history I chronicled last week and watching Lee Daniels’ The Butler ,which beautifully time lines the complicated story of racism and the fight for civil rights in America, I am resigned to the truth. We aren’t there yet We aren’t there because the story is still relatively new. Wounds are healing. Fragile beginnings of tender scars have formed, that when touched, call forth the memory of pain. Pain – even the memory of it is hard to ignore. We’re still wincing and flinching at the idea of true equality. All of us.
Yet by the grace of God I am hopeful. And I’ll tell you why. Josh said it best as he echoed the feelings of the many dancers that came before him. He wants to be considered for roles based on his ability as a dancer and performer. Period. “Are we still going to be talking about this in 50 years?” he asked. Josh just wants to dance. He doesn’t see why this should be an issue. Shouldn’t he just be a dancer, working in a company?
It made me wonder? Would it have been different if Josh worked as a dancer in a company of his peers, controlled, headed and underwritten by members of his generation? Would this even be a question then? They seem to have a grasp on race much different from generations past. Still, it’s terribly tricky because at the top of the show you hear Josh lament the fact that he is the sole African-American male in the company. He shares he feels pressure to prove himself because of it. Should this be so? His generation wants to move forward but is held back as it bumps heads with remnants from the previous one – mine/ours.
My children glide through the subtleties of this topic in a way I may never.They have friends of all races and really respond to each other with no filter. I admire them and recognize the blessing in this. The dream voiced by Martin Luther King Jr. 50 years ago IS being realized. We’re creeping and crawling toward it but it is coming true.
How do we advance his dream, this concept of true equality in the ballet world? I posed this question to ballet teacher and choreographer Ron Alexander. “The reality, and the remedy to this on going situation is the recruitment and hiring of dancers of color–having at least 10-15% of this American ballet company representative of the country’s African-American population. There are plenty of African-Americans who are easily qualified to dance in white ballet companies. It is happening but at a snail’s pace– far too slowly–that is the REALITY!”
So there you have it. A little behind the scenes in the ballet world. If you or someone you know has influence in this area raise your voice and request the hiring of dancers of color and support companies like Dance Theatre of Harlem when they visit your town.
I’ll leave you with this…Misty Copeland, the first African-American ballerina hired by the American Ballet Theatre in 20 years!
Thanks for reading such a lengthy post. I have a few questions for you. Have you ever attended a ballet performance and noticed there were dancers of other races? particularly African-American. What ballet company was that? What were your thoughts?
