To be loved is to be seen. It means your small wins, big wins, obstacles, and more are just as important to those who love you as they are to you. It means the spaces you fill are loved, valued, and supported unconditionally. Unfortunately, for many dancers, the concept of being seen in the world of dance isn’t something they’re familiar with. For example, what does it mean to be a Black ballerina? For many, it means being overlooked in environments you’ve worked hard to be able to enter. It means the obstacles between you, your dreams, and your aspirations are minute to those who already have access to the spaces you’re subtly excluded from. What does it mean to be a lover of dance without the dance community’s support? Â
Certain issues are often ignored because they don’t affect the majority. People tend to ignore problems that they don’t have to face. When the only thing that stood between bringing dance into underserved communities was lack of access, financial disparities, and lack of inclusion Â
Chanel Holland, the founder of the Chocolate Ballerina Company, saw a need for change. Despite already touching the creative minds of so many Black ballerinas, Holland’s desire for change and her goals for the Chocolate Ballerina Company doesn’t end. Her undying love for dance and her commitment to watering the minds and bodies of those who are often ignored is truly inspiring.Â
She sees the potential underserved communities holster and tries to maximize the effects of her endeavors to the best of her ability. For example, she created a “Bring a Friend to Class” day that allows the ballerinas, who are already a part of the company, to invite a companion to sit in on a class and learn some ballet basics. Young Black girls were able to share their passions with those close to them while Holland increased her influence. The levels of confidence instilled in those young ladies are truly unmatched. They are taught that being a ballerina has nothing to do with how you look but how you present yourself. They are taught to move with grace, on and off the dance floor, despite being met with deterrents meant to make them believe they don’t belong. Â
In addition to organizations like the Chocolate Ballerina Company, another organization that has proven itself as a voice for diversity among dancers is BalletX. BalletX does free shows all over Philadelphia to increase dance exposure around the city. According to Alissa Moore, a Ballet X representative, these shows are done because “…we know it’s hard, it is hard. That’s why we’re all about our community, putting these performances out there for free, working in the Philadelphia public schools, working with the city’s children and the city’s teacher leaders.”Â
Ballet X’s commitment to diversifying ballet and giving back to the Philadelphia community doesn’t stop there. In addition to their free shows, Ballet X hosts a program called “Dance Exchange” where they commit to teaching dance for free in Philadelphia Public Schools. According to Moore, most of the schools they offer this service to are 100% economically disadvantaged.  Â
To put the work organizations like the Chocolate Ballerina Company and Ballet X are doing in perspective, the article “Raising A Ballerina Will Cost You $100,000” by FiveThirtyEight, a feature by ABC News, highlights the costs of being a ballerina. The article mentions that the training included in becoming a ballerina could cost up to $53,000 alone. The article goes on to highlight other fees associated with becoming a ballerina over time such as the $29,000 someone would pay in pointe shoes and the $2,000 one would pay in leotards and tights. Though I only highlighted two major fees, the article goes in-depth about how over time, the fees could add up to at least $120,000. The article also adds that this is simply a rough estimate not considering things like transportation fees and additional dance classes people take for more intense training.  Â
Efforts to diversify ballet aren’t new to Philadelphia. According to Dance Magazine “In Philadelphia, the arts were abundant, and a lot of artists became school teachers for extra work. They’d start extra curricular clubs for things like voice, drama—and ballet…Black dancers couldn’t go to white schools to train, but some of those teachers were happy to come to black studios or to train black students privately.” Â
Efforts to diversify ballet can be traced back to the 1930’s. One could assume people are tired of the fight but people like Chanel Holland and Alisa Moore have proven that the fight isn’t over until the playing field is leveled for all dancers.