Barrier-breaking dancer Misty Copeland on what ballet can learn from the reckonings of 2020
Copeland sat down with CBC Arts: Exhibitionists host Amanda Parris for an extended chat
With stages closed and studios shuttered, the dance world has been hit hard by the pandemic. This time has also created space for a conversation about the way tradition and narrow standards have obscured practices of racism. This story is part of a CBC Arts: Exhibitionists episode focused on the dance world during the pandemic and looking forward, streaming now on CBC Gem.
Like so many people in the arts, the pandemic has been challenging for dancer Misty Copeland, our guest on this past weekend's dance-themed episode of CBC Arts: Exhibitionists.
"Not being able to be in a studio and be physical and keep up our training and and, you know, our livelihood is gone," Copeland told CBC Arts: Exhibitionists host Amanda Parris via Zoom. "Theatres are shut down. So ... the the impact that I've seen on the dance community is just massive."
In the above interview — an extended version of what aired in the episode — Copeland discusses not just the pandemic but institutional racism in the ballet world, where she became the first African American woman to be promoted to principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre in 2015.
"In terms of the dance world, I feel like this is a moment where we can step back and have a clean slate in some way because I feel like we we haven't fully accessed our broad reach," Copeland says. "Yes, [the American Ballet Theatre] is an international touring company, but it doesn't mean that we have that representation in the audiences and on the stage just because we're travelling the world. And I feel like this is a moment for us to really make a presence for ourselves virtually as well as with Black Lives Matter, giving us an opportunity to fully address what has been neglected from the beginning of time, which is the, you know, the institutional racism in ballet."
Watch the full interview above, and tune into this week's episode of CBC Arts: Exhibitionists — which centres on fashion — Friday at 11:30 ET on CBC. Stream this past week's dance episode now on CBC Gem.
