Ballet History: Black Presence

Catalog description

Ballet History: Black Presence examines the exclusion of Black ballet artists from the historical canon. The course content spans from 1930 to 2020, investigating the events, individuals, institutions, and artistic artifacts involving Black artists, placing them into the narrative of ballet history. It focuses on the social, political, economic, and aesthetic factors that inform artistic production and canonical inclusion based on race and nationality, interrogating the perception that ballet is an exclusively European cultural artform. The course discusses the influence of West African, Caribbean, European, South American, and American Blacks on the development of the ballet profession.