{"id":795,"date":"2014-03-04T14:35:22","date_gmt":"2014-03-04T14:35:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/?p=795"},"modified":"2014-04-03T23:36:18","modified_gmt":"2014-04-03T22:36:18","slug":"diversity-just-do-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/2014\/03\/diversity-just-do-it.html","title":{"rendered":"Diversity? Just do it"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Ballet_Black_Dream_0060\"<\/a><\/p>\n

At the Royal Opera House, ethnic diversity is usually more apparent among the ushers than the audience, but Ballet Black<\/a> attracts a more varied crowd than the swanky home company can manage. This was evident in the ROH\u2019s Linbury Theatre last night. And it was a rather good evening \u2013 two serious short pieces and, by Arthur Pita<\/a>, the most deliriously enjoyable dance work of this short year.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s stick with the audience for a minute. Lyn Gardner <\/a>reported yesterday from the latest Devoted & Disgruntled <\/a>conference, which asked, in some exasperation, \u2018What are we really going to do about race and diversity in UK theatre?\u2019<\/p>\n

This debate seems to recur regularly without solution. Yet London theatres like the Young Vic and the Tricycle, regularly attracting an audience that in some measure reflects the world beyond their doors, programme work by black artists, with black casts, without excessive fuss or anguish. Non-white audiences visit those particular shows, but also others with less apparent pertinence, perhaps because the theatres develop non-tokenist relationships and perform quality work. Watching Ballet Black \u2013 a confident company, building audiences for crunchy contemporary ballet, hardly\u00a0the fluffiest of art forms\u00a0\u2013 also made me wonder if the solution isn\u2019t dismayingly simple. Stop talking. Put the work on stage. See if it finds its audience.<\/p>\n

\"Marianne<\/a>

Marianne Jean-Baptiste in The Amen Corner Photo: Richard Hubert Smith\/National Theatre<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

What about performers? It has become a commonplace that British actors look to American film and tv to find challenging \u2013 or sufficient, even \u2013 roles. Marianne Jean-Baptiste<\/a>, famously disregarded in Britain despite an Oscar nomination for Secrets and Lies<\/em>, led the exodus. David Harewood, Idris Elba and David Oyelowo followed (it\u2019s mostly the gents, for some reason). But these were already established names \u2013 are younger, less well-known artists chancing the American dream? I don\u2019t doubt there\u2019s a problem. The sheer quality of acting in most plays featuring a predominately black British cast is striking \u2013 the National\u2019s Moon on a Rainbow Shawl<\/em> <\/a>or The Amen Corner<\/a><\/em>, for example. Not simply star turns, but a depth of talent down the line. My suspicion (can any casting agent confirm?) is that these productions can cast their first choices more easily \u2013 not merely because the work is fulfilling, but because fewer screen opportunities compete for the same actors.<\/p>\n

Performance quality never seems an issue for Ballet Black. Formed in 2001 by Cassa Pancho<\/a>, offering opportunities to black and Asian dancers, it has showcased some blazing talent. The company\u2019s women are especially strong right now: Cira Robinson has emerged as one of the country\u2019s boldest dancers, while Sayaka Ichikawa and Kanika Carr have pinpoint vivacity.<\/p>\n

The choreography has been less reliable, but Pancho\u2019s commitment to new commissions (sometimes three or four each year) is impressive. Inconsistency is hardly a unique issue for a repertory company, and Ballet Black\u2019s strike rate is certainly far higher than the historically revered Rambert, for example, whose commissions regularly skew towards woeful. Pancho has welcomed some interesting (yes, predominantly white, predominantly male) choreographers: testing Martin Lawrence, alluring Javier de Frutos. But BB haven\u2019t quite achieved a full-company hit \u2013 until this season, and Arthur Pita\u2019s fabulous A Dream Within A Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Pita\u2019s riff on Shakespeare\u2019s forest-sniffing fantasy captures delirium, ridicule and the unthethered libido, all in 35 minutes. Puck, played by Isabela Coracy as a naughty boy scout with a beard of flowers, releases charm-struck lovers into liberating, polymorphous couplings. Severe Handel gives way to silken Eartha Kitt and Nina Simone, and the movement offers rapturous curls and delicious jellyfish shivers. Pita even ponders how Robinson\u2019s besotted Titania can make a mule move \u2013 with a faceful of fairy dust, any donkey seems a dreamboat. Salvador Dal\u00ec wanders through it all, in search of a missing moustache, because surrealism.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a terrific piece (companies beyond the UK should clamour for it), splendidly performed<\/a>. It finds an audience too rarely beckoned by ballet. With luck and a marketing strategy they\u2019ll come again. We can debate all we want, but nothing is as powerful as actually putting work by black artists onstage. Yes, theatres must do more to reach out to those artists and their potential audiences. Another of Gardner\u2019s reports on inclusivity <\/a>quotes Russell Willis Taylor of National Arts Strategies insisting, \u2018we don’t get to decide the value of the work that we do, other people do.\u2019 Build it and they will \u2013 or might just \u2013 come may seem a fragile inclusivity policy but can\u2019t companies try it with more consistency? It\u2019s about bloody time.<\/p>\n

Pictured top: Isabela Coracy in A Dream Within a Midsummer Night’s Dream Photo: Emma Kauldhar via Dance Europe<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Follow David on Twitter: @mrdavidjays<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the Royal Opera House, ethnic diversity is usually more apparent among the ushers than the audience, but Ballet Black attracts a more varied crowd than the swanky home company can manage. This was evident in the ROH\u2019s Linbury Theatre last night. And it was a rather good evening \u2013 two serious short pieces and, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[30,34],"class_list":{"0":"post-795","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-ballet","9":"tag-theatre","10":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}