Welcome to Black British Ballet
The Black British Ballet project aims to fundamentally change the way that ballet is perceived and operates in Britain. After completing my PhD in 2017, I toured the country speaking about our Black British ballet pioneers from the last century. I have been continually struck by the absence of knowledge about these dancers and all that they achieved among academics and the ballet world.
This project aims to address this gap by documenting the history and experiences of Black dancers in British ballet in the last century to celebrate the contribution made by these pioneers (who are significantly less well known than their American peers) and to support greater diversity within ballet.
The project has been developed by Oxygen Arts in partnership with English National Ballet, The Royal Ballet Company, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Libraries Connected as well as the major ballet schools. We’ve filmed interviews with as many dancers that would agree, to create a website and documentary celebrating their achievements and shedding light on their experiences.
Our dancers include international professionals working in British ballet companies, as well as British professionals working abroad. For the purposes of this project, we focus on individuals from the African diaspora in the Caribbean, South America, the US and Africa. We have now gone on to share these hidden stories with dance practitioners and communities across the UK and in the US.
Some of our dancers' stories
Brenda Garratt-Glassman
Brenda was the first Black female student at the Royal Ballet Upper School, where she studied from 1970 to 1972. The daughter of Windrush immigrants from Guyana, Brenda was told that while she was talented enough to train, she would never get a job with The Royal Ballet Company because she was ‘coloured’. So she joined Dance Theatre of Harlem in New York after her training and became a Soloist in the company from 1973-1977.
After an illustrious career in ballet and theatre in the US and England, Brenda took over the Joyce Butler School of Dance in London with Vanessa Hoskins-McTaggart. She was also the first Black British teacher on the Royal Ballet’s diversity outreach programme ‘Chance to Dance’ in London in 1991. Brenda has danced on Broadway and the West End and starred in films including The Wiz and Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom.
Patrick Williams
Dr Patrick Williams was born in England, with a Trinidadian father and a Welsh mother. He auditioned for the Royal Ballet School in 1965 but he was rejected because they did not train ‘coloured’ ‘children. This didn’t stop him from wanting to pursue a career in ballet even though he had no professional training.
In 1971, while visiting Trinidad, the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater company was touring, and Patrick auditioned for Alvin Ailey who was so impressed with his natural movements that he invited him to train with the company in New York in 1976. The legendary Rudolf Nureyev often visited the company and he invited Patrick to perform with the Paris Opera Ballet as a guest Principal dancer in 1989.
When he returned to England after four years in Paris, he had his pick of English ballet companies, and decided to teach and choreograph at English National Ballet. Patrick has since danced with Michael Jackson, Madonna, Rihanna and Grace Jones, among others.
Carol Straker
Carol trained at the Legat School of Russian Ballet in the 1970s, a boarding school in East Sussex where she was the first and only Black student. While she was training, her parents took her to see Dance Theatre of Harlem perform, and she was inspired to join the company.
After completing her studies in England, she went to train with Dance Theatre of Harlem at the age of 19. Carol stayed at the company for a year before joining Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Carol went on to perform internationally with the Martha Graham Ensemble and Michael Clark Company among others.
In 1987 she founded her school and dance company in London, the Carol Straker Dance Foundation and Constellation Change, a dance on screen festival supporting new and upcoming British dancers. She has also appeared on television, film and radio and has just been awarded an MBE for her contributions in dance.
Who is Oxygen Arts?
Oxygen Arts is a social enterprise that specialises in targeting and working with diverse communities. We’re based in Lambeth, South London and have completed a number of film and photography projects with young people in our local community.
Clovis, Marsha and I are all directors of the company and have spoken for years about the importance of telling these dancers stories in a way that more people could access. Their lives are fascinating and we really felt that people outside of the dance world would want to hear them and that people within it REALLY needed to hear them.
Images courtesy of Oxygen Arts.
