Dancers are calling it quits when it comes to putting just anything on stage. A few days ago, I found myself interrupting my social media scroll to read yet another discontented post from a fellow professional dancer. As I tapped through her Instagram story I quickly understood her graceful withholding of chiming in on the issue of award shows’ subpar choreography or dance performances (because it could be that choreography is only passing the “vibe check” and not the “integrity check” or dancers are being hired despite solid, needed abilities) had come to a head. Did you know as dance artists we can unknowingly push mediocrity when we don’t give excellence to our work? Not a great performance, not great entertainment — excellence!
Who remembers that one BET Awards performance by Nicki Minaj? The one where a soloist entered the space and up went her leg in a strong developpe tilt. Do you remember that? I know I do! To me it was such a defining moment for the possibility of credible dance training to grace widely syndicated award shows. And aside from the Metropolitan Opera, Ellie Caulkins Opera House, the Adrienne Arsht Center or the John F. Kennedy Center, it was my understanding that shows like the VMAs, AMA’s, or even Black Girls Rock could also be graced with perfectly positioned codified technique. That one developpe, believe it, or not, caused my imagination to burst forth and led me to believe that many amazing genres of dance could take up spaces previously unimaginable to me.
How are choreographers being chosen? How are dancers being chosen from auditions? What exactly are the standards? And how high is the bar being set? Perhaps we need to go back to the “Sophisticated Ladies” days. I was so hype listening to Hinton battle and Judith Jamison speak about the process of dance and acting rehearsals that were taking place as they prepared for that Broadway debut. To that. I can also imagine how bustling the room was and how eager dancers were to meet and even exceed the bar that was set for something like “FAME”. Where has that wow factor gone? The one that is carried from the process of the work and out onto the stage?
If no one else is saying it, I’ll be the one to do it. Credible and respectable artists need to be pushed to the front of the room to occupy spaces of performance. Even if this includes dancers most have never heard of. It shouldn’t be choosing your friends in order to beef up their resumes and tag them in IG pictures. Choose from knowledge and respect for the craft. Respect your vision for the performance and prospective artists’ capability to bring the vision to the audience. It isn’t enough to bring the vision to life anymore. It came to life the moment it was taught in the audition. There needs to be brilliance, showstoppers! The world desperately needs substance and dance has a place to occupy.
So, I’m reading through this Instagram story and the dancer realizes steps were given for a particular genre of dance but had not been met with integrity by its performers. Almost immediately I went over to my dance career coach Instagram to create a reel that echoed her sentiment and cry. This is something I have been talking about for years now, but I can say that I am encouraged to see more dancers are actually speaking out about professional dance in a way that adds to preserving its legacy in our world and the future of its training.
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