Once Again, It's Time for A Dance Revolution

 The world of dance is approaching the height of an Arts era that has not been experienced since the very fresh arrival of Mikhail Baryshnikov's beauty and brilliance on United States soil. Just reading about the times and the likes of him, Judith Jamison and even others before them; I become inspired all over again. It's really such a wonderful way to imagine dancing, in a world that has no choice but to welcome dance's force and impact, through the lens of brilliant artists who took a chance on themselves for the love of the art. It was brave! Those historic moments took the world, various industries alike, by storm. And for the first time ever, I am over the moon with excitement that a time such as that has come around again. 

I never knew what I was waiting on. Beyond the work I've done, classes I've taken, shows I've performed in, there came a point where I wanted something to change. I wanted more. Then, suddenly, I knew something was brewing but couldn't quite put my finger on it. As I am re-reading and finishing up this wonderfully written New York Times piece, I literally become overwhelmed with gratitude and resolve. Is Mikhail Baryshnikov the Last of the Highbrow Superstars? had me hooked from the very beginning. It's as if the writer and those who've chimed in have been reading both my mind and my "dance thoughts" since 2020. Everything I have witnessed, thought, felt, have had (and still do) an unwavering opinion on, and the fact that I want to help many things change, it is all wrapped up in this article. It blew me away so much I sent an email to Misha's Manhattan dance center just to see if I could get an interview with him. 

Here is my point. If the title of that NY Times article doesn't make it obvious enough that dance is in need of an overwhelmingly honest and riveting deluge of history-making, world-changing artists, allow this article to serve as the clarity we need. Now, remember when I mentioned I had begun to feel that I could not place my finger on what had been brewing in the dance world, well, I have arrived at the answer. Here is what made it *click* for me. Thank you Jason Diamond. 

But Baryshnikov arrived at a very specific time — between the period when people like Leonard Bernstein or Maria Callas could be household names and novelists were regular guests on the country’s biggest talk shows and the era when the nation became obsessed with very new kinds of celebrity.

The resurgence of undeniable  excellence and bravery in dance has always been about timing. The fire previous dance legends created and sustained long enough for it to be passed on to other ready and willing dance artists, has always been about timing. The thing about timing is that it requires our patience. Just like a pursuit void of process cannot reveal impactful art, an artist before the set time cannot produce history-making, world-changing influence. Whether it's the patience of Alvin Ailey creating Memoria before the gift of Revelations was given to him, or Misty Copeland allowing her tibia to heal after a life-changing debut, patience is needed because the time will come. And when my time finally lands, I will be named among some of our world's greatest, most brilliant, and even highbrow dance artists.