ABOUT THIS BOOK

Though ballet is often seen as a white, cis-heteropatriarchal form of dance, in fact it has been, and still is, shaped by artists from a much broader range of backgrounds. This collection looks beyond the mainstream, bringing to light the overlooked influences that continue to inform the culture of ballet. Essays illuminate the dance form’s rich and complex history and start much-needed conversations about the roles of class, gender normativity, and race, demonstrating that despite mainstream denial and exclusionary tactics, ballet thrives with “difference.”

With contributions from professional ballet dancers and teachers, choreographers, and dance scholars in Europe and the United States, the volume introduces important new thinkers and perspectives. An essential resource for the field of ballet studies and a major contribution to dance scholarship more broadly, (Re:) Claiming Ballet will appeal to academics, researchers, and scholars; dance professionals and practitioners; and anyone interested in the intersection of race, class, gender, and dance.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Adesola Akinleye is a choreographer, artist, scholar, and senior lecturer at Middlesex University in London. She creates dance works to voice lived experiences through creative moving portraiture. Her work has received numerous accolades, including the Bonnie Bird New Choreography Award and the Association of Dance of the African Diaspora’s Champion Trailblazer Award.

REVIEWS

"[This book] examine[s] the white, cis, heteropatriarchal history of ballet, and how many dancers and choreographers are grappling with this history. It has started some very important conversations about the role of ballet today and how this art can thrive within the beauty of difference."

— New Books in Performing Arts

"This anthology is a valuable tool for engaging new audiences in ballet; it is a call-to-action for younger generations to connect ballet with their lived worlds. It will be of interest to academics, researchers, or students working in the fields of dance, theater, performing arts, and cultural studies—especially within the intersection of gender, race, and dance. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to acquire a broader knowledge of ballet as a global art form with the potential to become a key representation of our multicultural society."

— Journal of Dance Education

"(Re:) Claiming Ballet is a comprehensive guide to the extensive influence of the marginalized on ballet. For readers who interact with other performing arts sectors, such as music or theater, it would be beneficial to carefully consider the similarities between how issues of class, gender, and race permeate both the ballet world and other facets of the performing arts."

— Music Reference Services Quarterly

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction: Regarding claiming ballet / reclaiming ballet

Part One – Histories

Chapter 1: Ballet, from property to Art – Adesola Akinleye

Chapter 2: Should there be a Female ballet canon? Seven Radical Acts of Inclusion - Julia Gleich and Molly Faulkner

Chapter 3: Arabesque en Noir: The Persistent Presence of Black Dancers in the American Ballet World - Joselli Audain Deans

Chapter 4: Portrayals of Black people from the African Diaspora in western narrative ballets – Sandie Bourne

Part Two – Knowledges

Chapter 5: The traces of my ballet body - Mary Savva

Chapter 6: Ballet Beyond Boundaries – Personal History. Brenda Dixson Gottschild

Chapter 7:“Auftanzen statt Aufgeben” and The Anti Fascist Ballet School -Elizabeth Ward