The untold stories of Britain’s black ballet dancers are centre stage in a touring exhibition culminating in Scarborough.
Scarborough's town’s library is hosting "Into the Light: Pioneers of Black British Ballet" exhibition, bringing together archive photography, film, newspaper articles and posters.
The national initiative has been funded by a £245,500 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and traces the history of black British ballet from the 1940s to the present day.
Several North Yorkshire libraries are welcoming primary school pupils through their doors to take part in creative writing workshops and interactive events focused on the book Onisere and the Ballet Queen, which tells the story of a young, aspiring black ballerina.
In a partnership between creative agency Oxygen Arts and Libraries Connected, the exhibition has toured 25 libraries across the country.
Among the highlights are an interview with a member of Europe’s first black dance company, Les Ballets Nègres, formed by Jamaicans Berto Pasuka and Richard Riley in 1946.
Other dancers featured include Brenda Garratt-Glassman, the first black British student at the Royal Ballet Upper School, and Darren Panton, the first black British student at the Royal Ballet boarding school.
When black British dancers started to train in mainstream ballet institutions in the 1970s, students like Panton and Garratt-Glassman were told by UK institutions that they would not be hired because they were black.
They, and almost every other black dancer who trained in this period, were forced to seek work abroad, most notably at Dance Theatre of Harlem.
It was not until the mid-1980s that black dancers began to find success in established British ballet companies, but progress remained slow.
This led to schemes such as The Royal Ballet’s Chance to Dance and Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Dance Track, launched in 1991 and 1997 respectively.
Despite these efforts, Oxygen Arts estimates that less than three per cent of dancers currently employed in the biggest three ballet companies are from a black British background.
The director of Oxygen Arts, Marsha Lowe, visited Scarborough Library to run a creative writing workshop with pupils from St Peter’s School.
She said:
“This exhibition is an important step in giving our black British pioneers the recognition they deserve, bringing their challenges and achievements to a much wider audience.
“But we want to go further, to change the perception of ballet by diversifying ballet audiences and encouraging the next generation of young black dancers to see ballet as ‘for them’.”
The chief executive of Libraries Connected, Isobel Hunter, added:
“Public libraries, with their diverse audience base and commitment to democratising culture, are the perfect venue for this groundbreaking exhibition.
“There has never been a better time to celebrate the achievements of these black British pioneers; it’s hugely exciting to see their stories brought to life in this way.”
North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for libraries, Cllr Simon Myers, said:
“We are delighted to showcase the exhibition in Scarborough, offering visitors an interactive way to explore the achievements of so many dancers.
“It puts a spotlight on black British dancers who have helped to shape the ballet profession that we see and appreciate today.
“Our libraries are proving to be about so much more than books. We will be inviting schools into library branches to ensure we get the most out of the exhibition and possibly motivate the next generation.”
The exhibition is based on the research of Dr Sandie Bourne, a dancer, choreographer and academic specialising in the historic under-representation of black artists in British ballet institutions. For more information, visit https://www.blackbritishballet.com
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