To the Editor:
Misty Copeland deserves heartfelt congratulations for the honor of being the first black principal dancer in ABT history.
However, it is outrageous that American Ballet Theater has waited seventy-five years to name a person of color to the rank of principal dancer, and it is even more disgraceful that the ballet and opera world in general is so indisputably racist.
You attend a ballet concert and occasionally you glimpse someone who isn’t white in the corps de ballet. That’s it. Opera isn’t too much better. The Met, for example, has a tiny number of nonwhite performers of any rank, and a 100% increase would still result in a tiny number. This includes people of indigenous or Far Eastern heritage; people from China or Japan can certainly play the piano well, and on stringed instruments they also excel; but Heaven forbid that they should sing or dance!
Stories for ballet and opera greatly show the rich depth and feelings of nonwhite people, and these stories thrill audiences of all races. In opera, the Ethiopian slave Aida; the lead character of Verdi’s opera based on Shakespeare’s Othello; Madama Butterfly; and Turandot; are roles that are normally handed to white artists with proper makeup.
Yes, yes, we can all think of a few exceptions, but they are indeed few. I’m sure nonwhite artists of considerable worth are regularly discouraged from even contemplating careers as singers or dancers because their chances of success are slim.
As a white person who has loved ballet and opera since my teen years, I am embarrassed and ashamed of this hideous injustice to artists of different races. My attendance makes it look as if I approve of this situation, but I never will. Also, we are all being deprived of the vision, the great artistry, of people whose racial appearance is seen as a hindrance to their having meaningful careers. Where is the outcry? Why wasn’t this criminal bigotry eliminated long ago instead of being taken for granted?
Carol F. Yost
