Why representation matters – A candid conversation on role models of colour in dance and art
Every year during Black Achievement Month, we honor NDT's past dancers of colour who paved the way for others. This year, we asked current NDT dancers, one of our Associate Choreographers, Jermaine Spivey, and D&I Policy Maker Prince Credell about their role models in the dance scene and beyond, and why representation matters for people of colour.
Prince Credell: “Representation and identity are deeply intertwined; seeing someone who looks like you on stage, on screen, or in a creative space can feel empowering—like a quiet affirmation. For many artists of colour these moments of recognition do more than inspire; they nurture pride, spark hope, and encourage us to reimagine and manifest futuristic possibilities.”
© Alique
Can you reflect on a dancer of colour that you looked up to and/or inspired you in the beginning of your career or childhood?
Demi Bawon, dancer NDT 1: “Since I studied at the Royal Conservatoire in Amsterdam, I was able to watch a lot of performances from the Dutch National Ballet. One prominent dancer who had a great impact on me and will remain a huge inspiration is Michaela DePrince. She originally came from Sierra Leone and grew into one of the most beautiful ballerinas. The combination of strength, grace, and precision she possessed was something 10-year-old me (and now 26-year-old me) wished to have.”
© F. Levieux
Nathanaël Plantier, dancer NDT 1: “When I started ballet training in France, it seemed very rare for me to see a lot of dancers of colour. One of the few guides I was lucky to meet and work with is Jean Marie Didière. He was a dancer at the Paris Opera Ballet for many years and now teaches in Paris.
After meeting him for the first time, I remember going home and watching all the online footage I could find of him dancing. Seeing a body move and looking the way mine did was liberating. What a joy to have been able to share so many beautiful moments with him, especially as a young dancer at the time.”
Misty Copeland © Carl Quazada
Giovanna Doria, dancer NDT 2 “When I started my dance education, I was mostly focused on classical ballet. In Europe, at that time, it was much harder to find black ballerinas or dancers of colour who I could look up to and see myself reflected in and I think that had an impact on how I saw myself and what I thought was possible for me. As I grew older, I became more curious and started researching dance history and discovering modern and contemporary dance. I realised how much had been created and developed especially in America, and how many Black artists had played such an important role in shaping the dance world we have today.
Learning about Katherine Dunham, Pearl Primus, Alvin Ailey and Judith Jamison made me realise that this history and these voices had always been there; I just hadn’t been exposed to them growing up. Later, dancers like Misty Copeland and Michaela DePrince also became important examples for me. Seeing them succeed, particularly in classical ballet, was powerful because it challenged the idea of what a ballerina was supposed to look like.”
Matthew Rushing © Johan Elber
Jermaine Spivey, associate choreograaf NDT: “I will never forget the feeling of watching Michael Jackson dance when I was a kid; a match was lit inside, and my body had to move. Watching Michael was kind of what I thought it would be like to be a Thundercat, when Lion-O would use the Sword of Omens to signal the team to assemble. When that "Thundercat Hooooo" went out, whatever they were doing, they dropped and were summoned. That's power. Michael Jackson had power that compelled me like cartoons did. He sparked my imagination, and for my body that was a call to action.
Later, when I was training in high-school and then at Juilliard, anytime I saw Matthew Rushing (Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater) perform live, I always left the theater in disbelief and determined. Matthew would dance and things that should not be possible would happen. He would make them happen or invite them to happen...with a delivery that was so natural and effortless, but totally rigorous and pure of soul. To me, he let the dance use him and the abilities that came with his talent, training, passion and dedication. I tried my best to embody what it might feel like to be dancing as Matthew Rushing;
To be human.
To be a vessel.
He is one of my biggest dance inspirations for sure.”
Prince Credell, D&I Policy Advisor and former NDT 1 dancer:“There were many dancers who I looked up to when I was young back home in the US, and I was fully aware that there were a group of dancers of colour who moved abroad to experience more artistic freedom and inclusive environments. I would imagine icons like Josephine Baker, Nina Simone and James Baldwin who notoriously left the states during their careers for similar reasons. The possibility to co-exist abroad (and at home) really allowed me to actively imagine and manifest my own dreams of dancing on another continent.
I had the notion that artists at home had to struggle unless they became very successful or famous. Whereas, at that stage in my life it appeared that in Europe despite race, etc. dancers were generally considered respected professionals, rather than struggling artists who were "chasing a dream". Jean Emile, Desmond Richardson, Matthew Rushing, Carlos Acosta, Demond Hart, Sarita Allen, Bahiya Sayed Gaines, Asha Thomas, Francesca Harper, and Alan Barnes are just a few who inspired me!
As I grew the list got longer and dancers in my own generation continued to inspire me and still do”.
Demi Bawon © Rahi Rezvani
Is there someone of colour in the arts that inspires you now as an artist?
Demi:“I'm happy to see more and more South-East Asian representation happening in mainstream media. As someone with Javanese roots it's heartwarming finally seeing other Indonesian artists come forth. Growing up I always struggled finding people that looked like me, in any field not just dance, but also in movies / music etc. Recently I discovered a music group called No Na. This was the first time I heard the Indonesian language and culture integrated in contemporary music. It simply feels reassuring seeing people that look like you succeed whilst wearing their culture with pride. It allows me to wear mine with pride as well.”
Nathanaël:“Many inspire the ways I approach everyday life, and my own practice. They all share the most vulnerable parts of themselves and redefine the possibilities for young POC artists: Malick Bodian (photographer), Kerry James Marshall (painter), Sasha Gordon (painter), Dévonté Hynes (musician), Pol Taburet (visual artist), Charles Chulem Rousseau (photographer) and many, many more!”
Giovanna:“I find inspiration across many different forms of art, but music has always been the closest to me. I’ve been surrounded by it since I was young, through both sides of my family, African and Italian. I’m especially inspired by Black artists who have continuously pushed boundaries and created their own language. From Miriam Makeba, Nina Simone, Jimi Hendrix, and Donna Summer to Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston and Erykah Badu and more artists like Lenny Kravitz and FKA twigs. I see a thread connecting artists who were never afraid to be completely themselves. It’s their stage presence; how they inhabit a stage, how they move, and how they make an audience feel their presence.
That is something I try to bring into my own artistry. I’m interested in exploring how my presence can become part of the work itself, not simply performing something but becoming fully present in it.”
Jermaine Spivey © Sacha Grootjans
Jermaine: “I listen to a lot of music. and one artist that I listen to all the time anytime is Brandy. There's so much intentionality in her music. She doesn't just sing. She uses her voice to create a soundscape for the song to exist in.
Lol! I sound dramatic, but it's true. The placement of the lyrics in the melody, the layering of her backing vocals, the arrangements, the production...It's all intentional from her and her collaborators. And that speaks to me so fundamentally as an artist. When I choreograph, I want the world to be the thing that takes you somewhere. The choreography is essential, but only one piece of that world building. For me its how the process of the choreography interacts with the performer, all of the stagecraft and the audience.”
Prince:“Virgil Abloh, Tina Campt, Theresa Ruth Howard and Reina ‘Tourmaline’ Gossett among many others inspire me! These individuals are multi-disciplinary makers and thinkers who share, create, comment on, and affect 'the spaces between'. The artists inspire my approach through using the notion of coding to uncover what is often overlooked in the context of mainstream art objects and I view them all as social artists whose approach inspires my current work greatly.
How do I integrate these perspectives into my own practice? This is a hard question; like the above artists who exist or existed in specific systemic social constructs and environments, I see my existence as a testament and through these efforts I keep pressing forward with the work and hope to share, create, comment on, and affect.”
Why is it so important to have role models as a dancer and honour them?
Demi: “Because it makes you feel like you belong. Everyone deserves the sense that they earned their place because of their artistry, skills, and hard work. Not because of something else.
I still sometimes catch myself thinking whether I earned some roles because of my talent or because I fit a certain description. Having role models that look like you and seeing them succeed could give you a different perspective of yourself and can hopefully allow you to celebrate your wins equally and ingrain the notion that you belong.”
Nathanaël Plantier © Joris-Jan Bos
Nathanaël:“I think a lot of POC lives have been folded and narrowed down to limited narratives. You can be only this or that, one or the other. The moment someone who looks like you take a path no one thought was possible, it opens the way for thousands of others.
I see it as a grid that we have to constantly keep exploring, each of our journeys being a new door to open. Role models made me feel seen, heard, loved, and made me redefine my worth, to never comply with pre-determination.”
Giovanna Doria © Sacha Grootjans
Giovanna: “They allow you to see what you can achieve and give you something to look towards. I think role models give you a sense of belonging. And for me, that is one of the most important things.
Feeling that there is a place for you, that you are allowed to be there and that you can take up space while still being completely yourself. You understand that you are part of something bigger and that you are continuing a story that others have already helped to shape.”
Jermaine: “I think no one really sets out to be a role model. People do things while attempting to live as authentically as possible. So, when we honour them, we're all acknowledging the importance of passion and persistence. And it's an opportunity to make dreams visible to those who may not have the privilege to believe in the power of dreams and dreaming.
I have been so fortunate to travel the world because of dance, affording me a vision beyond where I come from. Over the years, I've learned that my family and friends, even people I don't know who may know me from afar, they are exposed to a wider world through me.
Exposure can shift beliefs, and belief is behavioral.”
Carlos Acosta © Gavin Evans
Prince: “I believe having role models or people who we admire is a normal part of the human condition – especially as a youngster. We all need that dream.
I started this initiative because of surprise; I was surprised that individuals had the impression that the first dancers of colour were welcomed into NDT’s legacy fairly recently. Witnessing this blind spot repeatedly made me feel inspired to share through using archival evidence to better educate staff members and dancers, the Dutch dance community and the wider dance world. The 'proclamation' of achieving diversity today without a full scope of knowledge about the past feels terribly fragmented. This is why I hope Recentering Narratives begins to repair some of the misconceptions while simultaneously acknowledging and naming the merits of former and current artists’ contributions, therefore reinforcing their existence.
Interview by Prince Credell
