After retiring from performing with the Dance Theatre of Harlem, I began my higher education studies having a desire to conduct both scholarly and creative research while merging my Christian faith with dance. During my undergraduate studies in theology and psychology, I wanted to explore the healing power of dance. Although I explored that topic, for my bachelor’s degree my graduate faculty encouraged me to research Blacks in ballet. I began to gather detailed histories of older black ballet dancers. As a cisgendered female, my dissertation focused on Black ballerinas since I had lived and “danced" that life. Since Blacks in ballet have been marginalized, I gave two of our earliest notable ballerinas voice. This work led to researching several aspects of Black people in ballet. But there is still much work to be done.

I did some creative research over the years as well. I incorporated my faith as themes to create works both for the undergraduates I taught and the dance worship I conducted in church. I also restaged some traditional ballet works and created others as well. I enjoyed my creative research but felt like my scholarly research could have more impact for transformational change. The furthering of DEI for Black dance students and performers would impact all my students as they engaged with information that has been absent from their dance education. During the second decade of the new millennium my research was gaining interest as Misty Copeland used her social media platform as the first Black female principal dancer of American Ballet Theatre (America’s national company) to bring this subject much needed attention. When the country began its reflection on racists practices after the tragic murder of George Floyd, the work that I had begun in the Equity Project in 2018 (https://www.dancemagazine.com/the-equity-project-ballet/)began to accelerate. There are numerous projects that I have completed since then and I am currently one of three editors developing an anthology about the Dance Theatre of Harlem.

My long-term plans are unclear since there is so much work to be explored. I need to spend time researching all of the dialogue in my field and related work. Although I do not have definite plans, I do have four research projects that hold my interest. First, I would like to do a more complete investigation of Glorianne Jackson to document her time at Marymount as the first Black dance department chairperson. I also want to document Black ballet academies that have existed since the 1940s  because they speak to African diasporic culture as well as the study of ballet by Black people early on. One of the arguments for the lack of Black ballet dancers is that they are not trained. This is not only an exaggeration but historically inaccurate, as some Black dancers were better trained than White dancers because segregation warranted their teachers to instruct them privately. Numerous Europeans took the risk to teach Black dancers during segregation.

From an emic perspective, I would like to produce an article about DTH as an international company. For those who either were not balletomanes or old enough to remember, DTH was a bigger company than it is now since its nine-year hiatus. Much of the company’s work from 1969 to 2004 was on tour. Perhaps that is why the company has not received the acclaim it garnered world-wide because much of it did not occur in the US. Finally, I want to expand a research project on flesh tone tights that I completed specific to the School of American Ballet and broaden the scope to encompass the American Ballet world.