From a personal audition at Philadanco Studios to a Zoom interview, Joan Myers Brown made me laugh and started a conversation. She asked her to remind her what we were doing and said, “What an honor, you want to speak about me. I always talk about Philadanco. “
Myers Brown is the guardian of all black dance, and Philadelphia (or Philadelphia Dance Company) is a group she founded in 1970. Now, more than 50 years later, it “moves”. However, it is not completely separate from the day-to-day work of running a business.
At 89 (90 on Christmas Day) she is full of energy and her memory is perfect. On the floor she shares her love for dance, especially black dance, where she is the champion and institutionalist.
True to her Philadelphia roots, she founded the Philadelphia Dance Arts School for African American children in 1960. 1970 then Philadanco. 1988, International Conference of the Black Dance Company. And in 1991 the International Dance Black Church (IABD) gathered to support the black dance community through presentations, education, and career guidance.
Of course, that didn’t exist when Myers Brown began studying ballet with Essie Marie Dorsey at the school for black children at the age of seven. (Dorcy, who passed Spanish, learned ballet in white.) At the age of 17, in the 1940s while in isolation, Myers Brown got a mistake from her white teacher Virginia Ringenfelder to become a ballerina and lingen. He was Felder’s first and only black student. Ballet club.
She later studied at the Ballet Guild, where she was the only black student again, where she was discovered by the English choreographer Antony Tudor, who invited her to class. “He was from England, so there was no American prejudice,” said Myers Brown. “He taught me that I was like everyone else and not like an intruder.”
She did not become a professional ballerina. “With the exception of Janet Collins, no black people were hired at the time,” she said at the Metropolitan Opera, referring to the first African-American prima ballerina. Thanks to the Tudor dynasty, Myers Brown played with the Ballet Guild and the Philadelphia Orchestra in the co-production of Mikhail Fokin’s “Les Sylphides”. At the age of 19, Tudor advised her to move to New York. Instead, she commutes to study with the dancer and anthropologist Katherine Dunham. “I would have been afraid to go to New York and live alone,” said Myers Brown.
She became a successful review dancer and took every opportunity to take lessons on a trip. “I’ve read all of the books on ballet and dance, but I didn’t get the chance I wanted, so I decided to teach,” she said. “At that time I went to school and tried to teach what I remember.”
The black dance community is in awe of her and the world is in the spotlight. It was the subject of the 2011 book “Joan Myers Brown and the Bold Hope of the Black Ballerina” by Brenda Dixon Gottschild. And in 2012, President Barack Obama awarded her the National Medal of Arts.
When I was working as a two professor at Howard University in the early 1990s, I met Myers Brown, or Aunt Joan, who was known near her. People like me who have gone with her know that she is a powerful force and leader who set the tone that the black dance organization should follow. And while Myers Brown is removed from her role in Philadanco, there is no doubt about it. She still goes to the office and is very involved.
When you speak to Myers Brown, do your best because her presence requires it. She always wears nine dresses, but her elegance is offset by her lack of pretension and her quick, sometimes sharp tongue.
“You didn’t ask me any questions,” she said at the end of our story. I did, but Aunt Joan made it so easy that they flowed organically. Below is an edited excerpt from our conversation.
NS: Why did you decide it was time to go?
A: Guess, guess! I am 90 years old. I have 4 dance companies, 2 dance schools and 6 grandchildren. I’ve worked 15 hours for 50 years and my school is 60 years old. I’ve given enough life to it, but it’s not mine.
NS: What does it mean that you don’t own it?
A: Founder Syndrome. After a while, the founders don’t make sense because the companies and organizations have overtaken them.
NS: How do you feel about moving, as you call it?
A: I decided to move and appointed Kim Bears Bailey as artistic director. Now I need to let her know that it is okay to do what she thinks and get her to make a mistake. But I need a manager who drives something other than my aesthetics.
NS: Kim first came to Philadanco as a dancer in 1981. Did she impress you back then?
A: She did. She was one of those girls who didn’t like the ballet company. They know how they do us when we’re black and we just don’t see that part.
She wanted it so she was happy to get her work published. I said, “Why don’t you audition for Ailee?” She said, “All I need is here.”
NS: Are you looking for an Artistic Director?
A: It’s not artistic, it’s managed. I accepted three white girls with all qualifications into my organization, but there was no blackness sensitivity chip. They have to think differently about how to treat black people and know what we need. When I was looking for a development manager, I hired a company with three women.
On a. It is white. I had to send her to school.
NS: Does Kim run a school too?
A: Well, the school is not part of the company. The company was in school for the first 10 years but reversed its role when it purchased the building. The school pays the company rent. I kept the school for profit reasons so that my income as a single parent was secured.
The String Theory School wants to build a new location, the Charter School, and name it the Joan Myers Brown School of the Arts.
NS: Wait, do they name the school after you?
A: Yes, I was asked to develop a curriculum so I sent Ali (Willingham, Danco3’s Artistic Director) there. Because he teaches the way I like to teach people. indicate. Our young people are praised and obsessed with not learning a trade. So when they find someone they really want to learn, they have a place for class and play.
NS: Aren’t you new to Black Lives Matter moving?
A: I saw it in 1962, 1988 and 1995. Every time the white man in charge throws money and says, “I have to help the black man,” they help us, but when the money runs out, they disappear. Did you notice that every ad in Dance Magazine has a black guy? It’s like saying, “Hey, got it!”
NS: Did you envision the IABD conference as a hub for the black dance community?
A: As you know, the first few meetings were confusing, but I was glad to be with you, Cleo [Parker Robinson] I’m from Denver. Jeraldyne (Branden) was Dayton. Lula (Washington), Los Angeles; Anne (Williams) from Dallas. And every time we learn something about our own organization, about how others do the same and how we help each other. We were attracted to Mikey Shepherd and people said we put on the Dance USA record. At the time I was a board member of Dance USA. I said, “It doesn’t help black people at all, so I had to get out of here and start my own.”
Young members want to ignore what we have learned and their opinions are valid, but I say experience tells you something. IABD was a gathering and sharing gathering for us, but it’s now a full service organization.
NS: Are you missing an early meeting?
A: It was more like “let’s be together” than “girl you have to come”. And when Geraldine died we were confused.Debbie [Blunden-Diggs] We’re going straight to the plate.
NS: The Philadanko family is huge.
A: There is a saying: you are “gon” – not an “e” – but you are back. One girl on my summer program said to her mother, “I want to go back to Philadelphia because she will give me the education I need.” And her mother said, “I was in Philadanco 25 years ago, I’ll be back with you. ” She came back and I left her my mini.
Let me give you another example. My first company was a soccer player. I didn’t have a big boy in school so I saw her play in my old high school and asked her to go to the show. They were more interested in girls at first and refused to wear tights. I couldn’t pay them, but the Negro Trade Union Leadership Council paid black boys to learn crafts. I told them to go in the morning to learn how to trade, take the check, and come to class in the evening, and they caught the virus. One of the boys runs the company and is now doing my house remodeling.
Nobody can teach or choreograph. I encourage all dancers to have a second career so that they can do something different when they stop dancing.
A: Well, I want people to understand that I need to strengthen this organization. Even if I die, the organization won’t say, “Aunt Joan’s not here, what should I do?” I want them to say, “Do this and take good care of it.”
NS: You always have Plan B, so what is it?
A: I like to live alone. I like to be single. I had three husbands, I’m fine. My plan B is to do nothing, but I’ve noticed that people are paying to talk to me.
NS: Did you forget something
On a. Well I have to do this so I do what I do. And I believe in helping those in need and it’s okay if they don’t repay. The last thing I can say is being black in America is synonymous with being black in America, and it’s not easy.
Source Link Joan Myers Brown, a black dance powerhouse, retires (mostly) | lifestyle
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