I am a ballet dancer and a Black man, in that order.
I left the United States to train at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow at age 15 so that people would see my skill first and not my skin.
My nearly 12 years dancing for the American Ballet Theater could not have been more different.
Back in the United States, my skin color seemed to snap into the spotlight.
The leadership of the American Ballet Theater does not agree with the way I am characterizing my tenure with the company.
Persons:
Monet, Janis Joplin, fakir, Harlequin
Organizations:
Bolshoi Ballet Academy, American Ballet
Locations:
United States, Moscow, Russia, “ Swan, “ La