As a dozen or so girls filed into a performance room of The Boys and Girls Club of Greater St. Louis’ Herbert Hoover Club, Richard Toda, American Ballet Theatre’s Artistic Coordinator of Educational Outreach, summoned them to the center of the room. He introduced himself and his organization.
His visit Thursday evening was the last of many master classes Toda had taught all week at COCA partner schools within St. Louis Public Schools and at several Boys and Girls Club sites. He was there as a representative of Project Plie. For the past five years, the world-famous ballet company has used the program to boost racial and ethnic diversity within the field of classical dance.
As “Mr. Richard” made the acquaintance of the young girls, he told them that the studio company of ABT would be coming to COCA to perform March 15-17. “There was one particular dancer who was in our studio company a while ago,” Toda said. “Her name is Misty Copeland.”
He paused after he called out Copeland’s name – seemingly to give the girls time to erupt with excitement and fandom. Copeland is an inspiration and role model for countless little black ballerinas-in-training who see a reflection of themselves as she laces up and as an ambassador for classical dancers of color.
This group continued to sit quietly, unaffected by the mention of Copeland’s name.
“Do you know who Misty Copeland is?” Toda asked. None of them did.
“She’s famous because she is first African-American principal dancer in one of the five major companies in the world,” Toda said. “She’s the only one. “Do you know where she took her first ballet class? At a Boys and Girls Club in California.”
He then cued up a video featuring Copeland.
“I’m sad that I couldn’t be there with you, but I’m happy that you will be learning about my passion – the art of classical ballet,” Copeland said. “I couldn’t be more excited to talk about my two favorite organizations, Boys and Girls Club of America and The American Ballet Theatre, coming together for a wonderful day of dance.”
In June 2015, Misty was promoted to principal dancer at ABT. She became the first African American woman to ever be promoted to the position in the company’s 75-year history.
“As some of you may know, I started out at a Boys and Girls Club in my hometown of San Pedro, California,” Copeland said. “That’s where I was discovered – taking ballet on a basketball court.”
The video then offered the group a snapshot into a day in Copeland’s life as a principal dancer for ABT, from rehearsal to her taking the stage at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.
“For Misty, dancing on stage with the American Ballet Theatre is a dream come true and is the result of years of hard work,” the narrator said in the video. “And it all started at the Boys and Girls Club.”
When the video ended, Toda jumped right into master teacher mode.
“I would love to take you through some of the movements that we do,” He said to the girls.
Several were already a step ahead. They stood up and started imitating the movement they saw Copeland perform during the clip.
They kicked, jumped and spun around. By her third turn, nine-year-old Jada Bonner had successfully mimicked the posture and lines of Copeland’s jumps and turns. She repeated several of the movements with intense concentration until Toda gave them directive for them to perform warm up exercises.
Toda made the most of the hour – never wasting a second as he taught them how to position their bodies as he introduced them to his art form.
“What are my toes reaching for?” Toda asked the group. “That’s right, they are reaching for the floor.”
“You have beautiful feet,” Toda told one of the young girls who had managed to make the tips of her toes bend to touch the ground.
They flexed. They pointed. They were guided into first position, then second. They learned a combination of movements with jumps, kicks and turns that had them feeling confident and curious to learn more about ballet.
When the girls were leaving after class ended, Toda casually approached a handful of his students for the evening – perhaps in the same way as Copeland many years before.
He wrote down their names and information and said he would pass them along to COCA. Among them was Jada. Her mother, Joann Barge, had tipped into class to take her home. She had a seat and watched Jada for the last several minutes of the class. She beamed when “Mr. Richard” tapped Jada as a standout.
“I saw the form of her body and I was like, ‘Oh my god, she’s catching on so quickly’,” Barge said. “She cheers and does hip-hop dance, so she catches on like that,” Barge said while snapping her fingers. “This is her first time doing ballet. And it seems like it’s something she wants to get off into.”
Jada, a third grader at Ames VPA Elementary School, confirmed her mother’s prediction.
“I’m more into hip-hop dancing, but now I want to try ballet out,” Jada said. “When I was turning around, I felt like a princess.”
Jada is already eager to incorporate classical dance into her routine of extracurricular activities. She also now has someone to look up to within her newest interest after being introduced to Copeland.
“It’s really amazing for you guys to have the opportunity now to learn about ballet,” Copeland said in the video. “With the right support and dedication – and sacrifice – anything is possible.”
The American Ballet Theatre Studio Company will perform March 15 – 17 as part of COCA Presents at Washington University’s Edison Theater, 6445 Forsyth. For more information, visit www.cocastl.org.
