The Ballet Disruptor

Picture a Ballerina. Now picture the Ballerina dancing.  What do you see? 

I'd bet it was a young woman with pink tights, in a neutral colored leotard, hair in a bun. pointe shoes and for many of us, the stereotype is a white woman.  

Now watch this...

 No pink tights, no bun, no leotard, and these ladies are women of color. Is it Ballet? 

The mastermind behind the phenomenon known as Hiplet (Hip-Hop Ballet) is none other than Chicago's own Homer Hans Bryant. Homer Hans Bryant, a former student at the Dance Theater of Harlem, is the ultimate Ballet disruptor.  Over 25 years ago, Homer attended a rap concert and had a moment of complete insight and brilliance.  He only stayed for 45 minutes but that was enough to know combining rap and ballet could and would be a hit.  He aimed to engage discipline and positivity through dance.  This idea immediately  caught on led to a tour of "The Rap Ballet" at many different Chicago schools and a cover of a magazine.  Recently, a video of the Hiplet Ballerinas has gone viral and the dance genre has found new fame and a huge following. 

But what even is it? 

"If ballet aims for the ethereal, hiplet, generally danced to pop music, is more concerned with earthiness. It has soulfulness, too; while the lower half of the body can be sharp and percussive, the upper half — how the arms connect with the back — conveys a natural flow" - NY Times

His dancers are 12 to 17 years old.  This style of dance not only breaks the ballet rules but opens the dance world to greater diversity and provides students of color with confidence and an outlet for expression that was once oppressive. Traditional ballet requires pink tights, specific shapes and angles and "a fairy mentality" but "with Hiplet its more of an empowered Feminist perspective." 

Bryant is a crusader in the diversification of dance.  His own teacher, Arthur Mitchell, at the Dance Theater of Harlem bought Lipton tea and Rit dye to redye his dancer's pink tights the color of their skin tone.  Bryant recalls coming up with 15 shades of brown and he continues to practice the same "tights" regulation his mentor used.  Bryant's dance studio was initially called The Bryant Ballet School but has since been changed to the Chicago Multicultural Dance center to promote the diversity of dance.  

Bryant acknowledges the awkwardness this combination sometimes creates but he and his dancer's embrace the awkwardness.  For Homer, he knows Hiplet is not (yet) a professional form of dance.  In the end Hiplet requires a huge amount of classical Ballet training and that is what will get these women jobs (now).  His dream is to have a professional Hiplet company and the way things are going, it doesn't seem too far off.

While the reaction they have received has been mostly positive and encouraging, there are also many people who seem to think Hip Hop does not belong on pointe and are quick to express discomfort and dislike for the style.  Those who have danced on pointe before are quick to point out flaws in their execution but the style is not classical ballet, its Hiplet.  It is new, emerging and does not need to be compared. It is not meant to imitate Ballet, it is disrupting the entire idea of what Ballet is and what it can be.