Collage Dance Collective
Dérrière, Grand jete, Sauté. Those are just some of the classic ballet movements that the students of Collage Dance Collective on Broad Avenue will be showcasing at the Germantown Performing Arts Center this Sunday, June 4, at 2:00 p.m.
It’s what executive director of the company, Marcellus Harper says is the culminating event of the year— the company’s 7th annual spring concert, themed Enchanted and featuring about 160 of the group’s students.
Harper says the performance will follow the main character through an enchanted garden, where she is met with magical creatures and life lessons.
“It’s really about the magic and joy of youth,” says Harper. “It’s a celebration.”
Celebrating is a common motif at Collage Dance Collective, as every day inside the studio diversity is welcomed and celebrated.
The company strives to make classical ballet more accessible in the city and increase the number and types of people who are training in and watching the artform.
When the company relocated to Memphis from New York City in 2007, Harper says there were no professional African American ballerinas in the city. Moreover, and what really opened his eyes, were that there were few, if any, African American girls training “on pointe,” an indicator of higher level training.
He says, a decade later, he knows of at least a dozen professional black ballerinas that live and work in Memphis, as well as about 30 girls now training on pointe.
“We are trying to change the idea that ballet is only for one socioeconomic class, one gender, and one race,” says Harper. “It can be for everyone.”
He believes this can be done by being proactive about engaging people of color, which starts with having a strong representation of color in the company's leadership and through creating an environment that celebrates and affirms young black kids.
“This is important because they are studying an art form that is historically associated with European aesthetic,” says Harper.
Further increasing diversity, Collage strives to attract young boys to ballet as well, which Harper says in Memphis “is not the easiest thing to do.”
However, not only is ballet very athletic, he says, but it has many benefits, such as instilling discipline, focus, and commitment.
“Most importantly, it helps young men overcome something that is socially not deemed for them,” says Harper. “That helps them develop confidence and bravery to be able to tackle other things in life that socially may not be deemed for them.”
