The Cincinnati Ballet Encourages Black Dancers to Be Their Authentic Selves
“It feels like a breath of fresh air,” says Jhaelin McQuay, a Black Cincinnati Ballet dancer who loves to wear his natural hair while performing.
McQuay, originally from Los Angeles, is one of two Black male dancers in the Cincinnati Ballet company.
Throughout his dance career he has performed for the Oscars and made appearances on stage with A-list celebrities such as Mariah Carey, Raven Symone, and Chris Brown.
McQuay developed his passion for dance at the age of 11 and expanded his skills through the Debbie Allen’s Dance Academy. As a teen he went on to train with world renowned dance companies.
McQuay has many memories of the dance world growing up, but one specific memory is his hair journey.
As a child he remembers his mom making sure that he always had his head shaved. Throughout his childhood and teens years, having a shaved head was the only hair style he truly knew.
When he trained in Salt Lake City, McQuay explained he had to fit a mold or have a specific image for himself in the industry. As a result, he continued to shave his head.
It wasn’t until 2020 when he decided to embrace his natural hair as a relatively new dancer to the company.
“I just wanted to explore and see the feedback [or] what they would feel because the new director that we have said that she wanted to be more inclusive and have a more diverse background,” he said.
According to McQuay the Cincinnati Ballet is pushing for more diverse representation. “So that we look like ourselves on stage,” said McQuay.
The Cincinnati Ballet’s new artistic director, Jodi Gates explained that there was a conversation with the whole company regarding identity in the workplace, having representation and honoring one another in the dance studio. This included dancers of color wearing flesh toned shoes, tights, and their natural hair.
During her time as Vice Dean at the University of Southern California (USC), Gates learned about the Crown act in California from a fellow professor. California passed The CROWN Act in 2019 according to Senate Bill No.188.
The CROWN Act stands for creating a respectful and open workplace for natural hair. This law ensures “protection against race-based hairstyles by extending statutory protection to hair texture and protective styles such as braids, locs, twists, and knots in the workplace and public schools,” says The CROWN Act.
During her time at USC, she learned about challenges that she originally hadn’t thought about as a Caucasian woman according to Gates.
“I believe we all want to be ourselves and have our identity show up in the room authentically,” she said.
Lenai Wilkerson, a new dancer to the main Cincinnati Ballet company, would agree. As a Black ballet dancer, Wilkerson can recall countless times of facing adversity as a person of color.
There are many moments where judgment calls have to be made for women of color when climbing the ladder of success, explained Wilkerson.
“And I think for a while, I felt the need to just be accepted into the room,” she said.
As a child she remembers going to summer intensive programs being the only black girl and her hair always being a core memory.
According to Wilkerson, during her time at summer intensive programs throughout her childhood she would shower late at night as a result of taking care of her hair in private.
“So, I wouldn’t have to deal with the other dancers around me who didn’t look like me not knowing what I was doing with my long hair care process,” she said.
While many other dancers from the summer intensives would go to the pool or beach, she wouldn’t attend due to the need of having her hair in a protective style such as braids. However, protective styles were not widely accepted at the time, Wilkerson explained.
Despite the adversities that Wilkerson has faced, it wasn’t until her time at USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance where she decided to wear her natural hair.
“There were moments where I felt like I needed to delve deeper into self and into voice,” she said. Since that moment in her life, Wilkerson has worn her natural hair for six years.
Wilkerson along with McQuay and future dancers of color at the Cincinnati Ballet will be able to wear their natural hair for many more years to come.
“And it’s kind of like a breath of fresh air,” she said.
