108: Race, Ballet, and Creating Opportunity — Virginia Johnson

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This week on 5.6.7.EIGHT, Aleksandra interviews Virginia Johnson — artistic director at</span> <a href= "https://www.dancetheatreofharlem.org/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Dance Theatre of Harlem</span></a><span style= "font-weight: 400;">. Prior to taking over as the artistic director, Virginia’s run with Dance Theater of Harlem spanned 28 long years. In fact, she was one of the founding members of the company in the late 60s. Upon retirement,</span> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">she returned to university to pursue a degree in journalism — a step that led to the creation of</span> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pointe Magazine</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, where she was the magazine’s first editor-in-chief from 2000 to 2009. And, in 2010, at the request of Harlem’s co-founder Arthur Mitchell, she took over as artistic director.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Virginia’s dive into ballet happened at a tumultuous time in our nation’s history, as the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s was in full force. In her earliest years, she was discouraged from ballet and was told she’d never succeed, as the art was largely White-dominated. However, with the help of courageous people like Arthur Mitchell, she found her groove and is now carrying his legacy from generation to generation. On the podcast, Johnson tells the full story of perseverance, hope, belief, and a deep love of the art.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Moving Quotes:</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Ballet doesn't belong to one group of people; ballet belongs to everyone. Arthur Mitchell just had to create opportunity."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Arthur Mitchell created Dance Theater of Harlem out of inspiration and respect and out of a desire to emulate Dr. Martin Luther King's ability to use his talents to make change in the world."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"To me, dance is essential. It's the life and death of the spirit...