Glistening black feathers of a swan’s tutu gently float to the Russian dance floor as I glide dreamily across the stage in this cold and curious country. I feel the first sight of dark brown skin dancing this Russian classic is met by warmth, as strong as the theater lights, by the Moscow audience.
I arrived at the birthplace of my dreams where I was the first black ballerina in history to perform The Dying Swan to Mother Russia, a ballet first presented in St. Petersburg in 1905. I followed in the glorious and deft footsteps of the legendary Russian ballerina, Anna Pavlova. It is a death, choreographed by the great Mikhail Fokine, I relived a hundred times in 40 cities and five time zones, over two months.
Russian ballet impresario Ruslan Nurtdinov invited me to perform in a Russian gala, based around my Dying Swan, titled Black Swan Gala. This dance became the symbol of the new Russian ballet in the early 20th century and is now a symbol of the new African renaissance. I was hoping to change minds and win friends with a powerful performance during a long journey.
As an African ballerina on the road, I had to face the difficulties of this marathon, touring the length and breadth of the largest country on Earth. In my 30 years, I have been lucky enough to travel the world with my dancing, but I have never experienced anything like Russia. In a few words: Russia was bitter-sweet. My sense of humor and internal strength pulled me through the tough 20-hour train rides, 15-hour bus rides, constant jet lag, ever-changing casts of dancers and a brick wall-like communication barrier. I was blown away by the complex language. In crucial times of urgency: I could not understand, I could not answer and had to rely on a bizarre form of sign language to get by.
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I was as foreign to the Russians as all of Russia was to me. From the first steps off the plane to our first performances in St. Petersburg, to the backwaters of central Russia, everyone looked at me strangely. I was assured by the tour managers that I was not suffering from paranoia and that as a black woman I am an oddity in the eyes of many Russian people. A dedicated, focused, hardworking and steadfast nation at first glance, Russians fulfilled all my pre-conceived stereotypes of a tough country. This all changed once I started socializing with the dancers and different communities during the tour. Warm, loyal and kind-hearted are characteristics that I now associate with a Russian personality. There is a strange comfort in being unfamiliar to the unfamiliar. It leads to cultural exchanges that allow for growth, development and tolerance.
The journey was the fruit of Joburg Ballet, the company I work for. I owe thanks to the CEO, Dirk Badenhorst, who always supports and encourages South Africans to take advantage of these international opportunities. Dirk believes in a term called ballet diplomacy, a concept that is central to the vision of Joburg Ballet. As a black African ballet ambassador I believe that the art of dance acts as a tool to strengthen the ties and friendships between nations. Ballet diplomacy works towards defining dance as a universal language that breaks down borders and boundaries and unites different cultures, languages and backgrounds.
With parts of Russia still fixed within the old fashioned Soviet ideals of the 1963 James Bond movie From Russia With Love, my tour to this magnificent country was certainly a learning curve. I was blessed to perform before thousands of ballet-hungry audiences in a culture that has a rich and traditional love affair with the art form. It took me on a journey back in time to the age of the Russian dynasties of tsars and queens. FL
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