As some of you may know, outside of reading over a hundred books a year, I’m also an amateur dancer. Because I’m the sort of person who likes to know all kinds of things about my hobbies whether or not it makes me any better at them, this means I also read a lot of dance books. So when I saw the Black Art/Artists prompt on this year’s SAL/SPL book bingo card, I knew I really wanted to read something about dance.
But what dance or dancer? Having already read about Josephine Baker and Katherine Dunham, I had in mind to maybe read about Alvin Ailey and/or his dance company, or Misty Copeland, or to find a book focused on the dance side of hip-hop to compliment last year’s musical hip-hop reading (I read Go Ahead in the Rain by Hanif Abdurraqib for that prompt). But then I heard about The Swans of Harlem by Karen Valby, about five pioneering Black ballerinas during the Civil Rights era, and my choice was made.
Let me go ahead and tell you the coolest thing about this book: at the time of recording the audiobook, all five of the featured dancers were still alive. So while this is something of a history book, the author was able to talk extensively with the dancers as well as their loved ones, and each dancer has a chapter that she narrates herself — in the audiobook they take over from the main narrator and read their own words (though one dancer was unfortunately dealing with very aggressive cancer and a family member read her chapter). And so while Karen Valby is white, this book still gives the Black dancers a chance to speak, and the book feels very respectful to them, their legacy, and their future. When it shares darker moments from their lives, it’s done very respectfully and with clear indications of why each dancer felt it was important to share their struggles and mistakes.
Whatever you tell yourself, all art is inherently political (even choosing to make apolitical art is, in itself, a statement). And I will argue passionately that dance is even more political, because it is art that we make with our own bodies. When we display ourselves on a stage (or the virtual stage of social media), we make statements about who we are, as well as inviting the viewer to make their assumptions about our identities, whether we welcome them or not.
The Swans of Harlem is an intensely political book. It’s about civil rights and racism, yes, but it’s about so much more than that. It’s about how even as Black dancers in a Black-run dance company intended to celebrate Black artistry, these talented women were still judged by beauty standards set by white society in general and a white choreographer in specific (Ballanchine, whom Arthur Mitchell, the teacher and company director, was a student of), and faced verbal and emotional abuse when they failed to fit those standards.
It’s also about reproductive rights, as pregnancy and motherhood could have devastating impacts on a dancer’s career. At least two dancers in this book made the choice to terminate an unplanned pregnancy, and they speak passionately of the importance of having access to safe and legal abortions.
And it’s about gay rights. A heartbreaking chapter near the end of the book illustrates why you hear from so few of the male dancers from this era throughout the book — many of them did not survive the AIDS epidemic. Decades later, you can still feel the anger and sorrow that these dancers feel about the specific loss of these men who were like family to them, and the generalized apathy society displayed to the plight of AIDS victims, and especially people of color struck by the disease.
I realize that I’m making this book sound like a huge bummer, but it’s really not. It’s incredible listening to these dancers talk about the joy they took in dancing, the support they found finally being part of a company of Black dancers, the lifelong relationships they formed, the experiences they had traveling the world. I personally really enjoyed learning about this bit of history, as well as being reminded that a lot of our “history” wasn’t that long ago, that the people who lived with it are still with us and have valuable memories and insights to share.
I recommend this book for anyone who is interested in Black history or dance history.
CWs and TWs: This book has a lot of racism and I believe there was occasional use of the n-word. There’s body shaming, dysmorphia, and discussions of eating disorders. There’s emotional abuse. There’s discussions of injury, illness, alcoholism, and abortion. I’d suggest pre-reading this before sharing it with any younger ballet dancers in your life, and being prepared to discuss the more difficult topics with them.
Format and Source: I read this as an audiobook borrowed from the Pierce County Library System.
Book Bingo Prompts
SAL/SPL Adult Summer Reading: Black Art/Artists. As I mentioned in the text, I specifically wanted to read this book for this prompt. It was really looking like I might not get the audiobook in time, but I managed to squeak in and finish it just a few days before the challenge ended.
Book Bingo Progress
Nook & Cranny (Card 1): 20 out of 25 prompts complete. 3 bingos.
Nook & Cranny (Card 2): 17 out of 25 prompts complete. 3 bingos.
SAL/SPL Adult Summer Reading: 23 out of 23 prompts complete, BLACKOUT!
SBTB Summer Romance: 8 out of 24 prompts complete, 0 bingos.