‘Go forth, spread the joy, spread the talent.’ Creative Artist Talk with Brenda Garrett-Glassman and William Glassman

Content warning: Readers may find themes in this interview sensitive or upsetting, but we feel it is important to share this commentary.

In June, we hosted a Creative Artist Talk spotlighting Brenda Garrett-Glassman and William ‘Bill’ Glassman, two dancers who have had a remarkable influence on the School. Brenda was the first Black dancer at Upper School, where she trained from 1971 to 1973 before joining Dance Theatre of Harlem. Following his professional dance career, Bill taught at the School for 19 years before becoming Artistic Director at Ballet Central.

In conversation with Upper School Ballet Teacher Paul Lewis, Brenda and Bill shared their inspiring stories and highlighted the importance of resilience and belief in oneself.

Following this talk, students had ongoing discussions in their classes about the topics raised and what we can all learn from Brenda and Bill’s experiences.

Brenda’s early years

Brenda began dancing aged eight, when her parents recognised her insatiable desire to move. They enrolled her in a local ballet school, and her passion for ballet grew.

She passed her RAD exams with honours, earning her recognition beyond her local school. When she was 15, Peter Wilson, then-Director of the Royal Academy of Dance, watched her summer show as the guest-of-honour. After presenting Brenda with the ‘Most Promising’ award, he told Brenda’s teacher, ‘I’m going to get her an audition for The Royal Ballet School.’ He did, and she was accepted.

Paul asked Brenda about her experiences being the first (and only at the time) Black student at Upper School and the challenges she overcame.

Before makeup brands included a range of skin tones, Brenda had to use pale makeup for Swan Lake that made her feel like ‘one of the undead’ and had to ‘blank out [her] full lips and draw in a rosebud.’

I looked horrible. And everybody else around me looked wonderful. So that was a really difficult moment for me.

She also remembered being fourth understudy to a peasant at a School performance.

Unbeknownst to me, a group of my friends went to the principal and said, ‘She’s the best dancer. If she doesn’t go on, we don’t go on.’ I found that out 50 years later on a Zoom call. I’m so lucky. I’ve always had really amazing support all the way through.

However, regardless of her talent, School leadership at the time put a dampener on her progression.

I do remember at my interview, and this always stuck with me because I was a well-brought-up girl: never to question adults, just do as I was told. The then-principal said to me, ‘Well, we will train you because you’re talented, but you will never get into the Company because you are coloured.’ And she did use that terminology, which was what Black people were called back then. You were coloured.

The School paid for her to take contemporary dance lessons at The Place and Pineapple Dance Studios, as they felt that was her path due to her race. One day, Brenda took a ballet class from David and Anna-Marie Holmes, who asked her if she had heard of Dance Theatre of Harlem in New York City, the first all-Black classical ballet company in the world. She had not, so they encouraged her to send photos to Arthur Mitchell, co-founder of the Company, who invited her to join.

It was in the middle of Harlem, 150 52nd Street. I walked into the company studio, which was full of, I have to say, gorgeous black people all doing ballet, and I cried. ‘Oh my god, I’m home.’ That was a really pivotal moment for me.

Bill and Balanchine

Bill Glassman had a different introduction to ballet as a young white boy from Boston. He began as a tap dancer with a local dance teacher who also taught ballet. The teacher convinced him to play the Prince in Cinderella despite his misgivings about wearing tights (‘My grandmother made a white satin suit for me’). Eventually, he grew to love ballet and continued to train with the teacher in New York City at the June Taylor School. He took a ballet class with Karel Shook, who later co-founded the Dance Theatre of Harlem with Arthur Mitchell. Karel offered him a scholarship for two weeks at the June Taylor School. Later, he crossed paths with George Balanchine, a trailblazer for American ballet, who offered him an exclusive spot at the School of American Ballet.

I was 15, so it was 1960 or ’59. Mr. Balanchine had just been given money by the Ford Foundation to search for talent in the United States, talented ballet dancers. In the country, he chose 15 of us for the first Ford scholarship in 1960. There were 13 girls and two boys. It was great. The scholarship paid for academic school, ballet classes and offered a monthly stipend.

Career growth and romance

Brenda began her successful career with Dance Theatre of Harlem. However, despite feeling at home with the Company, the United States had its own challenges for Black dancers.

I remember we were in the Deep South with the company, and there was a Ku Klux Klan demonstration just down the road. We had to be escorted from the hotel to the coach, from the coach to the theatre—it was dangerous. We were not welcome everywhere. But we still played to full houses, standing ovations. It was magical.

Brenda later went on to perform on Broadway and the West End. She even performed in The Wiz film with Michael Jackson.

After studying at the School of American Ballet, Bill joined New York City Opera and performed in Broadway shows, including Tovarich starring Vivien Leigh. Later, he joined American Ballet Theatre, working up the ranks from Corps de ballet to Soloist. His repertory included works by Jerome Robbins, Agnes de Mille, Anthony Tudor, Harold Lander and Sir Kenneth MacMillan. Bill performed with the Company for nearly six years before teaching at the State University of New York at Purchase. Then, a chance opportunity from Dance Theatre of Harlem changed his life.

I got a call from Arthur Mitchell, who was a friend of mine, saying they were rehearsing Fancy Free. Arthur asked me if I’d come and teach at the school and the company because he wanted another male role model for the guys. I was on a tenure track at university, teaching four days a week, getting a good salary, et cetera. But I believed in what Arthur was doing.

Brenda interjected: And the plus was you met me!

The pair started dating a year later. After Brenda left the Company, they traveled to the UK to visit her family. Brenda wanted to return to The Royal Ballet School and reunite with her former teachers Julia Farron and Barbara Fewster. Barbara told Bill they were looking for a men’s teacher, and he handed her his CV.

They offered me a one-year guest contract to teach the graduate men. It’s interesting. I’d been offered a job in Cambridge, Massachusetts at the same time, and I figured, ‘Well, we’ll go to London for a year. It’ll look great on the CV.’

42 years later, we’re still here.

Bill taught many of the current teaching faculty at the School, including Paul. Bill later became Ballet Central’s Artistic Director and continued to guest teach around the world until the COVID pandemic shuttered studios.

Words of advice

Brenda was the Principal Teacher for Chance to Dance and noted the important role the programme plays in increasing access to classical ballet. Shevelle Dynott, the first student from The Royal Ballet’s Chance to Dance programme to join the School, also recently gave a Creative Artist Talk in collaboration with Black British Ballet.

There’s a lot more awareness out there, but there’s still quite an elitist atmosphere around classical ballet, and a lot of Black families do not see ballet as a career path for their children.

Brenda and Bill also encouraged students and professional dancers to be role models for the next generation. Brenda remarked:

I see some lovely Black and brown and all sorts of ethnicities in the room, which is very heartening, instead of just being one. They’re all articulate. They can all talk. It’s all part of their training and their discipline to be ambassadors for the art form.

The pair concluded with a simple phrase: