Kendrick Lamar’s Choreographer on Hair Discrimination in Dance – Essence

Hair discrimination appears in more spaces than we’d think. This includes all the pieces from Venus Williams beads considered “disturbance“in 1999, swimming caps for individuals with black hair were banned by the Olympic Games (then overthrown), and unsolicited debates on gymnast Simone Biles’ departures. These injustices have been an unfair barrier to black women in sports since we got the chance to compete. But it doesn’t stop there.

Ballet that has history being mostly all white, has probably the most overt examples of texturalism in dance. “You have to have your hair pulled back, no matter what you do,” choreographer and inventive director La’Donna’s Charm says ESSENCE. “[My hair] wouldn’t necessarily be as clever as the rest of them would be clever.”

Known for her work with artists akin to Rosalía, Dua Lipa and the newest “They don’t love us”La’Donna’s path to success was not as clear-cut as expected.

At the age of three, she was enrolled in dance classes, and at age 10, she began to take into consideration a profession in the game. However, it was not until highschool, when she began intensively practicing ballet, that she noticed the influence of texture.

“I used to wear braids a lot, and in ballet class it was a little harder to do a bun,” she says, which is a strict standard of beauty in a dance form. “I never ironed my hair because it was always sweating.”

Because of that, she’s still attempting to work out how discrimination has affected her over time. “To be completely honest, now that we’re talking about it, I hadn’t really thought about it until now,” she says.

Between hair anxiety over sweating from the silk press and the problem of tying her braids right into a bun, “I thought I always had to have extensions on my head to keep my hair straight.”

Even though she has been out of college for over a decade, the issue is much from solved. “Everyone says, [dancers] “They need to braid their hair or they need to match it to someone else,” she says.

Now a choreographer, she uses her platform to assist other black women avoid the hair discrimination she experienced. “I just had a job where a dancer told me she could wear her natural hair for the first time in 15 years.”

“The insecurity I felt about my hair after I was younger made me firstly: accept it, find it irresistible, and secondly: take into consideration other women who may need the identical hair. [concerns] that I had,” she says, advocating for black hair on set and behind the scenes. “I’m actually capable of help other black women who’re dancers come to terms with their hair, too.”