We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Waverly Lucas a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Waverly , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

The most important aspect of bringing your ideas and ambitions to a place of realism is your ability to stay focused and set small adaptable goals based on opportunity. It doesn’t mean you shift your goals aimlessly. Having a clear and simple plan will do wonders for your ability to navigate through life’s challenges while pursuing your ambitions. I was at a challenging point when the idea that I could start a dance company confronted me. I had a whirlwind of difficult situations that led me to leave the comforts of dancing with the Dance Theatre of Harlem in New York, where I received the Princess Grace Scholarship. I enjoyed touring both Nationally and Internationally. The problem was returning to New York, which immediately caused anxiety upon returning. All of the fascinating things to me when visiting became annoying as a place of permanent residence. I knew my time in New York was limited even though I loved and cherished my Dance Theatre of Harlem community.

After returning from an injury suffered during the second leg of the historic U.S.S.R. Tour in Tbilisi and being compelled to return to New York for Arthroscopic Knee surgery, my spirits were low. I saw a part of New York that I had not imagined as a young athletic man. It was tough to navigate my way around with crutches carrying four or five bags of groceries up five flights of stairs. Oh yeah, no elevator! These situations help you see what’s important to you. I remembered when Donald Williams, a principal dancer with the Dance Theatre of Harlem, returned from an injury and noticed that he had gained weight. Low and behold, I would be in the same position after returning from my injury. Getting around New York was difficult, and the people were not very patient or courteous. The only place I would go was to physical therapy and the grocery store.

After healing, my last tour was to Philadelphia, and I didn’t want to leave the hotel on my day off. I was ready to be done with New York and the East Coast. I auditioned previously for Loyce Holton, a choreographer and dance legend and the Minnesota Dance Theatre founder in New York at the Broadway Dance Center. I was offered a contract for a merging company Ballet Michigan with Ballet Minnesota in dual cities. After receiving this offer, I would take a ballet class in North Carolina taught by Salvatore Aiello with Nena Gilreath (Dance Theatre of Harlem and Ballethnic Dance Company) and Mel Tomlinson (Dance Theatre of Harlem and New York City Ballet). I was helping Nena move her things from New York because she received a contract offer from the Atlanta Ballet, and we stopped through her home to visit family in North Carolina on the way to Atlanta. Sal would offer us both contracts, but Nena had given her verbal acceptance of the Atlanta Ballet contract to Artistic Director Robert Barnett.

I considered the offer by Sal but was also considering the proposal by Loyce Houlton and the opportunity to dance part-time in my home state of Michigan. When we arrived in Atlanta, I took a company class, and the Atlanta Ballet rolled out the red carpet for me to consider signing there. They put me up in a fancy hotel and wined and dined me. I would realize later that the wealthy black business people who were part of a special committee to hire black dancers for the company challenged the Ballet. Christopher Kirby, Cubie Burke, Rite Blackson, and Nena Gilreath already had four. I was the last one signed. The history-making number of five professional black ballet dancers in a professional regional ballet company was confirmed by Helen Smith of The Atlanta Journal and Constitution.

Eventually, I would realize that the Atlanta Ballet was only interested in having black dancers because of the money from the black business people and corporate executives. They would renege on the agreement’s details, blaming the committee of black business people for failing to come up with the financing. Still, in reality, they were unable to invest resources in maintaining that historic number of black ballet dancers. I was hired last and learned a lesson about the so-called verbal agreement; Nena, who was my girlfriend at the time and would eventually become my wife of 30 years on July 27th, believed in the integrity of your word and honoring your commitments. I left the Atlanta Ballet and worked at a pizza shop called Speedy Pizza and Hooters to pay my bills. I would not sit back and let Nena use her money to pay the bills.

This situation was a testament to my character because many would have let this setback become an excuse for giving up. I continued to take my dance classes to keep in shape at International Ballet Rotaru, which would become a company that rivaled the Atlanta Ballet temporarily before folding due to financial mismanagement. I continued working odd jobs and working as a guest dancer with various dance companies nationally. I would book some good modeling jobs like the one with Van Grack out of Portland, working several fashion shows at the Ritz Carlton in Atlanta and Los Angeles. Navigating through obstacles and working with integrity and effort were critical for my success.

The last defining situation came when I auditioned with Nena for Heartstrings, a national tour supporting people who have AIDS. I learned that I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself. I wanted to impact society as a whole and uplift humanity. Heartstrings was an arduous tour that had us stranded on the side of the road in remote places like Nebraska with people driving by with confederate flags and rifles in their pickup trucks. We were a group of diversity that racists are quick to target. Being a black man from Detroit who also lived in rural parts of Michigan like Taylor, I had plenty of experience with these people who would throw beer bottles out of their trucks at me as a teenager. Fortunately, I could endure and rise above their efforts to suppress my ability to survive and thrive.

We completed our commitment to the Heartstrings Tour and decided not to return for a second tour. After the time, we met with choreographer and dance legend Louis Johnson, who choreographed the Wiz, and experienced the angst that we did setting a piece on the Atlanta Ballet. We met with him and Dr. Richard Long, a professor at Emory University; he was a respected author and academic scholar of black culture at Mick’s on Peachtree St., right down from the Atlanta Ballet. We offered to dance for him free of charge if he would move to Atlanta and start a company. He said, “if you are willing to dance for free for me, then you need to start the company,” Dr. Richard Long said, “I concur,” and that was the moment we considered starting our company. I mentioned to Nena that we should start a company and explained that I already had the name. She shifted and looked at me skeptically, prepared to disagree. When I said Ballethnic, there was a moment of silence, and then she agreed immediately. The idea had been born out of the struggle and, through more effort, would evolve into reality through sacrifice and hard work.

First, we contacted Mozel Spriggs of Spelman College and explained our plan to start a professional ballet company that would feature black dancers. Mrs. Spriggs became our board chair and introduced us to Judith Jamison (Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater), who wrote our first letter of support. Dr. Pearl Primus coached us for our first concert at Baldwin Burroughs Theater on the campus of Spelman College. Dr. Primus encouraged me to continue my process of experimenting with blending Ballet with African dance concepts. Shortly afterward, we incorporated the company and then applied for our non-profit status to get funding and have a means of financing this dream that was stretching our resources. We learned that there is no dance without finance, so we continued teaching locally and performing to pay the bills.

As you can see, this idea took time to develop because we had to endure the hard knocks of life to appreciate the amount of work required to be successful. We would adapt our schedules for taking dance classes to our working schedules because we knew that both were essential to our ultimate goal of building the necessary stability to obtain funding for the company. We learned the importance of having a space to work and create. After moving from Spelman to Grant Park Recreation Center, we knew our goal must be to acquire a headquarters that added validity to our business credentials. We moved into the Alpha Center owned by the fraternity, starting with two dance studios and office space and eventually expanding to have a utility/conference room. The key was obtaining a reasonable rental fee which enabled us to flourish. We added an academy to provide income for the dancers because we committed to contracts for the main dancers that were seasonal and allowed us to have dancers that were invested in our mission.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Ballethnic Dance Company Incorporated is based on a professional company, Ballethnic Dance Company, a school for training youth and adults, Ballethnic Academy of Dance, a preprofessional dance company for youth and young adults, Ballethnic Youth Ensemble, a special dance and mentoring program for boys and young men, Danseur Development Project, as well as outreach programs such as Creative Outlet for Youth, Beyond the Barre which is a mentoring program for girls. The Ballethnic Campus has the Ballethnic Community Garden and the Ballethnic Imani Memorial Garden. We provide Cultural Cul De Sac performances and events on our Ballethnic Outdoor Stage as well as inside in Ballethnic Studio A which also has a stage inside.

Ballethnic Academy of Dance provides Dance Camps and we produce full-length ballets such as Urban Nutcracker annually, The Leopard Tale, Jazzy Sleeping Beauty, Flyin’ West …the ballet based on Pearl Cleage’s play. We also perform original repertory works many with original musical compositions. We are among the few arts organizations that own our space outright. We invested in real estate specifically the properties on the block of the Ballethnic Dance Company where we provide affordable housing for our dancers at the Ballethnic Artist’s Residence. To address the need for additional parking we purchased the lot across the street from the Ballethnic Academy of Dance and invested in developing the property for overflow parking having the land graded and gravel put down. Our primary dancers have contracted approximately from September to May with an additional month for summer projects like the upcoming performances at The Kennedy Center. Our staff consists of three individuals, not including consultative specialists, board members, volunteers, and founders.

We are in the process of implementing our Capital Campaign based on the pro bono consultation by Perkins & Will. Our new logo was created by Vayner Media. Ballethnic just completed a powerful performance of our signature ballet that shows our unique blend of ballet and African dance placing the Africanized movements sur la pointe, The Leopard Tale at the Alliance Theatre. Our 2021/2022 season concludes with a tour to The Kennedy Center where we will perform in Reframing The Narrative along with the other two professional black ballet companies, Dance Theatre of Harlem and Collage Dance Collective. Ballethnic Cofounder Nena Gilreath is the only female Cofounder of the three black professional ballet companies. Ballethnic Dance Company is presenting works “Sanctity” and excerpts for “The Leopard Tale (The Mating Pas, and Spazzmz)” June 14 -19, 2022. Both of these works are composed by L. Gerard Reid who is a classically trained percussionist from the North Carolina School of the Arts. Ballethnic is grateful for the continued support of the Chestnut Family Foundation which has provided us with financial and consultative support allowing us to produce full seasons for the first time in our existence.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I believe our resilience and adherence to quality and integrity were crucial to our success. We pledged early on to work harder and smarter regarding our craft, our passion, and our business. We valued and maintained our authenticity when many others were chasing the hype of the latest fads. Being true to our community and adding value to humanity has always been paramount to our goals. We ambitiously dare to do what’s right over what’s easy. Our willingness to sacrifice personal gain for the good of the organization and community has not always been rewarding financially. Still, it provides us with a wealth of spirit that is priceless. At times, we have engaged in the bartering system to gain and share resources. Ultimately, our success and ability to overcome adversity and strife are based on our relationships, partnerships, and collaborations with individuals and organizations. We believe that people are more important than assets. Our assets allow us to help our people.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Word of mouth and personal engagement through performing and attending sharing remains the best method of gaining new clients in my opinion. I look at the quality of the clients, are they committed to learning and uplifting the culture of the organization. The promotion of our organization by those who share spirited testimonials is valuable. Recommendations are very important. One of my most prized recommendations came from the late great Denise Jefferson former Artistic Director of the Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble/Ailey II. She consistently recommended me and Ballethnic to people and organizations like Cirque du Soleil.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ballethnic.org
• Instagram: @ballethnic
• Facebook: @BallethnicDanceCompany
• Linkedin: @ballethnic
• Twitter: @ballethnic
• Youtube: BallethnicDance

Image Credits
Keiko Guest

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