British Vogue - Stage Beauty
Growing up, I loved dance. And so I spent years taking African, hip-hop and jazz classes at my local studio in Queens, New York. While I also greatly admired classical ballet, even as a child I was acutely aware of how, aesthetically, Black dancers had to fit in with Eurocentric beauty ideal. Then I discovered Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Going to its show and seeing dancers who looked like me was thrilling. The stories on the stage were told through exquisite movement and music, and they were also told through hair.