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VETERAN AFFAIR


AT


DALLAS BLACK DANCE THEATRE by Ramona Logan


Claude Alexander III and Sean J. Smith have taken on many roles as their dance careers advanced at Dallas Black Dance Theatre over the past decade. Not only are they the reigning veteran dancers at the 43-year-old company, they have both choreographed full-company works with world premieres in Dallas. They have utilized other talents to enhance the dance experience on the stage, and now they have also taken on leadership roles with the company as assistant rehearsal directors. Their careers with DBDT started with the uncertainty of auditions for the 2010-2011 season. Sean J. Smith flew in from New York City to audition with no Plan B. “I bought a one-way ticket because that was all I could afford and crossed my fingers that I got the job,” said Smith. “I don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t get it.” When Claude Alexander III auditioned in the summer of 2010, he got a callback for the second company. He says his journey started with, “Oh, I don’t know how this will go. They want me for the second company. I don’t think I will move across the country for that. I came to the callback, where Mrs. Williams (DBDT founder) had me doing phrases over and over and over. She brought me into her office the next day and offered me a spot in the main company.” “Mrs. Williams was


very demanding,” Smith


explained. “She wasn’t always in the studio, but when she was, it was definitely time to pull up. She was not the kind of person to stand up and show you how to do something. Mrs. Williams would explain to you very clearly what she wanted to see. She may not have demonstrated dance movements, but she knew those ballets.” The veteran dancers say practicing consistency has kept them on top of their game in their profession for ten years at DBDT. “I would have to say dancing with Sean this long is one of the best examples of what consistency looks like,” said Alexander.


the same time.” Their tours with DBDT have taken them to Belize and Canada, as well as performances at the Cultural Olympiad festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, in conjunction with the 2012 Olympic Games. In addition, Alexander traveled to Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia with several DBDT dancers as part of a six-month cultural exchange with Association MakeDox, a creative documentary film company based in Skopje, where Claude was the selected as the choreographer for the collaborative film called The Way of Clave. They have also worked with notable choreographers such as Alvin Ailey American Dance


Theatre Associate Artistic Director


Matthew Rushing, Bessie Award-winning dancer/ choreographer Hope Boykin, Elisa Monte, Darrell Grand Moultrie, and Dianne McIntyre. “The growth in a repertory company is required because we have been doing new pieces of choreography


every


The Parts They Left Out photo by SharenBradford overly embellished or extra. It is simple. It is clean. It is musical. It is very personal, and I think it is very revealing of the person you are as the dancer inside and out. My dream would be to perform it to a live piano.” Smith performed Reflections in D during the DBDT Cultural Awareness series, February 2019 at the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre. “My favorite and most challenging solo was Mourner’s Bench choreographed by Talley Beatty. It is part of a larger work called Southern Landscape,” said Alexander. “It is very challenging watching any male take on the solo because you are using the bench as a prop. You have to do all these rolls and balances and not fall off the bench, all while being committed and authentically telling the story of mourning the loss of your community. It is pretty heavy. But I love to take on roles that challenge me both physically and emotionally at


“The way that he practices what he


preaches really keeps me on my game. The way this man is disciplined, is like none other.” Smith says the discipline is more than just rehearsing and staying fit. “I think staying at your best is really consistency in every way you can, meaning eat right, drink plenty of water, prepare for the day, and you stay your best.” A proud Canadian, Smith grew up in Vancouver. He trained with Goh Ballet Academy, Ballet British Columbia’s Mentor Program, and The Ailey School. A native of Washington D.C., Alexander began his training with Spirit Wings Dance Co., and additionally with The Ailey School and Parsons Dance. He graduated from Towson University. The dancers reminisce about their favorite and challenging solos as artists. “My absolute favorite solo is Reflections in D choreographed by Alvin Ailey. Dudley Williams restaged it. I remember practicing it every day when I was home in Vancouver for the summer,” reflected Smith. “The solo is simple. It’s only a few minutes long with music by Duke Ellington. There is nothing that is


6 • DANCE NORTH TEXAS • FEBRUARY – APRIL 2020 7 • DANCE NORTH TEXAS • FEBRUARY – APRIL 2020 single year,” explained


Smith. “You are always working with new choreographers who have a different wealth of knowledge. You have to transform like a chameleon and adapt in your own body and translate this vocabulary.” Alexander and Smith also pull from other talents to add to their dance presence on stage. “When you show you have a talent or a strength somewhere, especially with Mrs. Williams, Melissa too, it will be used to its fullest,” explained Smith. “Yes, it will,” laughed Alexander. “Tribute was a really good example where Claude was singing and I was tap dancing,” continued Smith. “So it is nice to have those personal touches and contribute to that piece and perform it. It was good to tap into our other talents.” The company veterans mentor younger dancers in the DBDT company as well as DBDT: Encore!. Their best advice to younger dancers is always to have a Plan B while performing.


Etudes and Elegy photo by Sharen Bradford


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