Artists of color weigh possibility of forming their own groups
Editor’s note: This article is part of the series “Race & Space: Making Orlando Arts More Inclusive,” an ongoing look at issues surrounding equity for people of color within Orlando’s arts scene.
In the 1980s, Julie Coleman’s daughter was studying dance when a white instructor said the little Black girl had to “break that wiggling thing” in her movement.
“That was the birth of my school,” said Coleman, a professional dancer who operated the Orlando School of Cultural Dance from 1988-2016. “I decided to create a place where a child, no matter what, could be themselves.”
A decade later, Canara Price was tired of seeing theater companies present stories of Black people only during February, observed as Black History Month.
“I recognize I’m Black every day,” she said. “I have Black experiences every day that could engage audiences.” She established the People’s Theatre in Orlando during the late 1990s to bring such experiences to the stage yearround. It closed in 2008 after Price left for New York City.
The two organizations illustrate a complicated question raised by people of color: If they aren’t fairly represented in the established arts community, should they just go their own way?
Local actor-activist Stelson Telfort says yes.
“The problem isn’t our problem. The problem is from the white people. It is up to them to fix the problem,” said Telfort during an online discussion on race and Orlando’s arts scene presented by the Central Florida Entertainment Advocacy Forum. “It is time to eliminate this mindset of ‘ We need you guys.’ ”
Kenneth Brown founded Cultural Fusion in 2015 to bring dance, music and theater representative of minority voices to Orlando.
“I don’t feel that white theater
always gives a Black show the same quality of production,” Brown said. “They produce Black shows for white audiences. Black theaters produce Black shows for diverse audiences.”
But there are challenges to gaining traction as a culturespecific arts group in Central Florida.
“I’ve seen a lot of people come and go,” Coleman said. “I’ve seen people die trying.” Organizations such as Orlando Black Theatre and Orlando Black Essential Theatre pop up but flourish only for a time. Brown’s Cultural Fusion has been dormant the past few years.
“As I’m learning more about systemic and inherent racism, I think the history of small groups coming and going is reflective of the difficulties of institutions developing,” said Terry Olson, director of Orange County Arts & Cultural Affairs.
Often, in terms of experience and finances, culturally specific groups start at a disadvantage.
“They may not have access to the same deep-pocketed board members,” said Olson, who is white.
And it often requires deep pockets to rent performance spaces.
Beverly Page has presented “Clare and the Chocolate Nutcracker” — her adaptation of the popular Christmas ballet — for 15 years. In her version, the family at the center of the story is Black and the dancing includes not just ballet but dance traditions from around the globe.
She now has written a companion book and designed “Chocolate” nutcrackers. She sells the items to raise money for the next production, which she hopes will be in 2021 at the forthcoming Steinmetz Hall.
“I started selling products because I couldn’t find the financing to afford places like the Dr. Phillips Center,” she said. In the past, “when I didn’t have funds, I went into my own pockets.”
And it wasn’t easy to see groups with bigger names get a bigger piece of the funding pie.
“I think I get treated differently,” Page said. “When others get $10,000, I get $1,000. That’s sad.”
That feeling of being outside
the establishment can sting.
“What I found is that it was us versus them,” Coleman said, “and that’s never a good thing.”
Brown experienced it, too: “I wasn’t always received as I would have liked to have been,” he said.
Though he counted Orlando commissioner Regina Hill, who is Black, as “one of our biggest supporters,” Brown said other city officials would offer encouragement but then not show up for performances.
“That was disappointing,” Brown said.
The challenges aren’t deterring Paul Castañeda, who in mid-August announced he would start a theater company called Colors y Colores Collaborative. Castañeda, of Cuban descent, will serve as co-artistic director alongside Dennis Neal, who is Black. Wife Leesa Castañeda will be managing director.
“The whole purpose of what we’re doing is to give voice to communities in theater that have not had ample voice before,” said Paul Castañeda, who previously directed the Greater Orlando Actors Theatre. That company often cast actors of color, but this new endeavor will take that mission even further, he said.
“We’re looking to elevate actors, directors, writers, tech people. We want to elevate all of it,” Castañeda said in an online video announcing the Colors y Colores Collaborative.
“It’s something that’s long overdue, and I really believe in my heart that we’re going to make some magic,” Neal said.
Central Florida could see more multiculturally focused organizations in the months to come. Both Price and Coleman are looking at reviving their organizations, and Brown says he is interested in producing shows in Orlando again.
That’s because despite the challenges, people of color say the rewards of a cultural, community-based arts organization go far beyond entertainment.
Page, who works for the Osceola County School District, was moved to create “Clare and the Chocolate Nutcracker” to inspire students — young people who weren’t seeing themselves represented on Central Florida stages.
Coleman’s dance school expanded into an afterschool program that also helped children academically and taught them life skills.
At the Central Florida Entertainment Advocacy Forum discussion, Price said those who go the route of creating their own group will need plenty of likeminded help.
“Get your support group together and make them look like you,” she said of her People’s Theatre strategy. “I set it up so it was our people, so I didn’t feel alone.”
But does a racial or cultural separation lead to a kind of artistic apartheid?
Some Central Florida Latinx theater producers have found success by presenting shows in Spanish — eliminating those who don’t speak the language from the potential audience.
In one online discussion, Entertainment Advocacy Forum founder Meka King expressed her concern about seeing Black theater sidelined as “outside the mainstream” or “niche theater.”
“This is the mainstream, and this is what the Black people are doing,” she said. “We need to tell our stories, but we need to be present in the mainstream.”
That’s partly because art is designed to bring people together, the creative leaders said.
“When I do it, I invite the community as a whole,” said Page of her holiday show. “Because it’s ‘chocolate,’ doesn’t mean it has to be for one race or group. We want everyone to embrace the rich diversity.”
Being exposed to the stories, traditions and art of another culture is a nonthreatening way to start conversations about race for children and adults, the arts leaders said.
“Theater is a great space to explore and bridge some of those gaps of understanding” between cultures, Price said. “I think that is very, very important to the development of the human race.”
“I was happy when people would come to me after a show and say, ‘I wasn’t aware,’ ” Brown said. “Part of my mission was educating them through the art.”
Castañeda said though his new group would highlight nonwhite voices, it wasn’t the intent to exclude white people.
“We want to work together with our Anglo brothers and sisters,” he said.
That doesn’t always happen, Coleman said. She recalled staging multicultural extravaganzas at the Bob Carr Theater with dancers and choreographers from Senegal and the Congo, among other places.
“But our white counterparts didn’t show up,” she said. “The climate of the arts is very separatist.”
In the online discussion, Price addressed the challenges of remaining visible — and how constant effort was required to be included in the larger arts community.
“Go to all those meetings of United Arts,” she said. “Go to all those theater forums. Make them see you.”