DONNELL I remember being at barre on the first day, in Studio 3 with the beautiful red brick, and not having ever experienced seeing a multitude of beautiful Black and brown skin, I was like, “Oh, this is different.”
WILLIAMS It was for my audition. There was this big picture of Arthur Mitchell and the red brick. And then putting on brown tights for the first time — I knew I couldn’t show up in pink tights. But I had never really danced in brown tights. So it’s not like they matched my skin tone or anything. A total giveaway that it was my first time in the building.
What’s the tea on Dance Theater auditions? Tell me about yours.
WILLIAMS In 2010 there were whispers on the street that Virginia Johnson was coming back and she’s going to start the new D.T.H. Black ballet dancers in New York City were asking, “Is this really happening?”
Anyone who’s auditioned for D.T.H. knows it’s not an easy audition. I didn’t know if I got it right away. I called my mom as I was walking back to the subway down Sugar Hill on St. Nick and I said, “Oh my gosh, Mom. I walked into that building and it felt like I had come home.” Virginia hired me for the Ensemble, and I’ve been with the company ever since.
SILVA Mr. Mitchell hired me in 2008, and I still make jokes about the long audition, too. He saw a lot of things in me that I didn’t. I was very shy and the language thing didn’t help at first because I was discovering everything. I remember doing barrel turns in class and he would say, “You have to look up, you have to come to the front and be present. You didn’t come all the way from Brazil to look at the floor.”
DONNELL Virginia hired me in 2012, and I remember how long the audition was because you went through the ballet class: barre, center, and classical variation. And then they didn’t call my number. I was really upset, but they were still going to do partnering, so I decided to stay by the door to take off my pointe shoes. They had an extra man and I heard, “Hey, Lindsey, why don’t you just do partnering with him?” And so I put a thousand percent in the partnering section and ended up getting the job.
