36 Years Later, Ebony II Dances On
BY MAKINI ALLWOOD
In a narrow underground hallway last Saturday night, women as young as 17 were seen scantily clad in fishnet stockings and short skirts.
Their outfits paled in comparison however next to those worn by their male counterparts, who pushed the fashion envelope even further with black leather short shorts, S&M chains, ripped shirts and generous gobs of makeup.
This wasn’t a Las Vegas dressing room or behind-the-scenes at a cabaret, though.
It was, rather, the basement of the Sayles-Hill Campus Center at Carleton College, where over one hundred Carleton College student dancers prepared to appear in the Oct. 24 performance of the Ebony II Dance Company.
The student-run presentation featured thirteen student-choreographed dances performed to a soundtrack including “Jai Ho” from Slumdog Millionaire, and “Let’s Get Physical” by Olivia Newton John.
The Ebony II Dance Company was founded in 1973 by then-Carleton sophomore Debra R. McCray as a part of the Black History Week Observance Program in Carleton’s Concert Hall. The company then consisted of 20 African-American students who came from Carleton, St. Olaf and Northfield High School.
Creating Bonds
The original company toured venues in Minneapolis, Northfield and around Minnesota. According to McCray, she chose the name “Ebony” for connotations drawn from “a hard, heavy dark, durable wood.”
Meanwhile the somewhat mysterious “II” was in the name from the beginning, deriving from the fact that McCray founded the company during her sophomore year at Carleton.
Now 36 years old, Ebony II has changed greatly from its original small, all-African American, jazz dance-based company.
Today the number of participants has grown tenfold and its members include all races, serving Ebony’s explicit mission to create bonds between Carleton students.
According to one of the four Ebony directors, Claire Brookemeyer, joining the Ebony troupe is a great way for students to make new friends.
“Ebony is a place for networking,” Brookmeyer said. “Seniors meet freshman, humanities majors meet science majors, and sports players meet couch potatoes.”
Pelvic Thrust
Ebony also exposes non-dancers to the world of dance. No auditions are needed as the company accepts anyone who wants to join.
The dances choreographed range in difficulty from the lyrical jazz style that marked Ebony’s early years, to dances where the only skill needed is the pelvic thrust.
The students practice twice a week for each dance they perform. Practice begins from the first week of the term until, sometimes, only hours before the final performance.
“Ebony is a way to get people dancing and to get people on stage who don’t normally get to dance or be on stage,” Brookemeyer said.
Copyright @ 2009 Pressville
Most of the black students at Carleton find the continued use of the name “Ebony” slightly distasteful– AFAIK no black upperclassmen participate in Ebony anymore.
I JUST READ THIS ARTICLE….THANKS SO MUCH FOR CONTINUING THE VISION I HAD FOR EBONY II !!
CONGRATS ON YOUR PERFORMANCE
– DEBRA McCRAY, FOUNDING DIRECTOR
AFAIK no black upperclassmen participate in Ebony anymore.
Well, unless you count Ebony II directors. And participants.
I think Shii’s comment is very interesting because I wasn’t aware of that sentiment but I agree with Hmm. I am a black student at Carleton and I participate in Ebony and one of the current directors is a black student as well. If your argument is that “Ebony” is distasteful because of the lack of black student participants then it would be more effective if there weren’t any black participants.
In addition I think it is cool that even though the company itself has strayed from its Afr. American roots that the name still reflects its rich past.