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I'm at Ballet Revolucion, a Cuban dance company. When I arrived in line, a White man looked alarmed and asked "Are you here to see the ballet?" as if I was lost, contrary to the lining up and ticket in hand. I suspected the Caucasity level would be high. It's critical. /Thread
The audience is about 98% White. Age range from 10 to 80+ years, but average age is probably 60.
I'm in Row A. I'm ecstatic to see a show by fellow #Latins. We are so few in Australia & not many events celebrate our various cultures. As usual though, White people ruin everything
From the first song, White people are talking non stop, being ignorant. The couple behind me are drunk, criticising every move ("I hate when they can't open their legs properly!") He slurs to the English songs & gibberish to Spanish bits. I have to turn around and ask him to stop
Ok I'm back. The show was amazing! But the White devils did not let up. Peak White supremacy was during a beautiful and dramatic routine. The crowd started howling with laughter. It was so awful.
Why?
The dancers onstage were all men. And topless.
Brown & Black men. #latins
White Australians are rarely near #POC, even in Sydney, our most cosmopolitan city.
The sight of powerful Black & Brown bodies elicits laughter because by being exposed, they are sexualised by the White gaze. They are not artists. They are Other. Dangerous.
The Whites hoot.
Colonialism is a history of marking Black & Brown bodies as uncivilized. In 2013, I was lucky to see The Australian Ballet perform Vanguard. One of the three acts has all the dancers - men & women - dancing topless the entire time. Guess how many audience members laughed? ZEROpic.twitter.com/U88gJZHq1i
The dancers of Ballet Revolucion aren't given the same reverence. Instead, older White woman behind me pronounces loudly: "That got me hot!" [Laughs] The White woman two seats away from me says, "That makes two of us!" [Cackles]
How would this go if #POC behaved so audaciously?pic.twitter.com/GRbnjxyhws
Sure, for some routines, the performance plays up sensuality, at others, the dancers joke, or ask us to clap. This song was about tenderness & strength. That's why they laughed. White people can't handle complexity of men of colour, so they laugh, as they've always ridiculed us
White people are incredibly disrespectful. If you follow me on Instagram, you'd know I often share what happens to me at art galleries & shows. At the Latin Film Festival last week, White women were talking & making fun of the films
Just another day as a #POC in racist Australia
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