Dancing is more than a performance, it is progress. Donald Washington started their first ballet class early in college, noting the intense level of difficulty. After hours of classes focused on stretching, muscle toning, and technique drills, Washington would barely even be able to stand. Their ballet teacher recognized their potential with such physical dedication and mental strength, later giving them guidance for improved dancing. Washington now dances and performs in a professional theater, and they feel they owe a special debt to their teacher and those ballet shoes. We endure challenging lessons because of the reward, whether that be physical or mental. For some, learning comes from a classroom. For others, it comes from dancing. You grow from it, but it also grows with you.
Listen to Donald’s story in their words:
This object is part of the “Personal Growth” section of the Artifacts of Experience exhibition designed by University of Cincinnati students in the “Introduction to Public History” course in 2023.
We encourage you to explore the other objects in our collection.
Transcript
Kobi Morgan [KM]: Okay, why did you choose your ballet shoes as the object for my project?
Donald Washington [DW]: Why did I choose the ballet shoes? Well, they’re special to me. They’re my first ballet shoes, well, my first and only. They’re from my first dance class; they’re the first thing I got for dancing after I got a big lead role. So yeah.
[KM]: What does it mean to you?
[DW]: For me, it kind of means progress. Like, these were my first and they were from the first dance class. And I just remember how that dance class went. It was very, very, very bad. And now that I’m considered like, I’m doing professional theater now, it just means progress.
[KM]: When you look at the ballet shoes, what memories does it conjure for you?
[DW]: The memories that it conjures… The ballet slippers- ballet slippers? The ballet shoes. They remind me, like I said, of my first dance class from with a dance teacher who I have now worked with professionally, which is like, kind of cool to me. Yeah, just remembering that she saw a lot of potential she saw like, ‘Hey, you can dance, you can definitely move very well. You just haven’t had the training.’ And just having conversations with her about my dancing and her adjusting my body to make it more tall and long and blah, blah, blah. So yeah.
[KM]: What is your favorite story to tell about the shoes?
[DW]: Well, my favorite story to tell about these shoes is, well… One day, my ballet teacher was drilling hard, drilling us hard, like, ‘Technique, technique technique’, that entire day. So, we had been stretching and doing muscle workouts for about an hour, and by the end of it, I pretty much could not move my legs. But we still have to do our bows and whatnot. So, I’m like, while we’re doing the bows- and I think I was the only one who was like shaking as I was like, bending down. And yeah, by the end of that I kind of just lay flat on the floor for a little bit and just sat there. But yeah, that’s my favorite story.
[KM]: Okay, and how would you say this relates to our concept of educational objects?
[DW]: How would that relate to educational objects? Well, like anything, with dance you have to learn it. It’s something that you achieve and grow, that grows with you over time. And yeah, I think for every dancer, their ballet slippers are a special part of that. They’re a special part of them, and their first is always important to them. Sometimes those first ballet shoes come with them when they’re a child and sometimes they’re when you’re an adult
[KM]: How did you get your object?
[DW]: How did I get my shoes? Well, I bought them. I bought them from a dance company that is well known, but I cannot remember the name for the life of me. But yeah, I just got them from a dance company.
