Nadyne Bispo is our My Brown Ballerina for the month of August! She resides in Woodstock, GA. Nadyne comes to the US from Brazil where she started dancing when she was four (4) years old. Currently, Nadyne is a dancer with the Atlanta Ballet. She understands how cherished and regarded the art of Ballet is for white people. She felt that being a brown/black ballerina in a predominantly white art, left her feeling like she had to prove her self over and over because of the skin the is in. The feeling of having to be ten (10) times better was a challenge.
Often, Nadyne felt alone and isolated as she was always the only brown/black ballerina or dancer. This has been the case for the past three (3) seasons. Although she is very grateful to be a part of the company, she does feel lonely. She is happy that she adds to the diversity as her mixed race is both black and Latina. Nadyne cites others who are also making an impact to ensure diversity in ballet such as Jonathan Batista, a fellow brown/black Brazilian. Jonathan is the first principal black dancer at PNB.
Nadyne believes there should be more efforts made to ensure that companies become more diverse with hiring other brown/black dancers.
You may find Nadyne Bispo at her upcoming performance at the La Sylphide in September 2023.
Nadyne may be found on Instagram at: @nadynebispo.