‘My voice has evolved’: Choreographer returns to Charlotte Ballet with a new focus
Although he spent several years dancing here in the early aughts, choreographer Ja’ Malik didn’t expect to come back to Charlotte.
“I was very surprised that I got an invite,” said Ja’ Malik, who’s now based in Harlem. “I don’t know why, I had it in my head that I would never return to Charlotte.”
Ja’ Malik, 42, grew up idolizing the Charlotte Ballet — then North Carolina Dance Theatre — and danced with the company in the early 2000s.
On Feb. 4, he’ll get what he called a “reintroduction” to the city through his choreographic work, “gypsy moths.” It’s one of three works featured in “Innovative 1970,” Charlotte Ballet’s new repertoire that celebrates the year of the company’s founding.
The repertoire, part of the Ballet’s Innovative Works series, highlights the work of three emerging Black choreographers of different ages, all born after 1970.
The choreographers — which also include Chicago-based Rena Butler and Charlotte Ballet dancer Andrés Trezevant — took inspiration for the works from the literature, music, politics and design of the period.
“I’m extremely honored, extremely happy to be asked to come back,” Ja’ Malik said. “A reintroduction of myself through what I am now as a choreographer was really exciting for me because my voice has definitely evolved.”
Bringing back Labelle
For Ja’ Malik’s take on the 1970 theme, he drew his inspiration from the music of Labelle, a Black female music group that reigned in the ‘60s and early ‘70s.
Growing up in Cleveland and Harlem, Ja’ Malik remembers his family playing the band’s songs. “My mom loved this music, my aunts loved this music, (so did) everyone in my neighborhood,” he said. “I mean, people in the Black community know Labelle. They’re everything.
“For me, it’s always important as a choreographer to and especially as a Black choreographer to use the art of choreography to show my stories and my history and my journey,” he said.
Labelle was the first Black pop group to perform at the Metropolitan Opera House, and pushed for social change in the lyrics of their songs, Ja’ Malik said.
“They broke ground,” he said. “They were speaking about everything that no one else was really talking about during that time: gay rights, human rights, civil rights, women’s rights, Black rights.”
Ja’ Malik was also inspired by Charlotte Ballet dancer Raven Barkley, who he saw perform in an Innovative Works show right before lockdown began in 2020. “I knew I wanted to highlight her and celebrate her as a Black ballerina through the music of LaBelle,” he added.
Ja’ Malik described his choreographic style as “physically emotional.” Expect a lot of ballet technique — but reimagined in a more modern way that’s far from old world classics like “The Nutcracker” or “Sleeping Beauty.”
“I believe in the ballet technique… It’s what I grew up doing, what I’m enamored with,” he said. “But I also love the emotional aspect of dance.”
The title for the piece, “gypsy moths” comes from the Labelle song of the same name, with the lyric “the gypsy moths dance and sing the night away.”
“That’s what we’re basically doing in this piece,” he said. “They’re dancing the night away, truly.”
Coming back to his art
“Gypsy moths” is a part of one other reintroduction for Ja’ Malik: his own journey in rediscovering dance.
After being named a “choreographer to watch” by the New York Times in 2010, he struggled to find opportunities or receive commissions for his work. So, just before the pandemic, Ja’ Malik took a step back from the dance world and took an executive job at a fashion retail company.
“I took a break,” he said. “I took a much-needed break and said, if the universe is ready, then the opportunity will come.”
But, as the pandemic shuttered theaters and performances everywhere ground to a halt, Ja’ Malik reconnected with the art form he’d loved since childhood.
“For me, the pandemic has actually been a little bit of a blessing,” he said. “It gave me a time to recreate myself and rethink how I can approach this in a way that’s no longer about getting a commission or getting this approval or this praise.”
Now, he’s “working constantly” as a choreographer and is the happiest he’s ever been, he said. Choreographing “gypsy moths” has been “a full circle moment” for him, he said.
“I’m just happy that I’m in a place now… (of) knowing that I’m a crafter of great dance,” he said. “I stand in that today, so it’s exciting.”
Butler’s piece will touch on the women’s movement in 1970. And Trezevant’s work will explore the trauma faced by veterans, inspired by the experiences of those who served in Vietnam.
Want to go?
Innovative 1970 opens Feb. 4 at the Patricia McBride and Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux Center for Dance in uptown. Performances run through Feb. 26.
For more information: visit the Charlotte Ballet’s website, charlotteballet.org
You’ll need to wear a mask and show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative test to attend.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified where Ja’ Malik is currently based. He is based in Harlem.
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This story was originally published February 3, 2022 at 11:02 AM.
