TCB June 16, 2022 — Breaking Pointe by Triad City Beat

JUNE 16-22, 2022 TRIAD-CITY-BEAT.COM

After Jan. 6 pg. 11

Banh me! pg. 14

Brunchin’ while Black pg. 12

BREAKING POINTE A defection at Greensboro Ballet, and what comes after by Sayaka Matsuoka | pg. 4

UP FRONT | JUNE 16 - 22, 2022

EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK:

The road back

June 17-July 3

THE GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER CENTER

950 Martin Luther King Dr. Asheboro, NC

Tickets at rhinoleap.com

BUSINESS PUBLISHER/EXECUTIVE EDITOR Brian Clarey

brian@triad-city-beat.com

PUBLISHER EMERITUS Allen Broach

allen@triad-city-beat.com

OF COUNSEL

Charlie Marion

charlie@triad-city-beat.com

SALES KEY ACCOUNTS Chris Rudd

chris@triad-city-beat.com

Jonathan Jones

AD MANAGER

EDITORIAL MANAGING EDITOR

noah@triad-city-beat.com

Sayaka Matsuoka

sayaka@triad-city-beat.com

CHIEF CONTRIBUTORS Suzy Fielders James Douglas

james@triad-city-beat.com

1451 S. Elm-Eugene St. Box 24, Greensboro, NC 27406 Office: 336.681.0704 ART WEBMASTER Sam LeBlanc ART DIRECTOR

Noah Kirby

CONTRIBUTORS

Carolyn de Berry, John Cole, Owens Daniels, Luis H. Garay, Kaitlynn Havens, Jordan Howse, Matt Jones, Autumn Karen, Michaela Ratliff, Jen Sorensen, Todd Turner

PHOTOGRAPHY INTERN Juliet Coen

COVER: Former Greensboro Ballet dancers Michela Semenza, Elisa Arauz and Kira Arauz along with Artistic Director Jessica Fry McAlister pose in their new dance space at Gate City Dance Theatre. Photo by Juliet Coen, design by Charlie Marion

ighway Island in the ensuing years: on the 29 runs trails of Eisenhower Park, the boardright walks of Long Beach, virtually every past my paved road and bike path in our neighborhood, hometown. He brought it to North accessible four Carolina when he moved here, but by Brian Clarey different ways in he could never handle the hills. Long two different directions. Hop on the Island is flat; Greensboro is not. And northbound side for long enough he was getting old, even then. and it will take you through the So it sat under a tarp in his backVirginia foothills near Charlottesville, yard for approximately five years, its up into the northeastern fringe of tires flattening and a patina of rust the Blue Ridge Mountains and then developing on its faded paint job back down again right outside our like a scabby rash. Until I strapped nation’s capital. it to the back of my car, drove it up That’s where we met up early on against those mountains and then Saturday morning, back down again in a parking garage to place in the We met up Saturday back of a Volvo behind the hotel, to honor my dead belonging to a very morning, to honor father with the exold friend. my dead father with change of a Raleigh He dropped it off the exchange of a Tourist bicycle nearly at the bike shop 50 years old. before he even got Raleigh Tourist Bob bought the back to his house bicycle nearly 50 Raleigh the same in New York City, years old. year my sister and dialing up a new I got our first bikes. gearshift cable, Mine was a sweet, army-green new brake pads, city tires and a mini with a metallic silver banana touch-up on the chrome. He’ll have seat; my sister’s bright yellow with it on the streets before the Fourth vinyl flowers. Bob’s bike was like a of July. Cadillac: a matte-black steel frame Back in New York, Bob’s bike will made in England, a thumb-activated have a new life rolling through Hargearbox controlling three dependlem and upper Manhattan, Central able speeds, two-tone fenders, Park, the Rockaways, maybe even whitewall tires, a slim, aluminum make it back to Long Beach if my pump that clipped into the crossbar friend is so inclined to take it there. and a fancy leather seat known as I drove back home without it, an English Saddle. feeling lighter, up the mountains and He rode that bike all over Long then back down.

by MICHAELA RATLIFF

THURSDAY June 16

FRIDAY June 17

Juneteenth @ the People’s Market (GSO) 5:30 p.m.

Classic Country Concert Series @ Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Annex 7:30 p.m.

Juneteenth Festival @ Bailey Park (W-S) 1 p.m. Triad Cultural Arts is hosting a weekend-long Juneteenth celebration, kicking off with an art exhibition at Milton Rhodes on Thursday, Juneteenth Scholarship Pageant on Friday and an all-day festival with vendors, entertainment and food on Saturday. For more information, visit triadculturalarts.org.

SUNDAY June 19

Jumpstart your Juneteenth weekend by stopping by the People’s Market for handcrafted, homemade and locally grown products. Following the market, head to Van Dyke Performance Space for Sistars of Juneteenth 22, musical performances highlighting local talent. Visit the event page on Facebook for more information. Send your events to calendar@triad-city-beat.com for consideration in City Life and the Weekender.

In partnership with WBRF 98.1, the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Annex presents the Classic Country Concert Series. On this day, enjoy the southern sounds of Aaron Tippin, Sammy Kershaw and Collin Raye. Visit the event page on Facebook for more information.

UP FRONT | JUNE 16 - 22, 2022

CITY LIFE JUNE 16-19

Arts Splash Concert Featuring Carolina Soul Band @ Mendenhall Transportation Terminal (HP) 6 p.m.

SATURDAY June 18 Father and Son Sports Day @ Southside Recreation Center (HP) 10 a.m. Fathers and sons are invited to celebrate Father’s Day weekend with games of basketball, soccer and more. Contact Southside Recreation Center at 336.883.3504 for more information.

The second concert in the Arts Splash summer concert series, hosted by High Point Arts Council, will feature Carolina Soul Band performing classic hits by Smokey Robinson, Temptations and more. The concert is free and open to the public. Visit HighPointArts.org and click on ‘calendar’ for more information.

VANPOOL Are you environmentally and budget conscious? Take a look at the Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation Vanpool program.

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Let us help you with your mobility needs. Visit PARTnc.org/Vanpool

NEWS | JUNE 16 - 22, 2022

NEWS

Breaking Pointe

Former Greensboro Ballet staff reveal why they left and what they’re doing now by Sayaka Matsuoka

JULIET COEN

A dancer ties her pointe shoes in the new Gate City Dance Theatre space. The company was started by Jessica Fry McAlister and David McAlister after they parted ways with Greensboro Ballet.

ears of unorganized management, unequal pay and differences in creative vision have caused a bulk of the staff at Greensboro Ballet to leave the organization in the past several months. In a series of interviews with Triad City Beat, former Greensboro Ballet dancers as well as the former artistic director are sharing their experiences of working at what they describe as an outdated, poorly managed organization that didn’t value them as employees. “What I felt like was the biggest problem was that it was very hard for them to understand that this is not a hobby,” said Jessica Fry McAlister, former artistic director of Greensboro Ballet. “This is not an afterschool activity. This is a legitimate career. Some of the dancers went to college and majored in this, and this is a job; this is not just for fun.” In March, McAlister said she was fired without warning. A week afterwards, three of the dancers resigned. And while the exodus of staff happened recently, McAlister said that the problems within Greensboro Ballet have existed for some time. In fact, she said, it felt a bit like déjà vu. From 1999-2003, McAlister danced with Greensboro Ballet, but was ultimately

let go for financial reasons. “They said all of the funding ran out and all seven of us dancers were let go,” McAlister said. “They said, ‘We’re so sorry, we can’t afford to keep you.’” In the years since leaving the first time, McAlister worked as principal dancer for the Ballet Theatre of Maryland, and as company dancer at both the Montgomery Ballet and the Winston-Salem Festival Ballet. In 2018, she returned to Greensboro Ballet. “They initially offered me a teaching position and a ballet mistressing position,” McAlister said. “But within the first year, they fired their artistic director and I came on as the interim artistic director.” While McAlister said she can’t talk about why the former artistic director was fired, she told TCB that Maryhelen Mayfield, who had been with the organization for 38 years, had been planning to retire. “It was time and people make mistakes and they asked me one morning, ‘Can you take over the position?’” McAlister recalled. “And I said, ‘Okay, sure.’” McAlister’s second stint with Greensboro Ballet was cut short this past March. This time, McAlister said, the organization’s leadership cited creative differences as the reason why.

‘We’re just a student company’

Creative differences cause a rift

NEWS | JUNE 16 - 22, 2022

“I felt suckerpunched,” McAlister said. TCB reached out to Greensboro Ballet leadership including Executive Director Jennifer Savage Gentry, members of the Greensboro Ballet board of directors and School Director Nina Bass Munda. When asked about McAlister’s termination as well as the exodus of the dancers, Gentry sent the following statement: “We want to acknowledge that there are many emotions right now for Jessica McAllister and the dancers who are no longer with the Greensboro Ballet. We want TCB to know that the board and the staff are truly committed to Greensboro Ballet moving forward and thriving. For now, our main concern/focus is providing continuity and elevating the training for our students. Regarding staffing changes, it is Greensboro Ballet’s policy not to discuss personnel-related issues, and it would be unethical.” McAlister, three former Greensboro Ballet dancers and a former student told TCB that they believed the organization’s board of directors, led by Board Chair Jennifer Jones, and Executive Director Jennifer Gentry, created an unhealthy environment. They cited lacks of professionality, of consistent pay and of communication and transparency as reasons why they left. Now, the group is working towards starting their own company, a place where they say ballet dancers can thrive. “I think it was maybe a little bit of a silver lining,” said David McAlister, Jessica McAlister’s husband and a former ballet dancer. “This has been mentally, physically and emotionally taxing for everyone involved. It has been so unbelievably hard on the dancers.”

NEWS

JULIET COEN

L-R: Jessica Fry McAlister, Kira Arauz, David McAlister, Elisa Arauz and Michela Semenza at the Gate City Dance Theatre.

essica McAlister started dancing when she was just ry than his future wife. three years old. And despite having brown hair and a 5-foot-3-inch “That’s very common,” Jessica McAlister explained. “Men get paid four times as frame, she found success within the ballet world, dancing for commuch as the women because there would be one of them for every 20 of us.” panies such as the Delta Festival Ballet, Ballet Austin and even the When Jessica came on as the interim artistic director at Greensboro Ballet in Joffrey II in New York City. 2018, she wanted to ensure her dancers were getting paid fairly. So, when McAlister got the opportunity to work in a creative leadership position “One of the biggest problems was because I brought the perspective of being at Greensboro Ballet after performing for years, she jumped at it. the professional dancer in addition to being a director, because I had experience, I “There aren’t a lot of female artistic directors,” David said. “We didn’t think knew how this was all supposed to be done,” she said. “I told them they should be she’d get an opportunity like this again.” paying the dancers a salary and how long the contracts were meant to be and what Despite the fact that a majority of dancers and students within ballet are women the average payment should be.” and girls, positions of power within ballet, including choreographers and artistic When she worked at Greensboro Ballet around 2001, Jessica said she was getting directors, are usually held by men. According to data collected by the Dance Data paid $325 per week. Project from 2021, 71 percent of artistic directors at the “That’s not uncommon,” McAlister said. “Anywhere 50 largest ballet companies in the US are male. During the between $300-600 per week is average, depending on the 2020-21 season, 69 percent of all ballets programmed at area.” those companies were by men, and during pre-pandemic However, when she rejoined Greensboro Ballet in 2018, years in 2019-2020, 72 percent were by men. Pay is an issue she found out that the pay for the four dancers she was as well. According to the Dance Data Project, in the 100 overseeing was unregulated and inconsistent. largest American ballet companies, women earned just 60 “We never knew what we were going to get paid,” said cents for every dollar men earned as artistic directors. For Kira Arauz, one of the dancers who worked at Greensboro executive director positions, they earned 80 cents for every Ballet from 2014 until April of this year. Kira Arauz dollar compared to men. And that kind of discrepancy exists “We never signed contracts for what we were going to when it comes to dancers, too. get paid or what we were doing,” added Michela Semenza, David and Jessica met at the Ballet School of Maryland another former Greensboro Ballet dancer who joined the organization in August in 2006. David had been dancing since he was 16 years old after starting in high 2021. “The guest dancers had contracts, but we didn’t. So it was always unclear school. He spent two years at UNC School of the Arts, and met Jessica when she how much we were being paid and why.” was the Ballet School of Maryland’s principal dancer and the highest-paid female Part of the confusion was because Semenza and the other dancers say they were at the company. But when David joined the company, he came on at a higher salaonly paid when they performed. Their time rehearsing in the studios, making cos-

We never knew what we were going to get paid.

NEWS | JUNE 16 - 22, 2022

NEWS

In the end, Semenza said she was paid $1,000 for dancing in five shows for Nutcracker and $500 for two Cinderella performances. “That’s not a normal price,” said Kira Arauz. “That’s on the low end of the industry for price per show.” In order to help pay her dancers more, McAlister pushed for the idea of Greensboro Ballet becoming a professional dance company. This would mean full-time, paid dancers, stagehands, production and wardrobe departments. Up until then, all of the extra work had been done by the dancers themselves, and they weren’t being paid for most of it, according to Jessica. “The Greensboro Ballet has none of that,” McAlister said. “We were very fortunate that we had two dancers who happened to be really good seamstresses.” Rather than having a designer or a costume director, McAlister said that Kira Arauz and her sister, Elisa, would stay up late and work on hand-stitching costumes using garments they would buy at TJ Maxx. “I said I understand that money in the arts is skimpy anyways,” McAlister said. “I told them that we can pay [the dancers] to perform with the understanding that we are working with them to get them to a salary, but after about a year and nothing was said, it was very clear that this was not the case, that they were not interested in that. “They said, ‘We’re just a student company,’” McAlister recalled. “I said, ‘No, I didn’t come to run a student company.” In November 2021, right before performances of the Nutcracker opened, Semenza, the Arauz sisters and one other dancer decided to bring their own concerns to the Greensboro Ballet board after they felt like McAlister’s attempts had failed. Kira had just hurt her back which acted as a glaring reminder that none of them had health insurance. “It was tough,” Semenza said. “We don’t get health insurance, we’re not getting paid enough at all. I mean how can she go see a doctor to keep going in this career?” When they requested to meet with the board members, they were told that they couldn’t address the whole board but that they could meet with Board Chair Jennifer Jones and Vice Chair Rayna Stoycheva. “It wasn’t a productive conversation,” Semenza said. “A lot of it seemed like they were blaming it on COVID.” “They just kept saying, ‘We’re just not ready for that,’” said Elisa Arauz. “We felt like if we went to the board as dancers, as a team, hopefully we could get through to them, but obviously we didn’t,” Semenza said.

‘I felt used’

JULIET COEN

David McAlister and Jessica Fry McAlister met in 2006 while dancing for the Ballet School of Maryland. One of their lifelong dreams has been to start their own dance company.

tumes, cleaning and setting up the shows was never taken into account. They got paid for teaching ballet classes in the school, but that was a separate business entity. When Jessica was hired, she pushed for the dancers to eventually be paid full-time salaries. In the meantime, she said, she asked the company to pay for the dancers’ pointe shoes which can run anywhere from $80-120 per pair and last a few weeks. “These were the issues that I tried to bring to the organization’s attention,” McAlister told TCB. They balked, Jessica said, when she pointed out how much the organization was going to pay four, out-of-town male dancers to perform in the annual Nutcracker shows. “They were going to allow $2,500 total for the women and $8,000 for the men,” McAlister said. “The women are here all the time and not getting paid a full salary. I was met with a lot of, ‘Is that a problem?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s a problem.’ It’s insulting to the dancers that are here. That’s what I was trying to do was educate the organization and bring them up to date and say, ‘You can’t do this anymore.’”

McAlister’s termination causes confusion

fter the success of the Nutcracker, the organization quickly moved on to planning their spring performances of Cinderella. The dancers continued to talk about what they hoped for as far as their futures with the company with Jessica and David, but most of their time was focused on the next production. “It was tough because as teachers and dancers, we had to put it aside and focus on Cinderella and making it a success,” Semenza said. “And that’s all we were thinking about.” While the dancers were practicing new choreography and teaching their classes, McAlister was bringing up pay with the executive director and the board. “We dove into the same financial quandary,” McAlister said. “I was saying, ‘This is what needs to happen. This is how much we need to spend on professional dancers who are going to be working with us.’” McAlister knew how successful the Nutcracker shows had been. In an interview for the News & Record leading up to the opening of Cinderella, Executive Director Jennifer Gentry said that the Greensboro Ballet was doing “pretty well financially” and that it had received COVID-19 relief grants and forgivable loans. It ended

2020-21 with a budget excess, according to Gentry. Part of the reason, according to McAlister and the dancers, is Gentry’s lack of A look at ArtsGreensboro’s 2020-21 funding report shows that Greensboro Ballet communication. Inc., which is a nonprofit, received $40,990 through ArtsGreensboro and county “It’s very hard to communicate with someone who only wants to communicate CARES Act funding. Greensboro Ballet’s financial reports, which are public record through email and won’t talk through phone calls,” McAlister said. because they are a nonprofit, have not been updated online since 2018. According The dancers said they had issues communicating with Gentry as well. to their tax filings from 2014-18, the organization has operated in the red, with “She just never answered her phone,” Semenza said about Gentry. “She didn’t losses ranging from close to $60,000 in 2015 to $6,000 in 2018. Greensboro Ballet communicate with Jessica at all but the executive director and the artistic director did not respond to requests from TCB for their most up-to-date tax filings. need to work hand in hand. The executive director made decisions for the artistic David McAlister says that the boost from COVID-19 funds should have helped director without asking her what she wanted. In my opinion, she was the problem.” the organization take time to plan out their finances. “We never knew when we would get a response when we texted Jennifer Gen“Coming out of the pandemic would have been a great time to take a knee and try,” Kira Arauz added. plan,” he said. “I don’t think any of that planning is happening. I guess it was surThe evening after the last show of Cinderella, the board held a meeting but vival mode but Jessica was doing these performances, and they were making money McAlister told them that she wasn’t going to attend. off of these performances. Some of these dancers came in during the pandemic. “I was extremely stressed out and I sent an email to the board of directors saying Where was the plan to get them paid?” that I wouldn’t be at this meeting and that I needed to take care of myself,” McAlAccording to Jessica ister said. “I got nothing McAlister, the amounts back.” that the dancers would be The following morning, paid was suggested by her she received a Zoom link but would then have to be with a note stating that she approved by the executive was required to attend. director and the board. During the meeting, Going into the shows for McAlister was told that Cinderella, McAlister said she was fired and that her she sent Gentry a list last paycheck would be the of dancers’ names and last one she would receive. amounts that they should They didn’t give her a be paid for their perforreason. mances. “They said, ‘You’re “It was a list that had done, do not come back,’” people’s names and McAlister said. “This was numbers next to it, but it two days after I had made said at the bottom, ‘This them a crapload of money; is not finalized, this is a I felt used.” place to start,’” McAlister After that, McAlister explained. called the dancers to let After she sent the list them know what had with suggested pay, she happened. JULIET COEN said, three of the dancers “I think after Cinderella L-R: Elisa Arauz, Michela Semenza and Kira Arauz dance in the loading dock of an old cabinet factory that now serves as a studio for the on the list were cut from they were planning to fire Gate City Dance Theatre in Greensboro. shows. her,” Semenza said. “I “That would mean we didn’t use as many dancers so some of the numbers went didn’t understand how the [board] couldn’t see the issues with Jennifer Gentry. up, but no one followed up with me,” McAlister said. Why did they not fire her? In my opinion, it was like they could only have one or After the final performance of Cinderella, dancers were handed checks for their the other — the artistic director or the executive director, and they were never on work, but because they were written using the outdated list, the pay wasn’t accurate Jessica’s side. They never agreed with her or her vision; I feel like she was always McAlister said. pushed aside.” “The dancers were furious,” she said. “The checks were off by about $200On April 6, days after McAlister was fired, Board Chair Jennifer Jones sent out $300.” an email regarding Greensboro Ballet’s future and McAlister’s termination. Part of the reason they were angry was because of the way they got paid, Elisa “In order to stay true to our vision as a community ballet organization, the says. Board of Directors has made a decision regarding the artistic leadership of “We would always get our checks at the end of the last show,” she said. “In my Greensboro Ballet,” the email reads. “We want to thank Jessica McAlister for her experience of talking to other dancers, that’s not normal. Usually you’re paid contributions to Greensboro Ballet, and we wish her well in her future endeavors. beforehand or after the first couple of shows.” As we continue with our strategic planning, we look forward to opportunities to The following morning, McAlister says she woke up to an email from Board engage with you. We will update you about next steps in the strategic planning President Jennifer Jones asking what happened and why. process.” “She asked me, ‘Jessica, did you know that the dancers were upset,’” McAlister That evening, there was an emergency staff meeting where Jennifer Gentry said. “And I said, ‘I do know. This is what was sent but I can’t be held accountable explained what was going on. But the explanation wasn’t clear, according to the for someone not following instructions.’” dancers.

NEWS | JUNE 16 - 22, 2022

NEWS

NEWS | JUNE 16 - 22, 2022

NEWS

“It was just the most exciting thing of my entire life,” Smith said. “That was the way I introduced myself to people. I would say, ‘I’m in the core with the Greensboro Ballet.’ It was just so exciting for me.” After reading the email on April 6 from the board regarding McAlister’s termination, Smith’s feelings about the organization began to change. “At that point in the year, the only reason they should have fired an instructor or artistic director was if she posed a threat to our wellbeing,” Smith said. “And that was not Jessica; that’s one thing I really cannot get past. The way that they’ve handled it, they’re basically lying by omission. No one outright told us she was fired.” After McAlister left, the dancers began talking about what that meant for their future at Greensboro Ballet. “We hadn’t made a decision yet,” Semenza said. “We needed to give ourselves time to let everything set in.” One of the things that made the Arauz sisters finally decide to leave Greensboro Ballet took place in the days after the last Cinderella show. “We had to take care of some costume stuff for Cinderella but we had to be escorted to the storage unit,” Elisa said. “We had been there multiple times before by ourselves but we talked to Nina, the school director, and she told us, ‘I think it’s because of your connection with Jessica.’ JULIET COEN “I felt like I was being watched,” she continued. “After being with the studio for eight years, I would think they would know that my L-R: Michela Semenza, Kira Arauz and Elisa Arauz used to dance for Greensboro Ballet. Now, they’re with Gate City Dance Theatre. intentions were good. I felt like I had to look over my shoulder while we were teaching the last few days.” “She was telling us stuff that had nothing to do with why they fired Jessica,” Semenza’s morale started to drop, too. Kira Arauz said. “All I could think of were the kids. I started crying in the meet“I personally felt like we weren’t wanted anymore,” she said. “I felt like they ing talking about it. We had eight weeks left in the season and they couldn’t wait. could have taken time to explain to us what happened. But they had no intention They couldn’t take the time to think about what was supposed to happen. To me, it of wanting to pay us, they had no intentions of wanting to build a company, so I seemed like a reactionary decision. The kids got caught in the crossfires. We didn’t thought, Why should I have to do this for eight more weeks when the person who was giving me know what the kids were going to do for the next eight weeks or who was doing opportunities is no longer here? The hardest part was leaving the kids, but it came down what for Jessica’s classes.” to us having to make the decision for ourselves.” On April 9, all of the dancers put in their resignations to the Greensboro Ballet. ‘I’m done dancing there’ “I didn’t see it getting any better,” Elisa said. “The work atmosphere became Exodus of dancers leave students without direction untenable.” “It made me question a lot why I was still dancing, and if I should actually keep n addition to dancing in performances, dancers with the organization dancing,” said her sister, Kira, through tears. “Because I felt worthless, and I was spent hours every day teaching classes to children and adults. When not in a good place after we left.” McAlister was fired, that left several of her advanced classes without After the teachers left, the school tried to find replacements, but it wasn’t the an instructor. same, Smith said. “I felt very confused and also very anxious,” said Jenny “The school director took over and brought in a few more Smith, an adult student who has taken classes at Greensboro women for the advanced classes,” Smith said. “Some parBallet since 2017. “I actually wasn’t able to eat for many ents helped out in the kids’ classes, but it was chaos. One of days because I was so sick to my stomach thinking about the teachers should never have been hired; she was outright what happened. What’s going to happen to my teachers? Where am awful. The quality was really bad after they left.” I going to dance? It was all out of nowhere.” That’s when Smith decided to leave, too. Smith started at Greensboro Ballet when she was 18 years “There’s a spot in my heart that loves that place and old. She had just left her childhood dance studio and was Michela Semenza I think I always will because I have gotten to live out my looking for a place to continue her passion. In the beginning, dream of dancing, but I’m too angry at the selfish decisions everything seemed smooth at the studio. that they’ve made because they weren’t in the best interest “Everything was followed to a T,” Smith said. “It was of the students,” she said. “I’m not done dancing, but I’m done dancing there.” almost intimidating.” Looking to the future, Smith said she wants to continue to dance and is waiting Throughout the years, Smith took several classes through Greensboro Ballet, for the right opportunity. including ones taught by the Arauz sisters. She worked her way up to the advanced “I really want to be in as many shows as I possibly can,” Smith said. “I’m not classes and even mustered up the courage to audition for some of the productions. sure how far I can go, but my goal is to go as far as I can possibly go.” In November of last year, Smith was cast as part of the core in The Nutcracker.

I personally felt like we weren’t wanted anymore.

NEWS | JUNE 16 - 22, 2022

NEWS

JULIET COEN

Despite being 5-foot-3 and a brunette, Jessica Fry McAlister found success within the ballet world because of the mentors who believed in her. With Gate City Dance Theatre, she wants to do the same for other dancers who don’t fit the traditional mold.

‘A new place for dancers’

The birth of Gate City Dance Theatre

oon, there may be a space for Smith to continue to dance. For the last several months, David McAlister has been coming up with a business plan for what a new ballet company in Greensboro might look like. In the beginning, the plan was to partner with the Greensboro Ballet — he and Jessica would run the ballet company while Greensboro Ballet ran the school. “It was never being done to come after Greensboro Ballet,” Jessica said. “If anything, it was to work together.” David said he had planned a meeting with the board on April 15. “We were like, Awesome, we’re going to hold pattern and let them get through Cinderella, and then we were under the impression of, Okay, let’s talk on April 15,’” David said. “But then Jessica was terminated.” At that point, they decided to move ahead on their own. Originally, they hadn’t planned on starting a school, just a ballet company where their dancers could be paid a living wage. However, after thinking about the students they left behind and the potential to reach more future ballet dancers, they decided to start a school as well. Their new businesses, Gate City Dance Theatre and Gate City School of Dance are set to begin operation in early September. Jessica said she’s excited that she will finally have a place to teach and mentor dancers who don’t fit the typical ballet dancer mold, like herself. “I am not a normal dancer, I’m barely 5-3,” McAlister said. “Most dancers are tall and leggy and they have these wispy, skinny bodies, but I’m built like a gymnast. I have a butt. I’m not blonde, but I had people throughout my life who looked past those things and that’s what I want: a group of dancers who don’t fit

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NEWS | JUNE 16 - 22, 2022

NEWS the mold, and you just see the dancing. The dancers I have are not cookie cutter; it doesn’t matter what shape, size, color you are.” David said that having their own company will allow them to empower their dancers and create a safe space for them as well. “I want to create a safe environment for the dancers,” David said. “The industry as a whole, a lot of times, dancers are abused. They are asked to do more than what they are paid but dancers are the backbone of any dance company.” As finalizations for Gate City Dance Theatre like putting finishing touches on their venue and setting up payment systems for classes take place, the dancers that left Greensboro Ballet say they are looking forward to working with Jessica again. “I feel very honored to be a part of something that is from the ground up,” Semenza said. “I’m very excited for the future. Everything is really uncertain, but I have to move forward with the confidence that we have the right people behind us.” The plan is for the company to put on three to four major production per year and also focus on community performances where attendees can bring canned goods or gently used clothing that would benefit a partner nonprofit as payment in lieu of buying tickets. Not only would it help the partner organization, but it would also lower the cost so more people could become exposed to ballet. “That’s going to allow people to see ballet maybe for the first time, and to get them thinking, wishing and hoping, Maybe that could be me one day,” David said. And as a short girl with hips and dark brown hair, this vision of ballet is all Jessica has ever wanted. “I want the dancers to have gratifying experiences,” she said. “I’m still hurting, but I’m trying to look positively ahead by building a new place for dancers in Greensboro.”

EDITORIAL What happens now?

evelations about the Jan. 6 insurrection have become too big to ignore, even for those who are trying desperately to convince the rest of us to ignore them. For the rest of us, it’s the best new TV show of the season. Fox News refused to air the Thursday-night primetime broadcast of the first public hearing, but 20 million Americans devoured it live, like it was a new episode of “Tiger King” or a “Survivor” season finale. Perhaps three times that number binged the highlights that saturated social media and news feeds throughout the weekend. That was enough to convince Fox to run the second installment of the hearings on Monday morning, during which the committee offered a propensity of evidence showing that then-President Trump knew full well he had lost the election but kept on with his bullshit anyway. This was after the season opener, which effectively dispelled any notion that the Jan. 6 invading force was a bunch of tourists, or patriotic protesters, or regular Americans. It was clear they came to the Capitol that day to thwart the democratic process, depriving us all of the power of our vote. They were vermin who say they love our country, but not its institutions, its values, its promise of equality.

Jen Sorensen jensorensen.com

Another bombshell revealed last week: Several House Republicans asked for pardons in the days following Jan. 6, the names of which should be revealed at some point during the next six televised hearings. Is that enough to change the future? Trump is still the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for president in 2024. His loyalists have gutted election apparatuses in key swing states. His endorsements are running about 50 percent in the primaries, with his choices for governor and senator prevailing in Nevada’s contest this week, and splitting in South Carolina, where one of his rivals lost his House primary and another won hers. We’ve got one right here in North Carolina: Rep. Ted Budd, who voted against impeaching Trump twice, and to overturn the results of the 2020 election when it finally came time for the peaceful transfer of power that is a hallmark of our nation. And right now he’s polling two points ahead of Democrat Cheri Beasley, the former NC Supreme Court chief justice. Was Budd one of the House members who asked for a pardon? Would it make a difference? Millions of North Carolinians still believe the Big Lie. And they’re ready to swallow whatever Budd is selling, insurrection be damned.

OPINION | JUNE 16 - 22, 2022

OPINION

Fox News refused to air the first hearing, but 20 million Americans devoured it live

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CULTURE | JUNE 16 - 22, 2022

CULTURE

Brunchin’ while Black: Women of color find their brunch tribe in Winston-Salem by Sayaka Matsuoka

JULIET COEN

Tasia Wilson, far right, has hosted five events this year as the Winston-Salem ambassador for Brown Skin Brunchin’, an international organization that was started in 2018.

asia Wilson wears a maxi dress of white-and-green paisley that meals to join the event, which goes directly back to helping offset operatbrushes up against her ankles, her feet sit secured in strappy ing costs for the organization. Currently, Brown Skin Brunchin’ operates in sandals with clear bands. Her hair hangs comfortably in loose 70 cities with more than 1,000 members participating in in-person events locs just past her shoulders and her dark brown eyes match her per month. And while the concept is simple, it’s become an important part caramel-colored, tortoiseshell glasses. She’s dressed up, but not too much. of Wilson’s life. It’s the perfect fit for brunch. “It’s freeing,” Wilson says. “I feel like we have a space to talk about things As she enters the doors at Sweet Potatoes in Winston-Salem on Saturday that are unique to us as Black women. I feel like we can be ourselves.” just past noon, she asks the host if they could put a few tables together; Wilson initially heard about Brown Skin Brunchin’ from a friend who she’s expecting company. discovered an event in Raleigh. After finding out that the event was full, As she waits for the others, she walks back to her car parked across the Wilson reached out via the website to see if she could start a chapter in street and pulls out a bag full of accoutrement for the event. Back in the Winston-Salem. Since January, Wilson has hosted a brunch each month restaurant she sets up a letterboard on top of the at various locations in the city including Cin Cin table where she’s been seated. “Welcome to Brown Burger Bar, Firebirds, Bleu and Sixth and Vine. Skin Brunchin’ Winston-Salem,” it reads. For June, she wanted to highlight a Black-owned I feel like we have a space “You know, Black people culturally, we’ve always business because of the Juneteenth holiday. As to talk about things that are kind of gathered together and food is that common a social worker by training, Wilson says she loves denominator that gets people to open up,” Wilson being able to connect with people and facilitate unique to us as Black women. says. “So being able to do that and you know, feel relationships. beautiful while you’re doing it because when you “I love to be the person that has the resources,” think brunch, you kind of dress up a little bit right? It she says. “I’ve actually made connections through makes me feel really good that I’m able to provide that space for people.” this, so one part I like to do is do introductions and have people talk about Wilson has hosted five events this year as the Winston-Salem ambassatheir business and just random things that come up.” dor for Brown Skin Brunchin’, an international organization that was started As she sits at the table for 10, a few women start to trickle into the in 2018 by founders Lillian Jackson and Melissa Mason. The goal of Brown restaurant. As soon as they see the sign, they walk over. Skin Brunchin’ is to create a space for Black women to gather, network and Vicki Preston, who found out about the Winston-Salem chapter via Instaenjoy brunch together. Attendees pay $10 in addition to paying for their gram, has attended three of the brunches since they started. She recently

moved to the city and says she was looking for a community of brunchers. “Moving to a new place for me and not knowing anyone, I just wanted to meet new people who have common interests and brunch and women who are like minded,” Preston says. “The image that is normally portrayed [for brunch], all the faces don’t look like us…. You feel comfortable being your authentic self. Last time, we played games and we played urban trivia.” Etaundra Thomas says the group was a way to be social outside the home after raising her children. “I was looking for camaraderie,” says Thomas, who was attending her first brunch this month. “I’m an empty-nester so I was looking for something to belong to.” Like Preston, mother-and-daughter duo Shakeyda Jones and Najhia Myers are new to Winston-Salem. Dressed in matching floral crop tank tops, Jones says she found out about the organization on Instagram and decided to come as soon as her work schedule as a nurse allowed. “I was like, food? And my people? Absolutely,” Jones says. Seeing a group of Black women gathered like this is heartening for her and is good for society, Jones says. “I feel like the way they portray brown-skinned people in the media as monsters, as beasts, as uneducated, as violent,” Jones says. “That’s the bottom of any culture but they take those people and represent us as brown people and that’s just not true. So this is an opportunity to show people we are not like that. “This is healthy,” she continues, sipping her sangria.

CULTURE | JUNE 16 - 22, 2022

CULTURE

Learn more about Brown Skin Brunchin’ at brownskinbrunchin.com. The next Winston-Salem event will take place at Famous Toastery on July 23. To sign up, download the app and reserve your spot.

CULTURE | JUNE 16 - 22, 2022

CULTURE Steven’s Banh Mi food truck highlights family fare by Luis H. Garay

JULIET COEN

Reporter Luis Garay accepts food from Steven during a recent visit to his food truck.

Eager food seekers with a taste for banh mi sandwiches can usually find Steven’s Banh Mi food truck near Guilford teven Phongsa’s dream began at home, when he was six years College, parked at the Citgo gas station at the intersection of West Friendold. ly Avenue and Dolley Madison Road. Wrapped in clear, ocean blue with a “I got started with food by helping my parents in the kitchen, warm yellow menu, the truck is hard to miss. preparing and cutting up vegetables,” Phongsa recounts. His For my second visit, I ordered the pork dumplings, pork banh mi and a family is Vietnamese and Laotian and, as he explains, the oldest child is pork rice bowl. expected to learn how to cook and provide care for their younger siblings. “What is special about the sautéed pork or sauNow, more than two decades later, Phongsa owns téed chicken [is] I learned how to cook it from my Steven’s Banh Mi food truck, which since its opening parents,” Phongsa shares. “My family taught me on Jan. 31 has been serving banh mi sandwiches, Working at those restaurants how to marinate it, how to cut it and how to keep rice bowls and appetizers like egg rolls, dumplings taught me a lot about... how to the meat tender” and wings across the Triad. As I eat the pork banh mi and marvel at how the What started as a cultural expectation of learning cater to us Americans. rice in the rice bowl is still warm from a 15-minute to cook became a bedrock for Phongsa spurring a drive, I realize I am eating food that is a part of fascination with food. It also became a source of family history. employment. “I think everyone’s life goal should be to find what will fulfill them,” says “I started working at a Chinese restaurant as a kitchen helper when I was Danny Sisouvong, Phongsa’s younger brother. “This means a lot to our a teenager,” Phongsa says. The Chinese restaurant was located in the food family as well since we all want to see him flourish and be happy in what court of Greenboro’s Four Seasons Town Centre mall. he does in life.” Phongsa quickly rose through the ranks by becoming line cook, then Though the dream of owning a food truck is realized, Phongsa looks to head chef and, eventually, manager for the restaurant at just 22 years old. the future. His fiancé is currently in Laos, and is another source of motivaThe restaurant was eventually sold, but it was a springboard to other Asian tion. cuisines like Thai, hibachi and sushi. “My goal is to bring my fiancé from Laos to the USA,” Phongsa says. “[I “Working at those restaurants taught me a lot about food and culture and hope] we can grow our menu, purchase a bigger food truck and have more how to cater to us Americans,” Phongsa says. events we can do together.” As Phongsa speaks, an indisputable joy radiates. His relationship with his food isn’t just for work, it’s part of his identity and lifestyle. As a teenagFollow Steven’s Banh Mi on Instagram at @stevensbanhmi er, he would often prepare food for his friends’ football games; his specialty and on Facebook. was egg rolls.

“A lot of my friends would say, ‘Get a restaurant,’ and I would say, ‘One day, one day,’” Phongsa recalls. The food truck was a perfect fit, he says. After years of saving, Phongsa says he was contacted by a friend in October about a food truck for sale. The truck was originally made for another customer but didn’t meet their needs. Phongsa purchased it on the spot and went from a restaurant manager to food truck owner. “It means a lot to my family,” Phongsa says, flashing a gleeful smile. “It fits my work-life balance. Being the oldest, I’m still watching over my parents and taking care of them.” When I first visited Steven’s Banh Mi food truck in March, I posted a Reel video on Instagram. His siblings shared the video widely, their support, love and pride for their brother and his business so evident. On a personal level, it spoke to me: For many of us from communities of color, our successes are also the successes of our families. “To see my brother accomplish his dream of opening his food establishment is everything,” says Judy Sisouvong, Phong’s younger sister. “I’ve watched my brother work in the restaurant industry for 20-plus years. Seeing him make his dream a reality and becoming his own boss just makes me so proud.”

BY CAROLYN DE BERRY

North Church Street, Greensboro

A phone booth made from repurposed materials awaits visiters in the Fisher Park neighborhood. From the sign: “If there is anyone you need or want to talk to whether it’s a friend, enemy, loved one, stranger or yourself from the past, present or future, help yourself.” Visitors are encouraged to leave a note.

SHOT IN THE TRIAD | JUNE 16 - 22, 2022

SHOT IN THE TRIAD

PUZZLES | JUNE 16 - 22, 2022

SUDOKU

CROSSWORD

“Even Steven”--or is it Stephen? by Matt Jones

LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS:

Across

1. Swimmer’s stroke 6. Monastery superior 11. Las Vegas’s ___ Grand Hotel 14. Cabinetmaker’s machine 15. City served by Dallas/Fort Worth Airport 16. Dove sound 17. Book lover who focuses on insects? 19. ___ Talks 20. Music system 21. Time before someone becomes a best friend? 23. Twosome on “Everybody Loves Raymond” or “Friday Night Dinner” 24. Wanna-___ (pretenders) 26. Exceed 27. ‘98 and ‘99, but not ‘100 28. “Slumdog Millionaire” actor Patel 29. Last period of the Paleozoic Era 30. Venus’s sister 32. She, in Rome 33. The art of hand-drawing national outlines? 37. Sightseeing trip 38. “All in the Family” in-law Mike

39. Without slowing down or speeding up 42. Co. that makes ATMs and introduced LCDs 43. Palindromic plea at sea 46. Iran, long ago 47. ___ Khan 48. S’mores need, traditionally 49. Reason your 1990s Hypercolor shirts might work later in the decade? 51. 1964 Hitchcock thriller 53. Brain activity meas. 54. Star player of an old flip-phone game? 56. Issa of the upcoming “Vengeance” 57. “Slithy” creatures in “Jabberwocky” 58. “Hello” singer 59. ‘60s activist org. 60. ABBA member, e.g. 61. Portended

Down

1. Stylish 2. “Jurassic World: Dominion” classification 3. Site of the first modern Olympics 4. Rotor noises 5. Bury the ___ 6. “Bored” NFT character 7. Tells all 8. Grammy winner Erykah 9. Anxious 10. Lethargic state 11. Graham of “The Hobbit” and “Preacher” 12. Handles gently, with “on” 13. Pfizer alternative 18. Pattinson of “The Batman” 22. Desktop not meant for the office 25. Terribly 28. Lion lair 29. Summoning, as at an airport 30. Most confident 31. Paper that now owns Wordle, for short 33. “Saturday Night Live” alien 34. Scandalous acts

35. Lot to park and stay overnight, maybe 36. Service station offering 37. They may tap a percentage 40. Central positions 41. Webpage option under an invoice 43. Fell from grace 44. Maryland state bird 45. Appeared to be 47. Solicited 48. Brother of Michael and Sonny Corleone 50. Building projection 52. Melville mariner 55. Ending for Japan or Sudan