The story of Ballet After Dark

Ballet After Dark is a short documentary about Tyde-Courtney Edwards. A Baltimore resident and native, classically trained ballerina, and founder of Ballet After Dark. The educational outreach organization that uses  

created after a traumatic event that uses the same dance to heal others. 

It all started with my confusion/interest in the ways in which Black women seemed to be adopting/using/cashing in on historic racist, misogynistic, objectified images of themselves—like the Hottentot Venus, to capitalize/move themselves forward/etc.I was most fascinated by what seemed to a lack of awareness of these historical images and the damage they have done to women of color’s self esteem, etc. 

Fast forward 6 years. Now things have gotten even more complex & surprising as white women capitalize on these very same historical representation of these images. And women, especially women of color pursue risky—often debilitating and sometimes fatal—butt implants, all in an attempt to acquire an historical racist image. I’m interested in all of this, but I struggle with telling a story about victimization. So, I turn the whole thing on its head. Women of Color continue to struggle with the reality and effects of these images, even if they do not opt to alter their bodies. I begin to search for a Woman of Color who faces the reality of these images, yet continues to pursue her dreams. What better way to uncover that journey than to follow the life a classically trained ballerina. The world of ballet is a world in which the ideal body type and industry standards remain basically unchanged. And yet, Women of Color continue to pursue careers in ballet—and some are even making it!

I go on a search to find such a person, and end up meeting Tyde. Tyde interests me because, even though she’s faced racism, colorism, body type stereotyping, and classism, she remains committed to her dream of a professional career in classical dancing. That and her vociferous advocacy of cannabis use—Danky Dancer, and use of nude photography to boost her self-esteem. 

Early into our filming, even though Tyde has already experienced some media features, recognition and attention with the nude photography, she suddenly faces major censorship on the social media networks. All along it seems as though she’s guarding a secret about her past. 

Fed up with what she sees as a misunderstanding of the meaning behind the pictures, she comes forward with a major social media post about her sexual assault, explains that the photos “were not meant for you. They were for her...” The post is HUGE—many shares, likes, and comments. This big event sets her journey to unapologetically introduce the Ballet After Dark organization and mission to the world. 

However, Tyde continues to struggle with getting the physical space, recognition, and enrollment for her classes. It seems as if Baltimore just isn’t ready for her movement. She also holds onto to her dream of dancing professionally, even though she’s now 30 years old and will realistically face an uphill battle to remain fit enough to achieve it. Tyde knows that she still lives with her Mom, has no stable income or reliable prospects to host or sponsor her classes, yet she just doesn’t wanna give up. 

As we follow Tyde, she cycles through a series of hopes, auditions, and disappointments, even as her social media presence remains strong. It becomes apparent that Tyde will probably need and use social media to succeed—get her name and brand out there. However, as a filmmaker I face criticism about telling a social media journey. Can it be active enough? How will I represent what Tyde is actually doing? At the same time, it becomes obvious, after several business meetings with potential managers, supporters and partners, that Tyde is a complex woman, desiring to have and be it all—Danky Dancer, Classically Trained Ballerina, Tyde the Healer. All around her say that it can’t be done. The public simply won’t accept all of these different pieces of Tyde. As filmmaker and observer, I watch Tyde struggle with balancing all of these images. I struggle with how to represent this journey. As watch all of this play out—social media censorship, brash criticism, misunderstanding, I begin to visualize Tyde as these different cartoon characters, like different versions of Tyde’s inner desires and aspirations, battling with her. This interests me. Will she actually be able to pull it all off? Or will some piece(s) of her her have to be abandoned in her pursuit of this dream. 

The Rape Post really starts Tyde’s journey in this film. The rape occurred about 4 years before the start of our filming. Yet Instill felt that it was important to cover it. We did go back and do a sort of reenactment. We experimented with using this, but in the end decided that Tyde’s unique form of dancing and her brave post would tell the story most effectively.