SOLANGE GROOVES
WITH AILEY
Dr. Joanne K. Dowdy
Sunday Guardian
February 20, 2000
Page 29
Solange Sandy-Groves is in her sixth year as a lead dancer with the
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. She
has performed in "Divining", "Pas de Duke", "Night
Creature", and "Revelations".
In her Atlanta performance she was featured in "Divining".
I
found it easy to distinguish Solange from the other dancers without looking at
the programme. She breathes
differently, it seems. She uses the
same counts, gets her legs to hit the heights required for the technically
demanding routines, but, there is that "Trini" confidence that looks
like she "owns the stage".
Peter
London, former soloist with the Martha Graham Dance Company, says that Solange
is "fierce'. He should know
because he saw her audition at Julliard in 1987, and then mentored her as she
moved on to the Ailey second company for two years.
In
a late evening lime, Solange talked about her long career in dance in a very
self-effacing tone. She wanted to go to
the Julliard School after she saw Nadine Mose, Peter London, and Natalie Rogers
perform their "thank you" show at Queen's hall in 1987. She just auditioned for this one school and
got accepted! She then went on to
audition for the Alvin Ailey second company and got accepted on the first
try. It took her three times before she
was accepted to the first company, but she knew she was successful the minute
Judith Jamison told her to "take a break" during the audition. She walked out of the session telling
herself that she was an "Ailey dancer" and took special pains to
"look right and left before crossing the street" so that she would be
safe and able to come back the next day and be a full-fledged company member.
A
year and a half into her marriage she is beginning to reflect on the meaning of
her career. She is also thinking about
the steps she needs to take so that she can give something back to
Trinidad. Solange always offers classes
at the Caribbean School of Dancing when she returns home to visit. Now she sees her service as a natural way to
establish a permanent resource for young dancers. Maybe she can offer master classes on a regular basis, or join
others in establishing a scholarship fund.
She even sees herself acting as an official link between serious dance
students and the Alvin Ailey Company or the Julliard School. Her mind isn't made up.
Solange
reminisced about the difficulty of being a Black woman in a predominantly White
school. It wasn't easy and at 16 she
definitely wasn't prepared for the challenge that her teachers and fellow
students would provide. But she
overcame the obstacles and his happy that she learned how to "handle
herself" in the very competitive world that she has succeeded to excel in
so far. Her calm demeanor exudes a
professionalism that would impress all of her former teachers.
I
could hardly believe that Solange and I had gone to the Caribbean School of
Dancing and never had a long conversation before our Atlanta meeting. She could hardly imagine that while she
auditioned at the Julliard School there was a group of Trinis in the balcony of
the dark theatre watching her compete for a position in the new class. But that's how we survived at Julliard, and
still do in the world outside that cocoon.
We looked out for each other.
And
Solange is right when she shook her head and whispered "family" to
herself. It's the Trini family that
matters out here. That's why we still
turn up when one of us is performing and introduce ourselves to each other. No matter if we haven't been in the same
room before. It doesn't matter what
path we come from, it only matters that we care about each other as artists,
Trinidadians, and fellow performers.
That
bond is what allowed me to spot Solange on stage even though I had not seen her
dance in 13 years. And I believe that
sense of security is what makes her outstanding on stage.
Solange
is the daughter of Col. John and Jackie Sandy.