Black Excellence: Kadeem Hosein
https://vocal.media/art/ballet-without-permission-from-pavlova-to-pavement
Back in the winter of 2015, I laced up my pointe shoes, headed to Bushy Park near Hampton Court Palace, and asked a friend to take a few photos.
That spring, to celebrate my (now inactive) YouTube channel reaching 1,000 subscribers, I posted En Pointe In Public (EPIP)—a short piece about a boy dreaming of dancing en pointe in a world where that wasn’t the norm. The idea was simple: pointe work should be open to anyone with a love for ballet, regardless of gender.
Kadeem Hosein, 25, says: “I studied ballet for about three years before I started en pointe. I was aware that it would help to strengthen my feet. Second, and more importantly, I enjoyed watching pointe work so figured why not?” He now lives in London and although he’s not a professional ballet dancer, still trains en pointe. “I think it would be interesting to see performances where roles are allowed to be performed by either male or female,” he adds, “not by force, but by the dancers’ own choice.”