Gibbs Magazine
Dancing The Race &
Disability Tango: Barry Martin
Leroy Moore, Jr.
Where have I been lately? It is July
2006 and I just found out that dancer & choreographer, Barry Martin of
Manhattan, died February 6th of this year at his home in New
York City. Like most Black disabled artist, advocate, or anybody who is
a person of color and disabled, I found out about Mr. Martin through my
research on race and disability on the Internet.
I read about his career as a dancer at the famous Alvin Ailey Dance
School in Harlem, NY, and I also read about his car accident in
Apartheid South Africa in 1983. The story on how he became disabled
(being left at a roadside accident because he was Black) just spoke to
me. Many reports said that Mr. Martin could have recuperated fully from
the accident, if he wasn’t left for hours to be flown to a Black
hospital hours away.
This true life story and Martin’s work afterwards as a choreographer,
teacher and founder of his own theater needs to have its own book and
film! From there I did more research and found out Mr. Martin was
featured in a book, Our Common Ground: Portraits of Blacks
Changing the Face of America, by Bruce Caines--I’m still looking
for a copy of the book. I knew then I had to contact this man, and I
did. I’m glad we connected and kept in contact for the last two years of
his life.
We hit it off instantly; you see he was studying race and disability at New York University and was shocked that I had so much information on this topic. He told me that the University lacked anything on the subject. I kept telling him that I wanted to visit him and see his work.
Mr. Barry Martin started his own dance company, Deja Vu Dance Theater, and taught dance to children in the New York City public schools. This might be the first dance theater started by a physically disabled Black man in the USA. I plan to visit Martin’s dance theater later this month, July, and will continue to highlight his work through my writings.
If anybody has more information on Barry Martin’s work, writings, videos, or the book, Our Common Ground: Portraits of Blacks Changing the Face of America please let me know how I can get them by e-mailing me at:
By Leroy F. Moore, Jr.
