On the Move

The last time Los Angeles-area audiences saw Ronald Perry dance was in 1985 with Maurice Bejart’s Ballet of the 20th Century. Now he’s back in town with Dance Theater of Harlem (concluding its annual visit today and Sunday at Pasadena Civic Auditorium).

Life has come full circle for Perry, who began his career in 1969 with DTH. Footloose? “Hardly,” he says. “I don’t like moving around, but since dance does not stay in one place, I have no choice.”

“I wanted to know what it was like in other companies. That’s why I went to American Ballet Theatre in 1980, Bejart in 1983, and the Dusseldorf Ballet in 1986.”

“My time with Bejart was wonderful,” he says, “because he’s so theatrical. That pushed me to be more of an actor and find other ways to approach ballet. After about two years, though, he starts thinking about something else. If there’s nothing new for him, he doesn’t stay stationary. You realize the risk and go with it, as far as you both can.”

The Dusseldorf interlude, Perry says, was “something extra to pass the time, because I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do anything really serious, like Hamburg or Stuttgart.”

He rejoined DTH in 1988, after a year away from dance. “I had no idea what I wanted to do for the next few years,” he says. “I went (to DTH) just to say hello to old friends, but suddenly, there I was, on tour with them in Russia. I’m really glad to be back with them.”

Acknowledging that black ballet dancers generally find it difficult to move from company to company, Perry notes that he’s had no mobility problems. Now he’s returned to a community whose policy precludes star performers.

“As an individual artist, it’s difficult for any member of the company to stand out, but I don’t find that a problem. I adapt quite well, and I don’t feel constricted at all. I expect to continue with them as long as my body holds up, and I’ll probably teach in the school at some point. I’ve gained so much from them that I’d like to give back.”