After dancing around his house since he was little, Joe González was chosen to be part of Boston Ballet’s Citydance program, which provides tuition-free dance classes to selected Boston Public School third-grade students.
When the free program ended, however, his family couldn’t afford to keep him in dance classes. But his mother refused to let that dream fade.
Two years later, she found a nearby school created for Black dancers: Roxbury Center for the Performing Arts.
“And that’s where I grew up,” González said in an interview with MassLive prior to the now 37-year-old’s performance with Complexions Contemporary Ballet at The Hanover Theatre & Conservatory for the Performing Arts in Worcester on Friday, Nov. 7.
Complexions Contemporary Ballet isn’t what is commonly thought of as a ballet performance, using music from Lenny Kravitz and David Bowie. All the performers are super athletes, González said.
“Companies like Complexions are game-changing: they’re forging a path for what ballet can be instead of what it historically has been,” The Guardian wrote.
With a traditional ballet company or performance, dancers have a specific way they have to learn the dance. With Complexions, it’s very different.
“You are learning to a different type of music, and you’re learning to put a groove to it,” he said. “And then you’re also learning to bring your own voice to it.”
González has toured and performed nationally and internationally.
He’s also done traditional holiday performances of the “Urban Nutcracker” and “Black Nativity Boston.” He was with Philadanco!, The Philadelphia Dance Company, and co-directed Jo-Mé Dance.
He credits Roxbury Center for the Performing Arts with his ability to find and hone his dream. But he wasn’t happy his mom had signed him back up for lessons at first.
“And as soon as she took me there on day one, I immediately fell in love. I’m like, this is what I want to do. This is it. I know it. I feel it. I love it,” he said. “And it was.”
In high school, he enrolled in Boston Arts Academy and then went to Boston Conservatory.
In 2013, he opened Jo-Mé Dance Theatre, Boston’s first Black-owned contemporary ballet company.
But he never forgot about the years he wasn’t able to take dance classes as a child or the people who let things slide when money got tight.
“I try to give that back whenever I can,” González said. “We have a sliding scale. We’re trying to create more scholarships that people who really have a passion for the arts have a space to grow and nurture and become artists.”
He’s not sure if he’ll still be dancing six days a week by the time he’s 50. But he does hope to keep inspiring his students.
“Even if I’m not on stage, I feel that I’m ready to hone the next generation of artists or choreograph the next work for the younger generation,” he said.
And it’s especially true for Black boys, as, he said, there’s still a lot of stereotypes that only women dance.
“But I think if I can show them that it’s more of a sport, which it is very much a sport, they become a little bit more attracted to it,” he said, adding that “it’s not about gender, but about self expression.”
Being able to perform with Complexions in Massachusetts is the perfect way to inspire his students because they actually come see him. Plus, it helps grow the dance scene overall in Massachusetts and shows parents dance can be a real lifelong avenue for their children.
“It’s an inspiration for the next generation,” González said.
Tickets for the Nov. 7 performance in Worcester range from $49-79 depending on seat location. Click here for more.
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