Hiplet (pronounced “hip-lay” rhymes with “ballet”) is an innovative dance form that fuses classical, ballet pointe technique with African, Latin, hip-hop and urban dance styles that are rooted in communities of color. Founded by Homer Hans Bryant, and now its artistic director, Hiplet is the only company in the world to perform this signature trademark style. Hiplet Ballerinas is the professional company of the Chicago Multicultural Dance Center (CMDC).

In creating a unique hybrid ballet company, Bryant envisioned training that would be accessible to everyone. Fueled by inclusivity and modern movement, one dancer describes the company, “We are all diverse, there’s such a variety when it comes to race and body type. We’re not cookie cutter at all.”  In Bryant’s words, “Hiplet is important. It is Afro-centric. So, we are pulling from your urban communities, and we put in the jazz and the Latin, but we stick to the classical ballet discipline.” 

Bryant’s personal story began in St. Thomas, the Virgin Islands. In the 1960s, as a teen, he moved to the US. He studied at Jacob’s Pillow Dance School before accepting an invitation from Arthur Mitchell to study with and then join the Dance Theater of Harlem, the first African American classical dance company in the United States, founded by Mitchell. Following his career in New York, Bryant relocated to Chicago, becoming a member of the short-lived Chicago City Ballet, founded by Prima Ballerina Maria Tallchief (Osage.)

Maria Tallchief was the first Indigenous principal ballerina in the US and worked closely with George Ballanchine building what would become the New York City Ballet. The pair are credited with revolutionizing ballet in the United States. Bryant’s work with Tallchief, and move to Chicago, was the beginning of what is now the Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center, home of the Hiplet Ballerinas company.

Bryant has long been a proponent of the Brown Tights Matter movement, which advocates for children to wear tights that match their skin tone. Though the Dance Theater of Harlem began to develop tights in various hues as early as the late 1960s, to this day dancers of color have continued to experience ballet as maintaining an exclusionary commitment to “the pink ballet shoe.” The explosion of social justice movements and initiatives that followed the 2020 police murder of George Floyd reinvigorated the movement for inclusive dancewear and costuming. 

In each section below you will find videos, interviews and short readings that provide deeper background into Hiplet, Homer Hans Bryant, and the events that shaped his life. 

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