Dancing to lift the soul: Interlochen alumnus brings hope and healing to the stage through his Harlem-based, ethnically diverse dance company
Ranardo-Domeico Grays found community and inspiration during his time at Interlochen. Now, the VISIONS Contemporary Ballet artistic director and choreographer is inspiring his own community through performances that illuminate the Black experience.
Founder and artistic director Ranardo-Domeico Grays (center, seated) poses with the dancers of VISIONS Contemporary Ballet.
Ranardo-Domeico Grays (AS 88, IAC/NMC 89, IAA 89-90) has always been creatively gifted: over the years, he’s explored oratorical speaking, poetry, essay writing, and the violin. But his most lasting and powerful passion is dance—a subject that’s taken him from Interlochen Arts Camp and Arts Academy to The Juilliard School and beyond. Today, he’s making waves as founder and artistic director of VISIONS Contemporary Ballet. His company performs annually in Harlem at the Riverside Theater, located inside the Riverside Church, where Martin Luther King Jr. gave one of his most famous speeches. With a heart for inclusion and a penchant for uniquely collaborative methods, Grays is bringing powerful stories about Black identity to Riverside and other stages all over New York.
It’s important for me to bring our work to the communities right here in Harlem so people here can experience artistically excellent performances.
Ranardo-Domeico Grays, Founder/Artistic Director/Choreographer VISIONS Contemporary Ballet. Photo credit: Kayla Slater-Cooke
Where art meets community: From Interlochen to Harlem
When Grays created VISIONS Contemporary Ballet in 2007, he wanted to fill a need for artistically outstanding performances that represented a wide range of dancers and reached a broad audience.
“I’m an African-American artistic director and choreographer, and also a brain cancer survivor, so it's important to me to bring to the community—including those who are underserved and those with disabilities—an ethnically diverse company that represents artists of color and presents original works about life,” he says.
The Detroit native accomplishes his goals by hiring dancers of all races and ethnic backgrounds, and spreading the news about their productions throughout Harlem and the surrounding area.
“ I talk to people all over the city and ask them to spread the word about VISIONS,” he says. “Bringing arts engagement to the community truly improves our social interactions. It’s also important for me to bring our work to the communities right here in Harlem so people here can experience artistically excellent performances.”
Grays stoked his deep passions for community and choreography during his years at Interlochen. Between 1988-90, he studied dance at All State, Arts Camp, and Arts Academy. There, he met up-and-coming creatives and future colleagues like Anna Glass, who’s now Executive Director of Dance Theatre of Harlem.
“My time at Interlochen shaped me tremendously,” says Grays. “ I made some tremendous, lifelong friends that I still talk with today. I made friends who prayed with me and held my hand through my battles with brain cancer.”
The loyalty and artistic support he found at Interlochen forever shaped the way Grays saw the world. Envisioning a future where art helped people build deeper connections with one another, he chased his dream to The Juilliard School, California Institute of the Arts, Marymount Manhattan College, Fordham University, and the Alvin Ailey School. He danced and choreographed internationally and even spent time acting for theatre, film, and television.
When the time was right, Grays found his way to Harlem, New York. It was there that he started VISIONS and began to realize his dreams of seeing compelling stories shared with as many people as possible.
VISIONS dancers perform a lift in Heart is Home, a segment of For Love's Sake. Photo credit: Andrew Williams
Stories that challenge and heal: Tainted Bla’k and Heart is Home
Through VISIONS Contemporary Ballet, Grays seeks to present stories that audiences find both challenging and healing. When he begins work on a project, he roots into his own identity as a Black man while staying mindful of the broader human experience.
“I start with myself and because I’m a human being, I know my stories will resonate with others,” he says. “My work is definitely rooted in the African-American experience, but it also has multicultural influences. Each ballet tells a story, and those stories are relaying universal messages.“
One of his most provocatively-titled works is Tainted Bla’k, performed by VISIONS Contemporary Ballet, which premiered as part of their project presentation of Redemption in 2022, and again in Humility and Faith in 2023. Before starting work on choreography, Grays conducted a collaborative experiment with the dancers in his company.
“I like to bring the dancers’ experiences and emotions into the movement,” he says. “So I asked them, ‘What does “Tainted Bla’k” mean to you?’ I misspelled it intentionally so that audiences wouldn’t look at it as a phrase they already recognized. And I got such a wide variety of responses.”
Grays deliberately chose to include the negative connotations of the word “tainted”, asking the dancers to honestly share the thoughts and emotions that arose when they heard that phrase.
“Through that exercise, I got to know the dancers more intimately. I started to understand how they saw themselves and related to this subject. Some of them expressed how the color black is not always looked upon as something good, but in the end they all came around to the idea of the title and piece actually embracing and celebrating the beauty of being Black."
Grays paired his collaboratively-inspired choreography with music composed by Black artists of the African diaspora, and the result was a compelling performance that celebrated Black culture and awareness. With more recent work like the premiere of Heart is Home (2024), presented in For Love’s Sake this past November, Grays chose a similarly uplifting message but turned inward for his inspiration, exploring subjects like his background in the Baptist church and deeply-held affection for his mother. Heart is Home is an inspirational piece that explores the idea of making way for joy and love despite heartbreak. The piece is dedicated to all mothers who have instilled a sense of home in their children despite any barriers of time or distance.
“ Words can't really express how powerful love can be, so with For Love’s Sake I wanted to bring together four heartfelt works to help create that impact in one performance,” he shares. “Heart is Home, for example, centers on the way I always thought of home as wherever my mom was. I can’t go and hug her anymore, but she’s with me in my heart now. I wanted to be able to give that to the audience.”
After each show, when Grays meets audience members and shakes their hands, he’s often touched to hear about what they’ve experienced.
“Even if just one individual shares with me that the performance has influenced them, that they've been moved or challenged by my work, I feel fulfilled,” he says. “I want to celebrate diversity through work that uplifts the audience. I want to motivate people, even if it's just so they can get through the next day having experienced our healing works.”
Even if just one individual shares with me that the performance has influenced them, that they've been moved or challenged by my work, I feel fulfilled.
The rewards of connection
Beyond the potential for impact on individuals, Grays knows that his work has the power to shape and enrich entire communities. Seeing the fruits of his labor is what keeps him driven to create.
“It inspires me to see younger and older audience members interacting with each other,” he says. “I'm encouraged to keep on creating work that celebrates all of us, that celebrates Black culture and brings awareness to our community.”
The work goes on, and so does its potential to shape culture over time.
“ I want to continue to positively influence underserved Black and Hispanic communities and encourage younger audiences to strive for excellence,” he says.
At every VISIONS Contemporary Ballet performance, the stage fills with dancers of all colors, offering a glimpse into a future where unity and justice prevail for all. With each directorial choice, Grays is doing his part to make this dream a reality.
