The Dallas Black Dance Theatre in the Dallas Arts District is a place that dances with history. The building was once the site of the original Moorland YMCA, which opened in 1930.
"It's been about 60 years since I've been in this building," former Moorland YMCA student Georgette McGriff said. "This is really kind of touching my heart a little!"
The 76-year-old McGriff was among a group of seniors from the Moorland Y to tour the old facility.
"This is where I learned to swim," McGriff said, explaining how she would take the bus from Oak Cliff with her mother to get to swim lessons in what was then North Dallas. "I'm amazed I'm sitting in the Arts District. This was predominantly a Black community with shotgun houses, but this was where we congregated. Our entertainment was here."
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The Moorland YMCA opened in 1930 at a time when Dallas was as Black and White as the photos from the era.
Prominent figures like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Thurgood Marshall, Muhammed Ali, Ray Charles, and Sugar Ray Robinson all stayed at the facility while traveling because hotels that welcomed African Americans were limited.
"Oh, Dallas was very segregated," McGriff recalled. "Back then, the Y was separated two ways; racially and by gender."
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The old Moorland YMCA gymnasium and swimming pool sites are now dance studios at the Dallas Black Dance Theatre, founded by Ann Williams in 1976.
"Sixty years ago, to think Dallas Black Dance? Whoever would have thought? So Dallas has come a long way," McGriff exclaimed. "It just fills my heart. It's beautiful!"
This Saturday Dallas Black Dance Theatre's second company, Encore!, has a one-night-only performance at 7:30 p.m. at the W.E. Scott Theatre in Fort Worth. DanceTCU is the guest artist.
