Can Dance Make a More Just America? Donald Byrd Is Working on It

SEATTLE — Choreographer Donald Byrd stood before a video of his younger self, observing a dance he created 33 years ago. In a button-down T-shirt, loose khaki pants and bare feet, the man on-screen floated through swift turns and bobbing leaps with the continuity of rushing water, letting the phrase resolve in a simple first position. “Now this solo I like,” Byrd said, adding with a laugh: “You can see I studied ballet somewhere.” The elegant 1986 work he’s dancing, “Divertimento,” is one of ...