Black History Today: Melba Ayco, artistic director and mentor
/Black History Today, an annual series created by Marcus Harden in honor of Black History Month, pays tribute to the living legacy of Black history in our community and beyond. Check back every day in February as we recognize the people actively shaping the future.
By Amanda Williams
The longer you serve children in a community, the smaller the world seems to become. Eventually you start to hear certain people mentioned over and over — the after-school counselors, the coaches, the neighborhood-parents. The mentors who’ve made an impact connecting with those around them. Ms. Melba Ayco is one of those people.
I met many of Ms. Melba’s students before actually meeting the dance studio director herself. Dressed in burgundy and gold T-shirts, the students would attend my Saturday morning math class to then spend their afternoon at Northwest Tap Connection. And it makes sense, considering the goal of the non-profit I worked for was similar to Ms. Melba’s: to engage children of color in Seattle with culturally-responsive enrichment programming.
Ms. Melba founded the race-and-social-justice dance studio with a mission of raising a generation of socially conscious artists who produce works that fosters change. She plants her seeds through storytelling. Her stories come from her time living through segregation and integration, from her 30-plus years working for the Seattle Police Department, and from her Gullah-Geechee and Creole roots. They come from the historical significance of tap in African culture and her lived experience of being Black on our country today.
She speaks with love for what she has lived and learned through. She raises the consciousness of students so that they may develop their own voice and tell their own stories.
Ms. Melba often talks about “closing the gap.” When she uses this term, it’s not with the deficit-mindset that often points to what a child might be lacking. Instead, she’s talking about filling in the gap where representation is missing. She’s talking about increasing access to arts education through intentional programming and service projects. Ms. Melba uses her influence to stand in the places where society has often pushed us out.
I finally met Ms. Melba when the math program I worked for partnered with Northwest Tap Connection, and it was immediately obvious why the students and families I knew loved her so much. She is a connector. Together, we provided a unique summer program that combined tap dance and mathematics to achieve our common goal: to provide access to quality culturally-responsive programs.
On each burgundy and gold shirt, it reads, “Connecting Dance Across Communities.” This is how Ms. Melba Ayco is making Black history today.
Amanda Williams is a teacher, a mom, and the author of the Hey Black Teacher blog, offering inspiration, support and resources for Black educators.
