In Dialogue: Lillian Colon On Being The First Latina Rockette And Taking Her Career Back After Motherhood

Over the summer, the world was introduced to Lillian Colon. At sixty-five, this long-retired dancer and former Rockette auditioned for–and was cast for–In The Heights, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical love letter to Upper Manhattan and the thriving Latinx community that lives there. In doing so, Colon didn’t just land the biggest gig of her career, or make a trailblazing statement about what seniors are capable of doing; she did what millions of moms are trying to do: returned to her old career.

Moms stepping back from their careers isn’t anything new. The practice is well-established in every part of the world where women are able to have one at all. Most of the industrialized world offers paid maternity leave for upwards of six months or longer; in the United States, new mothers more often face a choice of quitting or working themselves to death. But regardless, women who take time away from their careers to care for their children don’t have the best odds of returning when they’re able.

The pandemic she-cession gives this problem stark new urgency, as the entire childcare infrastructure has suffered a critical, debilitating blow, forcing millions of women out of work for lack of another option.