Raven Barkley
Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble
Charlotte Ballet (2015)
Raven Barkley, from the Bronx, NY, began dancing at age 10 at Ballet Tech: The New York City Public School for Dance. She furthered her training at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, where she graduated with honors. While at LaGuardia, Barkley also attended the Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Pre-Professional Program as a scholarship student. Here she received performance opportunities with the Professional Training Program and the DTH Dancing Through Barriers Ensemble. While at DTH, she was selected as a featured dancer for the Scholastic children’s book, Beautiful Ballerina by Marilyn Nelson. In May 2015, Barkley graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance, concentrating in ballet, from SUNY Purchase. Upon graduation, Barkley received the State University of New York’s Patricia Kerr Ross Award and was recognized as a graduating student with a promising career in the arts. In June 2015, Barkley joined Charlotte Ballet’s first company. While there, she has received lead performing opportunities including the Black Pas de Deux in Jiří Kylián’s Forgotten Land, the Female Lead in “Winter” from Sasha Janes’ Four Seasons, and the Female Lead in Mark Diamond’s Yamato. Additionally, Barkley appeared on Charlotte Ballet’s 2016/2017 season brochure and diversity campaign. She was also a contestant in both the 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 Dancing With the Stars of Charlotte Gala, for which she performed to help raise money for charitable causes that benefitted WFAE (Charlotte’s NPR station) and Novant Health’s Nursing Education Fund. She has performed works by George Balanchine, Aszure Barton, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, Mark Diamond, Da’Von Doane, George Faison, Eliot Feld, Robert Garland, Sasha Janes, Bill T. Jones, Jessica Lang, Jiří Kylián, Arthur Mitchell, Ohad Naharin, Matthew Neenan, Dwight Rhoden, Taryn Russell, Bettijane Sills, and Deborah Wingert.
Source:
Raven Barkley, Charlotte Ballet
See also:
With ‘Evening of Pas de Deux,’ Charlotte Ballet Proves the Form is Still Venerable, The Chautauquan Daily
Charlotte Ballet opener thrives on new blood, The Charlotte Observer
Social media :
Instagram @thatssoraven03
Twitter @ravebee
Facebook Raven Barkley