1967

Sara Yarborough joins Harkness Ballet

Sara Yarborough was trained in Haiti and New York by her mother, ballet dancer Lavinia Williams. Yarborough studied at the Harkness Ballet School and School of American Ballet and later danced with Harkness Ballet.

Sara Yarborough, the daughter of ballet dancer Lavinia Williams, danced with the short-lived Harkness Ballet Company (1964-1975), created by Rebekah Harkness. Yarborough was able to be a part of a company that was solidifying a repertoire of fresh American ballets, created by notable choreographers like Agnes DeMille, Brian McDonald, and many more. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo of mother Lavinia Williams

Sources:

Sara Yarborough, Encyclopedia.com
Harkness Foundation History

See also:

Sara Yarborough is Alvin Ailey Lead in ‘Night Creature,’ New York Times
Sara Yarborough Dances Splendidly in ‘Billie’ Portrait, New York Times
Dancer Sara Yarborough: From Voodoo to S.R.O., People Magazine
Alvin Ailey’s The Mooche/Sara Yarborough [choreography], The Library of Congress


Raven Wilkinson joins the Dutch National Ballet as a Soloist

Six years after having been forced to leave the the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, Wilkinson accepted a soloist contract with the Dutch National Ballet.

Following her departure from Ballet Russe, Raven Wilkinson auditioned for several US-based ballet companies, including New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and the Metropolitan Opera Ballet. Wilkinson was not accepted to any and, disheartened, stopped dancing for two years. She worked briefly in customer service for a New York department store. Later, because she had always been attracted to the spiritual life, she joined an Anglican convent in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. She stayed for only six months as she soon realized she had been given a great gift which she had not used to its fullest. She returned to ballet classes, and not long after, returned to performing when and where she could.

Sylvester Campbell, an African American principal dancer with the Dutch National Ballet, suggested Wilkinson approach that company. After speaking with them, she was invited to join the troupe as second soloist.

She performed in Les Sylphides, The Firebird, Serenade, Giselle, Mozartiana, Concerto Barocco, Swan Lake, Symphony in C, La Valse, The Snow Maiden, and Graduation Ball.

Sources:

Raven Wilkinson, Wikipedia


Other Happenings in 1967

American History

Jan 7: Newlywed Game premieres on ABC.
Jan 9: Georgia legislature seats Rep. Julian Bond.
Jan 10: Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass), takes his seat as the first popularly-elected African American to the US Senate.
Jan 14: NY Times reports Army is conducting secret germ warfare experiments.
Feb 8: US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.
Jun 30: Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr. is named first Black astronaut.
Jul 27: LBJ sets up commission to study cause of urban violence.
Aug 30: US Senate confirms Thurgood Marshall as first Black justice.

World History

Jan 16: First Black government is installed in the Bahamas.
Jan 26: USSR performs nuclear test at Sary Shagan, USSR.
Feb 17: Kosmos 140 (Soyuz Test) launches into Earth orbit.
Mar 15: Allied Forces Central Europe (AFCENT) headquarters move to Brunssum.
Mar 19: French Somaliland (Djibouti) votes to continue association with France.
Apr 4: Dutch De Young government forms.
Apr 6: Premier Georges Pompidou forms new French government.
Apr 14: General Gnassingbé Eyadéma becomes president of Togo.
May 6: Zakir Hussain is elected first Muslim president of India.
Jun 5: Six-day war begins between Israel and the neighboring Arab states of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria.
Jun 28: Israel annexes East Jerusalem.
Sept 19: Nigeria begins offensive against Biafra.
Oct 8: Guerrilla leader Che Guevara and his men are captured in Bolivia.

Arts & Sciences

Jan 12: Dr. James Bedford becomes the first person to be cryonically preserved with intent of future resuscitation.
Jan 27: A fire in the Apollo I Command Module kills astronauts Grissom, White, and Chaffee during a launch rehearsal.
Feb 3: “Purple Haze” is recorded by Jimi Hendrix.
Feb 14: Aretha Franklin records “Respect.”
Jun 27: The world’s first ATM is installed in Enfield, London.
Jul 20: Pablo Neruda receives first Viareggio-Versilia prize.
Jul 23: First successful liver transplant is performed on 19-month-old Julie Rodriguez by Dr. Starzl at the University of Colorado.
Aug 27: Naomi Sims is the first Black model on US cover (Fashion of the Times).
Oct 18: Nobel prize for physics is awarded to Hans A. Bethe.
Dec 20: The Graduate, starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft premieres.

Human & Civil Rights

Mar 1: US House of Representatives expels Rep. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (307 to 116).
Apr 11: Harlem (NYC) voters defy Congress & re-elect Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
Apr 21: Svetlana Alliluyeva, Josef Stalin’s daughter, defects to the US in NYC.
Apr 25: Abortion is legalized in Colorado.
May 3: African American students seize finance building at Northwestern University.
Jun 12: US Supreme Court unanimously ends laws against interracial marriages.
May 6: 400 students seize administration building at Cheyney State College, Pennsylvania.
Jul 12: Race riot in Newark, NJ — 26 killed, 1,500 injured, and over 1,000 arrested.
Oct 20: All-white federal jury convicts seven in murder of three civil rights workers in Meridian, Mississippi.

Sports

Jan 9: NFL New Orleans’ franchise takes name “Saints.”
Jan 12: Louisville, KY draft board refuses exemption for boxer Muhammad Ali.
Feb 26: Ninth Daytona 500 — Mario Andretti wins (146.926 MPH).
Apr 28: Muhammad Ali refuses induction into army & is stripped of boxing title.
May 30: Robert “Evel” Knievel‘s motorcycle jumps 16 automobiles.
Jun 25: Mohammed Ali (Cassius Clay) is sentenced to 5 years.

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