James Thurston

New York Negro Ballet/Ballet Americana
Royal Winnipeg Ballet
Dance Theatre of Harlem

James Thurston with Janise Turner in a Jones-Haywood School of Ballet performance, 1961. Photo via The Pittsburgh Courier.

Before joining the Dance Theatre of Harlem, Washington DC-native James Thurston was a member of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Canada’s oldest ballet company, and the New York Negro Ballet, which was known as Ballet Americana during his time, ca. 1959.

Thurston was in the original DTH casts of Arthur Mitchell’s Spiritual Suite (1970) and Fun and Games (1971).
Thurston was also a member of George Faison’s company ca. 1974.
In 1975, he was an original cast member, assistant choreographer, and dance captain for the Broadway show Treemonisha.

Thurston was a founding faculty member of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington DC.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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