Raven Wilkinson and Eleanor D’Antuono

Eleanor D’Antuono was a friend and roommate on the road of Raven Wilkinson while dancing for Ballet Russe of Monte Carlo. The pair would attend church together. D’Antuono witnessed Wilkinson being told she couldn’t stay in the same hotel and tried to go with her to the “Negro” hotel, but was told she could not due to laws prohibiting this. Wilkinson felt that D’Antuono was incredibly protective of her.

 

 

 

Sources: 

Raven Wilkinson’s Extraordinary Life: An Exclusive Interview, Pointe Magazine
Black Ballerinas Dancing on the Edge: An Analysis of the Cultural Politics in Delores Browne’s and Raven Wilkinson’s Careers, Joselli Deans

 

More about Eleanor D’Antuono

The following is an excerpt from D’Antuono’s Steps on Broadway faculty bio:

Eleanor D’Antuono was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She began her professional career with Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and was performing solo roles in the company’s full repertoire and on a world tour within two years. After dancing a season with the Robert Joffrey Ballet, D’Antuono joined American Ballet Theatre as a soloist in 1961 and was promoted to principal dancer in 1963 where she danced for 20 years. Her leading roles have included Coppelia, Giselle, Raymonda, the Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Les Sylphides, Tales Of Hoffman, and La Fille Mal Gardee, and she also has danced in La Bayadere, Etudes, Jardin Aux Lilas, Corsaire, Diane and Acteon and Don Quixote. D’Antuono appeared at the International Ballet Festival in Havana for several years, was the first American ballerina to appear as a guest artist with Kirov Ballet in Leningrad, and the first American ballerina to appear as a guest artist with Chinese companies.

 

Sources:

Eleanor d’Antuono, Steps on Broadway
Photo: Kenn Duncan, Google Arts and Culture

 

Thandi Steele