Sylvester Campbell and Barbara Wright

Barbara Wright was Sylvester Campbell’s cousin and a fellow dancer. After Campbell graduated from high school, he went to New York and joined the New York Negro Ballet with the help of Wright, who was already in the group. Wright also helped Campbell get his footing in New York by getting him a job at the International Institute of Education.

They were both part of a 1957 New York Negro Ballet tour of England, Scotland and Wales. They performed Ernest Parham’s Mardi Gras, two Louis Johnson ballets, and a pas de deux from Sleeping Beauty.

More about Barbara Wright

Like Sylvester Campbell, Barbara Wright studied at the Jones-Haywood School of Ballet and at an SAB summer intensive. Not only did Wright perform in the New York Negro Ballet, but she was also in the 1957 Broadway production of Jamaica, performing as an “Islander.” This production also featured Alvin Ailey.

Sources:

A Conversation with Sylvester Campbell, Ballet Review, pg 24-34
Barbara Wright, MoBBallet

 

 

Jack Shigeta