Billy Wilson and Delores Browne

Delores Browne was one of Philadelphia’s first professional Black ballerinas. Billy Wilson and Browne were casted in the first performance of Antony Tudor’s Offenback in the Underworld in 1954.  The ballet was described as a “humorous story about the flirtatious interactions among celebrities at a 1870s French cafe, [and] is filled with colorful characters and costumes.  It culminates with a sultry and exhilarating chorus line of high kicking known as the ‘can-can’.”  Since its opening night, Tudor’s ballet has been performed by American Ballet Theatre, Joffrey Ballet, Ballet West, and National Ballet of Canada.

Sources: 

Arthur Mitchell: Harlem’s Ballet Trailblazer, Columbia University Libraries Online Exhibitions
Delores Browne, MOBBallet
Delores Browne, John Jones, and Billy Wilson perform in Antony Tudor’s Offenbach in the Underworld, MOBBallet

More about Delores Browne

Delores Browne was one of Philadelphia’s first professional Black ballerinas. Born on March 30, 1935 in Philadelphia, Browne loved ballet from an early age.  When an aunt offered to pay for lessons when she was 9, Browne struggled to find a ballet school that would teach her until finally starting at the racially integrated Ballet Club at Barratt Middle School.  She later studied under Marion Cuyjet at the Judimar School, and at 14, was awarded a scholarship to continue her ballet education.  She eventually became one of six Black students accepted to the School of American Ballet, and later, a member of the New York Negro Ballet in 1957.  She performed at an Alvin Ailey and Ernest Parham recital alongside dancers like Nat Horne, John Jones, Georgia Collins, and more.  See more.

 

Sources: 

Arthur Mitchell: Harlem’s Ballet Trailblazer, Columbia University Libraries Online Exhibitions
Delores Browne, MOBBallet

 

Anna Owens