From Ballet to Broadway and Black and Von Grona’s Swing Ballet
Eugene Von Grona trained in dance in Germany and arrived in New York City in 1928. He formed the American Negro Ballet in 1934 after seeing the zeal of the artists working in Harlem, noting the new type of dance energy he saw in them that was lacking in European dancers. He thought that the dancers he found for his company “didn’t have the opportunity” for technique classes and so he gave it to them at the American Negro Ballet. ANB was the one of the first professional company to feature concert dance with Black members on a scale that garnered acceptance from the media as well as criticism.
They used the term “ballet” to describe all the dance they were doing, though not a classical ballet company. In 1939, members of the company performed alongside the New York Negro Symphony Orchestra; these members were Valerie Cavell, Marion Brown, Beryl Clarke, Viola Gibson, Dorothy Jones, Harriet Oliver, Evelyn Pilcher, Edith Ross, Pearl Spears, Hazel Spence, Ettie Stephens, Willard Taylor, Elizabeth Thompson, Lavinia Williams, Wahneta Talley, Teddy Allen, Alfred Bledger, Jon Edward, Anthony Fleming, Frank Green, Coleman Hill, James Smith, and Harry Young.
These dancers participated in Broadway shows in order to continue dancing and Eugene von Grona’s Swing Ballet gave them the opportunity to dance. In particular, Marion Brown, Dorothy Jones, Evelyn Pilcher, Edith Ross, Hazel Spence, Lavinia Williams, Alfred (Al) Bledger, and Coleman Hill participated in the production of Lew Leslie’s Blackbirds of 1939 which was cast through Von Grona’s Swing Ballet.
Sources:
“Which was the first?” A historical essay on the first Black Dance Company in the USA
More about Eugene von Grona
Eugene Von Grona (January 23, 1908 – March 29, 2000) was a German professional dancer and choreographer. He was born in Berlin. As a child he visited the United States quite frequently, where he became enamored with the cakewalk and minstrel shows. By the 1920s he finally made his move to the United States with his wife Leni Bouvier. Both dancers, they were fascinated by the new artistic innovations of the Harlem Renaissance. He enjoyed the sounds of Duke Ellington and other ragtime favorites. In 1930, Von Grona arranged the dance, Mechanical Ballet, for the Broadway musical, Fine and Dandy. Brooks Atkinson of The New York Times said, ‘the most stunning dance number is a mechanical ballet, which is quite the most vivid of its kind.’ In 1935, he began dancing and directing ballets at the Roxy Theatre.
Sources:
Eugene von Grona: Lavinia Williams’ Orbit, MoBBallet
Nicole Toney
