Dancers – MOBBallet.org

1846 – George Washington Smith dances Albrecht in the first American production of Giselle
1919 – Ella Gordon opens the Gordon School of Dance NYC
1926 – Essie Marie Dorsey founds the Essie Marie Dorsey School of Dancing / Mabel Jones Freeman founds the Studio for Classical Dancing
1931 – Katherine Dunham forms Ballet Négre
1937 – American Negro Ballet gives its debut performance
1939 – Bernice Hammond founds Hammond Dance Studio, Washington DC
1940 – Negro Unit of Ballet Theatre is founded
1941 – Jones-Haywood School of Ballet is founded in Washington DC
1946 – Sydney King and Marion Cuyjet found the Sydney-Marion School of Dance in Philadelphia / The First Negro Classical Ballet is founded
1947 – First Negro Classic Ballet debuts / Talley Beatty and Betty Nichols perform Lew Christensen’s Blackface with Balanchine’s Ballet Society
1948 – Therrell C. Smith School of Dance is founded in Washington DC / Ruth Williams School of Dance is founded in NYC / Sydney King School of Dance is founded in Philadelphia, PA / Marion Cuyjet founds the Judimar School of Dance
1950 – Arthur Bell dances in the World Premiere of Frederick Ashton’s Illuminations with New York City Ballet
1951 – Janet Collins joins the Metropolitan Opera Ballet
1952 – Louis Johnson performs in Jerome Robbins’ Ballade with NYCB
1954 – Negro Dance Theater is founded / Delores Browne, John Jones, and Billy Wilson perform in Antony Tudor’s Offenbach in the Underworld
1955 – Arthur Mitchell joins New York City Ballet / Raven Wilkinson joins the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in New York City / Janet Collins retires from the Metropolitan Opera Ballet
1957 – Ward Flemying founds Ballet Americana/New York Negro Ballet
1961 – The Capitol Ballet Company is founded in Washington DC / Raven Wilkinson leaves the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo / Sylvester Campbell, Benjamin Feliskdal, and Billy Wilson join the Dutch National Ballet
1962 – Arthur Mitchell is promoted to Principal with New York City Ballet
1965 – Judith Jamison, Carmen de Lavallade, Glory Van Scott, and Cleo Quitman perform with American Ballet Theatre in Agnes de Mille’s The Four Marys
1966 – Cleo Quitman performs with the Joffrey Ballet in Eugene Loring’s These Three
1967 – Sara Yarborough joins Harkness Ballet / Raven Wilkinson joins the Dutch National Ballet as a Soloist
1968 – John Jones leaves Jerome Robbins Ballet / Keith Lee joins American Ballet Theatre
1969 – Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook form The Dance Theatre of Harlem
1970 – Sylvester Campbell leaves the Dutch National Ballet / Dance Theatre of Harlem premieres at Jacobs Pillow
1974 -Anthony Bassae co-founds the Trockadero de Monte Carlo / Dance Theatre of Harlem debuts flesh-tone tights and shoes
1975 – Lydia Abarca becomes the first Black female ballerina on the cover of Dance Magazine
1978 – Anne Benna Sims joins American Ballet Theatre
1982 – Debra Austin is hired as a principal with Pennsylvania Ballet / Alonzo King LINES Ballet is founded
1998 – Carlos Acosta joins the Royal Ballet / Rubinald Rofino Pronk joins Dutch National Ballet as a soloist at age 16
2006 – Eric Underwood joins the Royal Ballet
2007 – Misty Copeland is promoted to soloist at American Ballet Theatre
2009 – Toshiro Abbley joins the Dutch National Ballet
2011 – Bruno da Rocha Pereira is promoted to coryphée at Dutch National Ballet
2013 – Tyrone Singleton is promoted to principal with Birmingham Royal Ballet
2014 – Michaela DePrince is promoted to élève at Dutch National Ballet
2015 – Misty Copeland is promoted to principal at American Ballet Theatre
2016 – Céline Gittens of the Birmingham Royal Ballet and Francesca Hayward of the Royal Ballet are promoted to principal dancers
2018 – Nikisha Fogo of the Wiener Staatsballett and Claudia Monja of the Joburg Ballet are promoted to principal dancers
2019 – Nathan Brhane is promoted to coryphée at the Dutch National Ballet

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