black ballerina – MOBBallet.org

Skip to content

About Us
Roll Call
Timeline
E-Zine
Thank You
Contact
Subscribe!
Press Room

MOBBallet.org

black ballerina

Op-Ed: A Radical Reimagining of Ballet for 2018

Dance Spirit- Meet 10 Up-and-Coming Black Ballerinas ...

Inside IABD's New Ballet Audition for Men of Color- Dance Magazine

Why Some Dancers Are Giving “Hiplet” Serious Side Eye

Huffington Post Black Voices Features MoBBallet

Let Sandra Fortune Green Inspire and Educate you!!!

Letter From the Editor: January 2017

This Beautiful Photo of Ballerinas of Color Is Slaying on Instagram

Royal Ballet's Principal Ballerina Francesca Hayward's Sugarplum Fairy

Inspiration Houston Ballet's Lauren Anderson and Carlos Acosta Dance Don Quixote Pas de Deux

TIMELINE ENTRIES

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 (Philadelphia PA)/Mabel Jones Freeman Founds the Studio for Classical Dancing (Washington DC)
1931 Katherine Dunham Forms Ballet Négre
1937 – American Negro Ballet was Founded
1939 -Bernice Hammond founds Hammond Dance Studio, Washington DC
1940 – Negro Unit of Ballet Theatre was Founded
1941 Jones-Haywood School of Ballet was Founded In Washington DC
1946 Sydney King and Marion Cuyjet found the Sydney-Marion School of Dance (Phila.)
1947 First Negro Classic Ballet / Talley Beatty and Betty Nichols performed Lew Christensen’s Blackface With Balanchine’s Ballet Society
1948 Marion Cuyjet founds the Judimar School of Dance (Phila)/ Sydney King founds the Sydney King School of Dance (Phila)
1948 – Therrell C. Smith School of Dance is founded in Washington D.C.
1950 Arthur Bell dances world premiere of Frederick Ashton’s Illuminations with New York City Ballet
1951 – Janet Collins joins with Metropolitan Opera Ballet
1952 – Louis Johnson performed Jerome Robbins’ Ballade with NYCB
1954 – Negro Dance Theater was founded/Delores Browne, John Jones and Billy Wilson perform in Antony Tudor’s Offenbach in the Underworld
1955 – Janet Collins retired from the Metropolitan Opera Ballet
1955 – Arthur Mitchell Joins New York City Ballet/ Raven Wilkinson Joins the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo New York City
1957- Ward Flemying founds Ballet Americana/New York Negro Ballet
1961 – Sylvester Campbell, Benjamin Feliskdal and Billy Wilson join the Dutch National Ballet
1961 – The Capitol Ballet Company Founded in Washington DC/ Raven Wilkinson Leaves the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
1962 – Arthur Mitchell is promoted to Principal of New York City Ballet
1965 – Judith Jamison, Carmen de Lavallade, Glory Van Scott and Cleo Quitman perform with American Ballet Theater in Agnes de Mille’s The Four Mary’s
1966 – Cleo Quitmen performs with the Joffrey Ballet in Eugene Loring’s These Three
1967 – Sara Yarborough Joined Harkness Ballet /Raven Wilkinson joins the Dutch National Ballet as a soloist
1968 – John Jones Leaves Jerome Robbins Ballet/ Keith Lee joins American Ballet Theater
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 Debra Austin joins the New York City Ballet/Anthony Bassae co-founds the Trockadero de Monte Carlo
1975- Lydia Abarca becomes the first Black Female on the Cover of Dance Magazine
1978 Anne Benna Sims Joins American Ballet Theatre
1982- Debra Austin hired as a Principal with Pennsylvania Ballet/Alonzo King LINES Ballet is founded
1998 – Carlos Acosta joins Royal Ballet / Rubinald Rofino Pronk Joins Dutch National Ballet as a Soloist at Age 16
2006- Eric Underwood joins Royal Ballet
2007- Misty Copeland Promoted to Soloist at American Ballet Theatre
2009- Toshiro Abbley joins the Dutch National Ballet
2011-Bruno da Rocha Pereira Promoted to Coryphée at Dutch National Ballet
2013- Tyrone Singleton promoted to Principal in Birmingham Royal Ballet
2014- Michaela DePrince Promoted to Élève at Dutch National Ballet
2015- Misty Copeland 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
2018- Nikisha Fogo of the Weiner Staatsballett and Claudia Monja of the Joburg Ballet are Promoted to Principal
2019-Nathan Brhane Promoted to Coryphée at Dutch National Ballet

Back to Animated Timeline

Stay informed, Join our Newsletter

Never miss a new dancer profile, event, or news post when you sign up for our monthly newsletter.

Name

Email

Subscribing I accept the privacy rules of this site

Created and Maintained at MOBBallet.org with design assistance from LUX55.com