San Francisco Ballet – MOBBallet.org

Skip to content

About MoBB
Roll Call
Timeline
Thank You
Contact
Subscribe!
Press Room
Digital Learning Hub
The Constellation Project
Consulting Services

MOBBallet.org

San Francisco Ballet

International Association of Blacks in Dance 2nd Annual Audition for Ballerinas of Color

TIMELINE ENTRIES

1846 – George Washington Smith dances Albrecht in the first American production of Giselle
1868 – George Washington Smith Restages The Black Crook
1919 – Ella Gordon opens the Gordon School of Dance in New York City
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 Classic 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 Fleming 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
1971 – Debra Austin joins New York City Ballet at the age of 16 / Sara Yarborough Smith leaves Harkness Ballet / DTH Performs at the Guggenheim Museum in New York
1972 – DTH gets permanent location / Anna Benna Sims joined the Grand Ballet Canadiens +
1973 – Sandra Fortune of the Capitol Ballet competes in the International Ballet Competition/Christopher Boatwright joins the Stuttgart Ballet
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 / Keith Lee leaves American Ballet Theatre / Sylvester Campbell leaves Béjart
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
1990 – Lauren Anderson is promoted to principal for the Houston Ballet
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 / Daniel Robert Silva is promoted to coryphée at Dutch National Ballet
2019 – Nathan Brhane is promoted to coryphée at the 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