Brooklyn Mack Joffrey Ballet: Apprentice American Ballet Theatre Studio Company Orlando Ballet: Principal Washington Ballet: Principal English National Ballet: Guest Artist Brooklyn Mack of Elgin, South Carolina began his dance training at age 12 with the Pavlovich Dance School under Radenko Pavlovich and Milena Leben before receiving a scholarship to study at the Kirov Academy […]
Marie Astrid Mence Ballet Black: Junior Artist (2014-15, 2016-present) Phoenix Dance Company (2015-2016) Marie Astrid Mence was born in Paris, France where she began dancing in a private dance school before continuing to the Higher National Conservatory of Music and Dance in Paris. She was a member of the Junior Ballet of Paris and danced […]
José Alves Ballet Black: Senior Artist (2012-present) Polski Teatr Tańca (2015-2016) Teatr Muzyczny w Łódzi Ballet Company of the Young (2010-2011) Born in Brazil, José Alves started ballet at the age of 13 at the Adalgisa Rolim Ballet School. In 2007 he joined the Bolshoi Theater School in Brazil and graduated in 2008. In 2010 he […]
Debra Austin New York City Ballet (1974) Zurich Ballet: Soloist Pennsylvania Ballet: Principal (1982) Debra Austin (born July 25, 1955) is an American ballet dancer who rose to prominence in 1982 as the first African American female principal dancer of a major American ballet company. She was also the first African American female dancer at […]
Jamar Goodman Hartford Ballet American Ballet Theatre (2000-2003) Pennsylvania Ballet (2003-2005) Originally from Waterbury, Connecticut, Jamar Goodman began his dance training when he was eight years old at The School of the Hartford Ballet under a Dance City Youth Scholarship. While studying in the pre-professional program from 1990 to 1998, Mr. Goodman received classical ballet, […]
Jermel Johnson Pennsylvania Ballet II (2003-2004) Pennsylvania Ballet: Principal (2004-present) Jermel Johnson began his dance education at the Baltimore School for the Arts. His first four years were spent in their after-school program and his next three enrolled as a student in their rigorous and physically-demanding dance department. Johnson then continued his training at the […]
On a crystal clear morning in the Daniels and Fisher clock tower in downtown Denver Colorado, two worlds that have long orbited one another collided. The International Association of Blacks in Dance (IABD) extended an invitation to Artistic and Executive directors of major ballet companies to take part in a group audition for female ballet […]
40 Years of Firsts from Dance Theatre of Harlem on Vimeo.