{"id":10797,"date":"2021-03-18T14:40:26","date_gmt":"2021-03-18T14:40:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/?p=10797"},"modified":"2025-04-21T07:16:24","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T07:16:24","slug":"endalyn-taylor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/2021\/03\/18\/endalyn-taylor\/","title":{"rendered":"Endalyn Taylor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Endalyn Taylor<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Dance Theatre of Harlem<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Photo via University of Illinois<\/a>, uncredited.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Endalyn Taylor, born to Baptists ministers James and Lillie Taylor, grew up on the South Side of Chicago and began dancing when she was seven years old at the Mayfair Academy of Fine Arts and later the Ruth Page School of Dance. At the latter, Larry Long mentored Taylor. Additionally, Taylor was awarded scholarships to attend the Joffrey Ballet School and Pennsylvania Ballet.<\/div>\n
She attended a summer intensive at Dance Theatre of Harlem when she was 16 and became a company apprentice soon after, in 1982. During this time, she completed her high school education at the Professional Children\u2019s School, having to \u201cdo [her] schoolwork weeks in advance to get it in on time, sometimes from Europe or other locations.\u201d<\/div>\n
In 1989, Taylor appeared in DTH\u2019s filmed production of Fall River Legend<\/em>. She was featured in the DTH premieres of August Bournonville\u2019s Flower Festival in Genzano<\/em> (1990), Alvin Ailey\u2019s The River<\/em> (1993), Alonzo King\u2019s Ground<\/em> (1996), Vincent Sekwati Mantsoe\u2019s Sasanka<\/em> (1997), and John Alleyne<\/a>\u2019s <\/span>Adrian (Angel on Earth)<\/em> (1997). Her other repertory included roles in <\/span>Giselle<\/em>; George Balanchine\u2019s Serenade<\/em>, The Four Temperaments<\/em>, Agon<\/em>, Concerto Barocco<\/em>, and Stars and Stripes<\/em>; Billy Wilson\u2019s Concerto in F<\/em> and Mirage<\/em>; Le Corsaire<\/em>; Alonzo King\u2019s Signs and Wonders<\/em>; Arthur Mitchell\u2019s Holberg Suite<\/em> and F\u00eate Noire<\/em>; Glen Tetley\u2019s Dialogues<\/em>; Bronislava Nijinska\u2019s Les Biches<\/em>; Ron Cunningham\u2019s Etosha<\/em>; and Michael Smuin\u2019s Songs of Mahler<\/em> and Medea<\/em>.<\/div>\n
Taylor rose to the rank of principal dancer by 1993. With the company she performed for notable figures like Princess Diana, Coretta Scott King, Colin Powell, President Clinton, and Nelson Mandela.<\/div>\n
Taylor has also had a successful Broadway career, performing in Carousel<\/em> as Liza Sinclair (1994), as an original ensemble dancer in The Lion King<\/em> (1997), and as a \u201cswing\u201d and Nehebka\u2019s understudy in Aida<\/em> (2000).<\/div>\n
With The Lion King<\/em>, Taylor performed at the Tony Awards, on The Tonight Show with David Letterman<\/em>, and The Rosie O\u2019Donnell Show<\/em>.<\/div>\n
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From left to right: Endalyn Taylor, Anjali Austin<\/a>, Christina Johnson<\/a>, Joselli Audain<\/a>, Elena Dominguez-Bartley. Photo via the Dance Theatre of Harlem archive.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Her other film and television credits include Center Stage<\/em> (2000) and an American Express commercial.<\/div>\n

Taylor has taught at Shellman Dance Academy in New Jersey, The Ailey School, NYU, and the High School of the Performing Arts. She was DTH\u2019s Education and Outreach Program\u2019s assistant director and the co-director for the Cambridge Performing Arts Institute. From 2005-2013, Taylor served as a teacher and the director of DTH\u2019s school.<\/div>\n
After leaving this role and receiving her MFA from Hollins University, Taylor became an assistant professor of dance at the University of Illinois, where she was also named the Dean\u2019s Fellow for Black Arts Research.<\/div>\n
Taylor\u2019s research examines \u201cthe careers of dancers of color\u2014past, present, and future\u2014tell their stories, and through performance, interviews, and documentation celebrate their strength, beauty, and perseverance in the midst of an aesthetic and ethnic bias that persists even as we move toward a brighter, more colorful future,\u201d and hopes her research can \u201c[look] at social issues such as domestic violence through an artistic lens and [explore] the role of the black ballerina in the world of dance and its history.\u201d More on Taylor\u2019s academic work can be read here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
In addition to research and teaching at UI, Taylor has taught dance to performers at the Lyric Theatre @ Illinois and choreographed for the theater\u2019s production of Kiss Me Kate<\/em>. Other choreography credits include pieces for the Works and Process at the Guggenheim series, the Institute on Domestic Violence in the African-American Community, the High School of Performing Arts, and a collaboration between DTH and the Orchestra of St. Luke\u2019s.<\/div>\n
Eddie Shellman<\/a> is Taylor\u2019s ex-husband. Together they had Eddie Shellman III, who is also a professional dancer, and Eivory James Shellman.<\/div>\n
The Institute on Domestic Violence in the African-American Community awarded Taylor the Outstanding Achievement in anti-violence advocacy through the Arts and Media.<\/div>\n
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Photo via Dance at Illinois<\/a>, uncredited.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Taylor’s bio in the Playbill for The Lion King<\/em>‘s opening night.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Photo via The News-Gazette<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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