{"id":13264,"date":"2021-12-02T16:21:16","date_gmt":"2021-12-02T16:21:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/?p=13264"},"modified":"2025-04-21T07:16:22","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T07:16:22","slug":"american-ballet-theatre-valerie-black","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/2021\/12\/02\/american-ballet-theatre-valerie-black\/","title":{"rendered":"American Ballet Theatre’s Orbit: Valerie Black"},"content":{"rendered":"

ABT Negro Unit\u2019s Black Ritual<\/em> and Valerie Black<\/b><\/h2>\n
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Click to view American Ballet Theatre; Negro Unit and Black Ritual Orbit<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The American Ballet Theatre\u2019s all-Black Negro Unit, which was founded in 1940 as part of the Federal Theatre Project, included Valerie Black<\/a><\/strong>, along with Lawaune Kennard<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong> Lavinia Williams<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong> Anne Jones<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong> Dorothy Williams<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong> Elizabeth Thompson<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong> Evelyn Pilcher<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong> Edith Ross<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong>\u00a0Leonore<\/strong> \u201cAzelean\u201d Cox<\/strong><\/a>, Edith Hurd<\/strong><\/a>, Mabel Hart<\/a><\/strong>, Maudelle Bass<\/strong><\/a>, Clementine Collinwood<\/strong><\/a>, Carole Ash<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong> Bernice Willis<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong> and Muriel Cook<\/strong><\/a>. <\/span>The Negro Unit only performed one ballet during its existence\u2014Black Ritual<\/em> or Obeah<\/em>, which was choreographed by Agnes de Mille and premiered in 1940.<\/p>\n

Valerie Black and fellow Negro Unit dancers Dorothy Williams, Lavinia Williams, and Edith Ross performed with the American Negro Ballet (debuted 1937). Then, in 1941, Black danced with Mabel Hart <\/span>in <\/span>Aida<\/span><\/i> with the National Negro Opera Company. In 1943, she performed in <\/span>Carmen Jones<\/span><\/i> with Dorothy Williams, Edith Ross, Edith Hurd, Mabel Anderson, and Evelyn Pilcher. Valerie Black and <\/span>Mabel Hart also performed in <\/span>Lysistrata<\/span><\/i> (1946) together.<\/span><\/p>\n

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More about Valerie Black<\/b><\/h2>\n
\"Image
Valerie Black via The Daily News, October 28, 1945.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Valerie Cavell Black, born in 1917 in Colon, Panama, attended Bryant High School and Hunter College in New York City. After seeing a call for dancers to join Eugene Von Grona\u2019s American Negro Ballet, she performed with the company at their 1937 premiere at Lafayette Theatre, where she played the lead in <\/span>Children of the Earth<\/span><\/i>. At this performance, critics praised Black, Al Bledger<\/a><\/strong>, Lavinia Williams, and their fellow dancers. Black was also a member of Negro Unit of Ballet Theatre, performing in the 1940 premiere of Agnes de Mille\u2019s <\/span>Black Ritual<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Black was featured in several Broadway shows; she was in the original casts of <\/span>The Hot Mikado<\/span><\/i> (1939), <\/span>Big White Fog<\/span><\/i> (as Caroline, 1940), <\/span>Carmen Jones<\/span><\/i> (1943), <\/span>Lysistrata<\/span><\/i> (1946), and <\/span>Our Lan\u2019<\/span><\/i> (as Ellen, 1947). Black was cast as the understudy for the title role of <\/span>Anna Lucasta<\/span><\/i>; a year after the show opened, she took over the role when the original cast member left the production. <\/span>The New York Age<\/span><\/i> praised Black\u2019s \u201csuperb acting, her charming personality, and her constant efforts in trying to do a better job every performance.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She appeared in the film <\/span>Beware!<\/span><\/i> in 1946 and <\/span>Aida<\/span><\/i> with the National Negro Opera Company in 1941 as well as work on radio and in clubs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Black passed away in 2003.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pioneers in Negro Concert Dance: 1931 to 1937, Free to Dance<\/a><\/strong>
\nValerie Black, Playbill<\/a><\/strong>
\nMaher, Erin K. \u201cBallet, Race, and Agnes de Mille\u2019s Black Ritual.\u201d\u00a0The Musical Quarterly<\/i>, vol. 97, no. 3, Fall 2014, pp. 390-428.
\nInside the Playbill: Our Lan\u2019, Playbill<\/a><\/strong>
\nValerie Black, Native of Panama, Scores in \u201cAnna Lucasta\u201d Show, The New York Age Dec 1, 1945<\/a><\/strong>
\nThe Daily News, Oct 28, 1945<\/a>
\n<\/a>Night\u2019s Dancer: The Life of Janet Collins<\/a><\/strong>
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Caprice Turchiano<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Madeline Crawford<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ABT Negro Unit\u2019s Black Ritual and Valerie Black The American Ballet Theatre\u2019s all-Black Negro Unit, which was founded in 1940 as part […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"universe-template.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[284,253],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-abt-negro-unit-constellation","category-universe"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/130"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13264"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15552,"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13264\/revisions\/15552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}