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Debra Austin. Debra Austin was the very first African-American ballerina to receive a principal dancer contract with a major American ballet company [3] in 1982 with the Pennsylvania Ballet. There she danced the principal roles in Swan Lake, Giselle, Coppélia, and La Sylphide. Dancing these roles with a white partner was a further breakthrough.
In 2015, Misty Copeland made history when she became the first Black principal dancer in the American Ballet Theatre’s 75-year history and the first Black ballerina ever to perform in “Swan ...
Misty Copeland. Misty Danielle Copeland (born September 10, 1982) [1] is an American ballet dancer for American Ballet Theatre (ABT), one of the three leading classical ballet companies in the United States. [2] On June 30, 2015, Copeland became the first African American woman to be promoted to a principal dancer in ABT's 75-year history. [3]
Janet Collins. Janet Collins, OblSB (March 7, 1917 – May 28, 2003) was an African American prima ballerina, choreographer, and teacher. She performed on Broadway, in films, and appeared frequently on television. [1] She was among the pioneers of black ballet dancing, one of the few classically trained Black dancers of her generation.
Occupation. Ballerina. Anne Raven Wilkinson (February 2, 1935 – December 17, 2018) was an American dancer who is credited with having been the first African-American woman to dance for a major classical ballet company. Wilkinson broke the color barrier in 1955 when she signed a contract to dance full-time with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.
Alvin Ailey Jr. (January 5, 1931 – December 1, 1989) was an American dancer, director, choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Alvin Ailey American Dance Center (later Ailey School) as havens for nurturing Black artists and expressing the universality of the ...
Notable Black ballerinas. Aesha Ash is the first Black woman on the School of American Ballet 's permanent faculty. [11] Ash was a student at SAB and progressed into its affiliated company, the New York City Ballet, in 1996. [11] She left NYCB and joined Maurice Béjart 's company in Switzerland before returning to the United States and dancing ...
Katherine Dunham. Katherine Mary Dunham (June 22, 1909 – May 21, 2006) [ 1 ] was an American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, and social activist. Dunham had one of the most successful dance careers of the 20th century and directed her own dance company for many years. She has been called the "matriarch and queen mother of black dance."