From the first ballet performed in America, to the first black ballerina on the stage, we’ve been dancing. Our history in ballet is rich and diverse.
The history of ballet is filled with brown dancers who have pushed boundaries, reinvented art forms and inspired generations of young performers. In an effort to highlight some of these dancers and their accomplishments, we’ve created a list of brown ballerinas throughout history who have contributed to the art form. These women are an inspiration and should be celebrated as such:
1. Josephine Baker was a famous vaudeville performer and actress who was also known for her activism against racism and fascism in France during World War II. She was also one of the first black women to star in a major Hollywood film, Zouzou (1934).
2. Katherine Dunham is known as one of America’s most important modern dance choreographers and teachers. She started her own company in 1944, which toured internationally and became known as one of the first companies to perform African-American inspired modern dance works on stage.
3. Pearl Primus is considered by many to be one of the greatest African-American dancers of all time — even though she spent most of her career performing in Europe (primarily France). Primus’s first major choreographic work, “African Ceremonial” (1944), attested to her early studies of her black heritage. In 1948 she received a Rosenwald Foundation scholarship to travel to Africa to study dance, which would become the first of many research trips. Her dances, notably “The Wedding” (1961) for Alvin Ailey’s company, reflect her travels to such countries as Senegal, Nigeria, Liberia, and Côte d’Ivoire.
4. Majorie Tallchief was born in Oklahoma October 19, 1927 on an Indian reservation and died November 30 2021. She was native american and a Prima Ballerina She began dancing with her sister as and would become a premiere danseuse etoile (A Prima Ballerina) at the Paris Opera Ballet.
Ballet has not always been a place where dancers of color have been able to thrive and create art. Today, more and more brown girls are finding their way to this art form. MBB will continue to showcase them on our media platforms.
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