List of African-American ballerinas

Raven Wilkinson was one of the first African-American ballerinas allowed to join a ballet company. During the 1950s, she danced with the Ballets Russes under the condition that she pose as a white woman by painting her face. After two years of increasing racial discrimination, including threats in the South, she left Ballets Russes and eventually landed a spot in the Dutch National Ballet.[1]

Janet Collins is the first African American to perform with the Metropolitan Opera ballet. She faced some of the same racial controversies as Raven Wilkinson with Ballets Russes before joining the Metropolitan Opera.[2]

Debra Austin was the very first African-American ballerina to receive a principal dancer contract with a major American ballet company 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. Before that time, starting in 1974, Austin was dancing principal and solo roles in George Balanchine's New York City Ballet. Balanchine himself choreographed solos for her as did John Clifford who gave her her first principal role in his ballet Bartok #3 which was noticed by The New York Times as an historical first for that company.

Lauren Anderson is the first African-American principal dancer of the Houston Ballet.[3]

Llanchie Stevenson was the first African-American dancer at Radio City Music Hall Ballet Company and later at the National Ballet of Washington, D.C.. She was a founding company member and principal dancer at Dance Theatre of Harlem.[4]

Patricia Johnson was the first African-American classically trained dancer in El Paso, Texas. She began her ballet training at the age of 10 with Ingeborg Heuser at The Ballet Centre. At the age of 16, she received a full scholarship from Arthur Mitchell to the school of the Dance Theatre of Harlem and later was invited to join the Oakland Ballet company under the direction of Ronn P. Guidi. Johnson rose to the ranks of soloist dancing roles such as Escape in Anna Sokolow's Rooms, Arabian in The Nutcracker, one of the Queens in Léonide Massine's La Boutique fantasque, an Odalisque in Michel Fokine's Scheherazade, and various roles in Eugene Loring's ballets, including Dance Hall Girl in Billy the Kid, Time unto Time, and The Tenderland.

In 1996, Aesha Ash became a member of the New York City Ballet. She was the only African-American during most of her career.[3]

Misty Copeland had a late start in dance, but became one of the few African-American ballerinas to be appointed as a soloist.[5] In June 2015, Copeland became the first African-American female principal dancer in American Ballet Theatre's 75-year history.[6]

Michaela DePrince was born in Sierra Leone and has vitiligo, and adopted by an American couple at age four, and started ballet soon. She was featured in the 2011 ballet documentary First Position. Her career started in Dance Theater of Harlem, and was the youngest dancer there. She then join the Dutch National Ballet, though at the time she is the only dancer of African origin. She is now a soloist at the company.[7]

Precious Adams trained at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow, Russia, but faced discrimination due to her race including being left out of performances, being prevented from taking part in auditions, and being told to "try and rub the black off."[8][9][10] She joined the English National Ballet in 2014, and was promoted to First Artist in 2017.[11] In September 2018, Adams announced that she would no longer perform on stage while wearing pink tights, instead wearing brown tights to match her skin tone. She received criticism from within the ballet industry for her decision, but was supported by the director of the English National Ballet, Tamara Rojo.[12]

Anne Benna Sims was the first African-American danseuse at American Ballet Theatre (ABT) and the first African-American soloist in the company's history. Sims danced with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in 1972. At ABT she was in the first cast of the company premiere of Paul Taylor's Airs (reconstructed by Eileen Cropley); other members of the cast were Lisa Rinehart, Janet Shibata, Rebecca Wright, Brian Adams, Warren Conover and Robert La Fosse. She had earlier been featured in a revival of Antony Tudor's Undertow with Peter Fonseca.

Virginia Johnson was a founding company member and prima ballerina of Dance Theatre of Harlem[13]—known for being the "first Black classical ballet company" and "the first ballet company to prioritize Black dancers". She joined Dance Theatre of Harlem under its co-founders, Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook, in 1969 when the company was founded. In 2009, Johnson returned to Dance Theatre of Harlem as the company's artistic director.[13]

Karen Brown danced for Dance Theatre of Harlem from 1973 to 1995. She worked with Arthur Mitchell, Frederic Franklin, Alexandra Danilova, Agnes de Mille and Geoffrey Holder. She served as director of education at the Atlanta Ballet Center for Dance and was the first African-American woman to direct a ballet company when she served as artistic director of Oakland Ballet Company in California.[14]

Olivia Boisson is a dancer with New York City Ballet.

Sydney Magruder Washington is a ballet dancer and mental health advocate.

Chyrstyn Fentroy is a dancer with Boston Ballet.