Dance & Choreography
BLACK DANCERS IN BALLET
Is Ballet Blanc for White Dancers Only?
September 2025
Debra Austin Dancing Balanchine’s Dewdrop for Pennsylvania Ballet
Photo: © Steven Caras (@debraaustin_ballet)
Photo: © Steven Caras (@debraaustin_ballet)
Note: In 1971 at age 16, Debra Austin was the first Black female invited to join the New York City Ballet.
When she was not promoted, she left for the Zurich Ballet, and in 1982, became a principal with the Pennsylvania Ballet.
When she was not promoted, she left for the Zurich Ballet, and in 1982, became a principal with the Pennsylvania Ballet.
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"I started the International Association of Blacks in Dance in 1988. Someone told me she did not know where to find Black ballet dancers. I said, 'I’ll find them for you.'" ~ Joan Myers Brown |
By Dawn Lille
Ballet Blanc is a term referring to certain works in 19th century ballet, the era of white, tutu-clad female dancers of the corps de ballet in such works as Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty. Associated with the costume are flesh colored (pink) tights, pink satin toe shoes, and white or pink leotards. To many, this is the image that comes to mind when one refers to classical ballet.
Historically, the technique of ballet began in Italy; and when Catherine de Medici married the French royal Henri Duc d’Orleans, she brought to France the dance masters and musicians responsible for this form of aristocratic spectacle. It thrived in the French courts as a form of entertainment, participation, and political control. Louis XIV was an outstanding dancer. When he became physically unable to perform, he made the art form professional, establishing a school and a company, which by the early 18th century included women. The French influence spread over Europe and blossomed in Russia in the 19th century under the French choreographer Marius Petipa, who created many of the ballet blancs.
Historically, the technique of ballet began in Italy; and when Catherine de Medici married the French royal Henri Duc d’Orleans, she brought to France the dance masters and musicians responsible for this form of aristocratic spectacle. It thrived in the French courts as a form of entertainment, participation, and political control. Louis XIV was an outstanding dancer. When he became physically unable to perform, he made the art form professional, establishing a school and a company, which by the early 18th century included women. The French influence spread over Europe and blossomed in Russia in the 19th century under the French choreographer Marius Petipa, who created many of the ballet blancs.
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The people of America, with its history of slavery and subsequent racism, were also anti-elitist. When Isadora Duncan, the avant-garde dancer of the early 20th century, said that in her wildest dreams she could not imagine the goddess of liberty dancing the ballet, most Americans probably agreed with her. Major European companies and their featured dancers did perform here and Anna Pavlova toured extensively. The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo made its home in New York City in 1938, performed nationally and gradually added American dancers. George Balanchine arrived in 1933, set up the School of American Ballet (SAB) and was part of several small companies, the last of which, Ballet Society, became the New York City Ballet (NYCB) in 1948. Ballet Theatre, later American Ballet Theatre (ABT) gave its first performance in 1940 and other ballet companies sprang up nationally. But dancers who were not White, especially women, were never principal dancers or even members of the corps.
Thus, when Misty Copeland, who is retiring from ABT in November after twenty-five years with them, became the first principal Black ballerina in a major American company in 2015, accolades and attention came from all over. But Copeland, who has made herself an example for children of color, was not the first Black ballerina. There were many prior to her and to the Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH), even if history seemed to have forgotten them.
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Anne Milewski and Misty Copeland (right) in La Bayadère, 2009
American Ballet Theatre Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress (Photo Credit: Marty Sohl) |
Raven Wilkinson (Undated Photo)
Raven was from New York City and joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1955, the first Woman of color to dance full-time with a major ballet company. While they were on tour in the south someone realized she was Black, and the threats became dangerous. |
Arthur Mitchell, the first Black dancer to receive a full contract with NYCB, founded DTH in 1969 in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King. He was determined to prove that classical ballet could be successfully performed by dancers of color. Today this is a strong troupe of Black ballet dancers, recognized internationally.
In 1996, the Jerome Robbins Dance Collection of the Library of Performing Arts at Lincoln Center held an exhibition and two days of panel discussions under the title “Classic Black.” Based on research and interviews with fifty-five participants, it shared the history of ballet dancers of color prior to DTH, revealing both their existence and that many chose to go into other forms of dance because they could not get jobs. The question then, still relevant, is ‘Why?” The simple answer has two basic parts: racism and the availability of training. In the end they were often inseparable.
Many young, Black potential dancers wanting to study ballet were told their bodies were not suited to the form: too muscular a build, protruding buttocks, flat feet. But as Karel Shook, the White co-founder of DTH and a highly respected ballet teacher, observed in his autobiography, the majority of bodies in any ethnic group are not suited to the extreme demands of the classical ballet technique. Straight flat vertical torso, beautifully arched feet, extreme outward rotation of the hips and long muscles are alien to most bodies. The idea that peoples of mixed color in the corps de ballet was not aesthetic also made no sense. |
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The need for schools to train dancers is obvious, but almost all ballet schools in the U.S. in the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s were segregated. The excuse given was that the admission of a Black student whose parents might be able to afford the tuition would cause the White students to disappear. In New York, there were a few teachers in Harlem and some in Manhattan, such as SAB and Ballets Arts, plus some individual Russian teachers. But there are reports of a partnering class where the White males refused to partner the Black females. In the Black ghetto of Boston, there was a ballet school and in other cities special classes were given for students of color. In Chicago, the powerful dancer and choreographer Talley Beatty studied on a scholarship and was given class at 7:30 a.m., using the office desk as a dance barre. Washington D.C., with a large Black middle class, had several Black ballet teachers. The Jones Haywood School opened in 1941 and, in 1961, formed a company, the Capitol Ballet, for their advanced students. In Los Angeles, Carmelita Maracci accepted all students. Philadelphia was an early center of ballet, so it is not surprising to find three Black teachers in this segregated dance city — first Essey Marie Dorsey, who looked Hispanic, then two of her students Marion Cuyjet, who passed as White, and Sydney King. They trained some outstanding dancers, male and female, some of whom studied with Antony Tudor when he came to teach at the Philadelphia Dance Guild and created the first integrated company that danced with the Philadelphia Orchestra. There were also dance companies before DTH. The American Negro Ballet (1937) was created by Eugene Von Grona. Trained in German modern dance technique, he recruited his performers by offering free dance classes for a company he called “ballet” because the works performed were narrative. The First Negro Classic Ballet (1947-56), at one point called the Hollywood Negro Ballet, was directed by Joseph Rickard, a White ballet teacher and choreographer. This was the first time one could see Black dancers en pointe.
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Janet Collins
Detroit Public Library Digital Collection (Photo Credit: Peter Basch) Janet grew up in California and trained with Carmelita Maracci and others. She was the Prima Ballerina at the Metropolitan Opera House (1951-54).
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Delores Browne and John Jones Performing in New York City (ca. 1950s)
Photo: New York Public Library Collection Trained in Philadelphia and New York, Jones danced with the Joffrey Ballet, DTH, and other companies. |
The New York Negro Ballet was organized by Ward Fleming, who was part of a group of Black ballet dancers in America, most of whom studied at the studio of Mme. Maria Nevelska in New York. Originally called Les Ballets Negres and later The American Negro Ballet, they toured Great Britain in 1956 with both classical and contemporary works and received very good reviews. When their patron died that year, the company eventually disbanded with many of the excellent dancers remaining in Europe.
The issue of the pink tights and point shoes has been dealt with in some companies by having dancers of color wear tights and shoes of a hue closer to their skin tones. But ballet companies still do not look like the population. Delores Browne, who died in 2023, was an outstanding ballet dancer trained in Philadelphia and a soloist with the New York Negro Ballet. She had no patience with dance troupes that had diversity committees. She maintained that in the 21st century all they had to do was observe classes in some of the major ballet schools. The major ballet companies in the United States still have few, if any, Black company members. In Europe ballet dancers have been accepted regardless of color. The Royal Ballet now has six Black members and Ballet Black, the integrated company and school, has existed since 2001.
Virginia Johnson, who trained in Washington, D.C., with Therrell Smith and was one of the outstanding original ballerinas with DTH and its artistic director from 2010 to 2023, once said that ballet blanc was no longer relevant to ballet. It would be heartening to believe that if the arts reflect culture, and if we are training ballet dancers of all colors, companies will change. |
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Joan Myers Brown, a ballet-trained, Black dancer, founded a school in 1960 and a world admired dance company, Philadanco, in 1970, both in Philadelphia. She was a student of Sydney King and danced with Tudor’s group. She has received every award Philadelphia has to give, including having November 10, 2010 declared “Joan Myers Brown Living Legacy Day.” She has been awarded two honorary degrees and recognized by the Kennedy Center and Dance USA. When President Barack Obama awarded her the National Medal of Arts, he cited her for “carving out an artistic haven for African American dancers and choreographers…to share their unique visions with the national and global community.”
I spoke with Joan about her personal journey and the persistent lack of opportunities for Black ballet dancers, even today.
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Joan Myers Brown
Photo Courtesy: Joan Myers Brown |
Young Joan
Photo Courtesy: Joan Myers Brown |
At a young age you abandoned a career in ballet and opened a school. Why?
I was doing nightclub work and was no longer interested in ballet. I thought I would open a school where I could teach kids in the community and offer a chance that I didn’t get. When you were studying ballet, if you knew what would happen afterward would you have continued to study?
When I was 16, I thought there might be a possibility. When I was out of school and still studying, I realized there were no opportunities — no hope. Although you have always offered ballet classes you did not create a ballet school and company. Why? I made sure they had ballet training, so if the opportunity presented itself, they would be prepared. I started asking ballet teachers to come and teach for us. I lied to myself. Would you follow the same plan today? I look at Philadelphia Ballet today. They had only one Black girl in the company. When I talked to the executive director, she didn’t even realize that girl had been in the company. So, it seems they do not believe we would be prepared if given the opportunity. I think they feel, ‘She’s not going to be a ballet dancer, so why correct her?’ |
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You and Delores Browne set up a yearly audition for ballet dancers and invited teachers and company heads to attend. What was the purpose and the result?
I started the International Association of Blacks in Dance in 1988. Someone told me she did not know where to find Black ballet dancers. I said, ‘I’ll find them for you.’ Leaders of the major ballet companies showed up. I told them they did not have to hire the students, but they could train them, and then there would be no excuse for not hiring them. The auditions still exist. How do you feel about the current situation for Black dancers in ballet? I don’t think there are the opportunities that should exist. Oklahoma Ballet has hired several girls and a few others as well. Would you encourage or discourage a young Black dancer from going into ballet today? I don’t discourage anyone from anything. I say follow your dreams and one day your chance might come. But you have to be better than the best to succeed. It’s sad that 55 years after I started my company, there is one Black ballet dancer that everyone photographs, but they do not accept others in ballet companies. Misty Copeland initially did not even know there were others before her, and people still think she was the first. Dawn Lille, Ph.D., trained in ballet, modern dance and Laban analysis, and has worked in dance and theater as a performer, choreographer, director, teacher and writer. She taught at Brooklyn, Barnard and City College/CUNY, where she wrote and headed a graduate program in dance, and at Juilliard. Dawn’s many publications include articles in journals and encyclopedias, chapters in eight collections, and two books. Her interest in the social ramification of the arts was seen in the 1996 exhibit “Classic Black: Black Dancers in Ballet Prior to DTH,” which she researched and curated.
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Joan Myers Brown and Billy Wilson as Young Ballet Dancers in Philadelphia
Photo Courtesy: Joan Myers Brown Note: Billy Wilson went on to become a dancer, choreographer and educator. |
