Virginia Johnson
Virginia Johnson is a founding member and former principal dancer and artistic director of Dance Theatre of Harlem. Her 28-year performance career with DTH took her around the world, gaining acclaim in a broad range of works by George Balanchine, Michel Fokine, Glen Tetley and others. Her performances in Giselle, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Fall River Legend were recorded for broadcast on network and cable television. After retiring as a dancer in 1997, she resumed work on an undergraduate degree in journalism, a step that led to the creation of Pointe Magazine. She is the founding editor of that publication and served as editor-in-chief from 2000-2009. At the request of DTH co-founder Arthur Mitchell, she returned to DTH as artistic director in 2010, a post she held until last year. She has received numerous honors and awards, as well as honorary doctorates from Cornish College of the Arts, Swarthmore and Juilliard. She serves on the advisory board of Dance NYC and is on the Board of Works & Process, and is a 2024-25 fellow for NYU's Center for Ballet and the Arts.