by Monica Stephenson | Feb 23, 2024 | Black History Month, Pointe+, Profiles
Sandra Fortune-Green is proof that success is not always immediate, but perseverance is lasting. In 1973, at the age of 22, she began training diligently for the second Moscow International Ballet Competition. She was the only American candidate that year—and she says...
by Lydia Murray | Oct 26, 2022 | Black History Month, Dance History, Profiles, The Latest
Julie Felix was never meant to be a ballerina, according to the British ballet world of the 1960s and ’70s. Onstage amid a lake of pale swans, she would only be a distraction, she was told. Instead, she took flight—to a storied career at Dance Theatre of Harlem. Felix...
by Lydia Murray | Aug 16, 2022 | Black History Month, Dance History, Profiles
History’s rare gems often languish in the shadows of what might have been, and ballet is no exception. Those credited with shaping the artform—usually choreographers, principal dancers and impresarios—become legends, while corps de ballet members mostly go...
by Amy Brandt | Apr 15, 2019 | Career, Profiles
Debra Austin has a special place in dance history: In 1971, at age 16, she was the first African American woman George Balanchine hired into New York City Ballet. After nine years with the company and two years with Zurich Ballet, she joined Pennsylvania Ballet as a...
by Chava Pearl Lansky | Dec 19, 2018 | Dance Magazine, Dance Spirit, News, Profiles
Ballerina Raven Wilkinson passed away on Monday at her home in New York City at age 83. Wilkinson is best known as the first African American woman to dance full-time with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and as a cherished mentor to Misty Copeland. Raven Wilkinson...
by Amy Brandt | May 31, 2016 | Profiles, Show and Tell
This story originally appeared in the June/July 2016 issue of Pointe. Nashville Ballet dancer Kayla Rowser is one organized woman—her teal Lug bag is full of compartments. “That’s why I love it,” says Rowser. “I need a pocket for every...