In case you haven’t heard (but you have): American Ballet Theatre principal Misty Copeland is one of most famous, and most respected, ballerinas in the world. She’s also one of the only black women currently performing Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, which means her (inevitably sold-out) performances of the role come with an extra degree of […]
Watch Nardia Boodoo discuss her (classic) dance crushes and secret talents. Read about more up-and-coming black ballerinas here.
Most of us first met Jasmine Perry back in 2014, during her turn on Teen Vogue‘s web series “Strictly Ballet.” At that point, Perry was a coltish teenager finishing up her last year at the School of American Ballet. Since then, she’s taken a job with Los Angeles Ballet and matured into a dancer of […]
Dance runs in India Bradley’s family: Her mother is a dance teacher and a former member of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Unsurprisingly, Bradley ended up in dance classes at a young age, studying a little bit of everything but falling hardest for ballet. After training at Dance Theatre of Harlem and the School of […]
New York City Ballet corps member Rachel Hutsell was practically destined to join the company: “When I was about two years old, my grandmother gave me a video of New York City Ballet performing George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, and I watched it every single night for two years!” she says. “That was what first sparked […]
With her endless limbs and regal bearing, Amanda Morgan is an arresting presence onstage. Born in Tacoma, WA, Morgan studied at Dance Theatre Northwest and Pacific Northwest Ballet School, and attended summer courses at Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Boston Ballet School, and the School of American Ballet. In 2016, Morgan was offered an apprenticeship with […]
Alexandra Terry didn’t always dream about pointe shoes and tutus. Though she took dance class as a child, it was competitive gymnastics that originally captured her interest. (She credits the powerful strength that undergirds her ballet technique to years of repetitive routines on beams and mats.) At 13, Terry started commuting an hour and a […]
The answer to Canton, MI, native Precious Adams’ ballet dreams lay abroad. Adams studied at the National Ballet School of Canada (relatively near her home in Michigan), and eventually her desire to seek out the best possible training led her even further afield, to the Monte Carlo Ballet’s Princess Grace Academy, and the Bolshoi Ballet […]