Over the last decade, Black women have made some major strides in dance.
In 2015, Misty Copeland made history when she became the first Black principal dancer in the American Ballet Theatre’s 75-year history and the first Black ballerina ever to perform in “Swan Lake” at the Metropolitan Opera House.
Five years later, thanks in large part to Copeland’s urging and other Black dancers, ballet shoemakers finally started manufacturing ballet slippers and pointe shoes in brown skin tone shades. Roughly two years later, Solange Knowles became the first Black woman to score a production for the New York City Ballet.
Then, in 2023, India Bradley and Alexandra Hutchinson made history as the first Black ballerinas to dance as Dewdrops in the City Ballet’s performance of “The Nutcracker.”
More and more diverse dancers are becoming household names every day. However, none of this progress would have been possible without some of the industry’s Black trailblazers.
From Copeland to Katherine Dunham to Lula Washington, Black women have been breaking the mold in dance for generations. In honor of Women’s History Month, below we’ve gathered a list of some of the dance industry’s most celebrated Black women trailblazers.
Ingrid Silva
Afro-Brazilian dancer Ingrid Silva has advocated for more diversity in ballet and inspired younger generations during her roughly 10 years with the Dance Theatre of Harlem. She has appeared in campaigns alongside stars like Serena Williams and Alicia Keys. Silva made history in 2017 when she became the first African-Brazilian to cover Pointe Magazine. In 2020, Silva managed to dance through her entire first pregnancy and returned to the art form postpartum.
Lauren Anderson
When Lauren Anderson became the principal dancer of the Houston Ballet in 1990, she was the first Black woman in the company’s history and one of the first Black dancers to hold the position in the world. Dancing…
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