celebratingamazingwomen:Raven Wilkinson (February 2, 1935 – December 17, 2018)was a pioneering balle
celebratingamazingwomen:Raven Wilkinson (February 2, 1935 – December 17, 2018)was a pioneering ballerina, one of the first African-American dancers toperform with a major classical ballet company. She achieved this in 1955, whenshe began dancing with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, breaking the colorbarrier.She started studying dancewhen she was five, and was admitted to the ballet company on her third audition,having been rejected previously because of her race. She advanced to theposition of soloist during her second season there, and remained with the BalletRusse for six years. She faced persistent discrimination, especially whenperforming for segregated audiences in the American South, and eventually movedto the Netherlands to work with the Dutch National Ballet. -- source link