"It was very important to me,"
"Many African-American women went through this company at different times and were not given the opportunity. I can tell you it had 50 percent to do with the fact that they were Black."
"Dancing that role would be incredible for any girl. Being the first Black woman to dance it, obviously, is a completely different moment. I don't think anyone ever expected, when George [Balanchine] first choreographed the role, for that to ever be the case."
India Bradley became the New York City Ballet's first Black soloist in 2024, promoted alongside five other dancers to expand company representation. A Detroit native, she began dancing at age four and trained at the Dance Theatre of Harlem summer and Professional Training programs under Andrea Long. Bradley advanced to apprentice in 2017 and joined the corps de ballet in 2018. She previously premiered as the first Black Dewdrop in George Balanchine's The Nutcracker. Bradley emphasizes the historical exclusion of African-American women from opportunities and the significance of representation, while Black women dancers remain scarce in the ballet world.
Read at Black Enterprise
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]