Performance celebrates life of renowned Black ballerina in LA
A Sunday, March 19 performance by dance students at The Ebell Club Los Angeles will celebrate and pay tribute to a pioneer in the ballet world. Raven Wilkinson was the first African American woman to dance full-time for a major classical ballet company, the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, in New York. She danced with the company for six years, becoming a principal dancer in a typically all-white profession, and later went to Europe to join the Dutch National Ballet as a soloist. Wilkinson, who died in 2018 at age 83, will be remembered at Sunday night’s talk and performance at The Ebell, a non-profit that hosts cultural events celebrating and supporting women. The program will be led by dance instructors and students from L.A. County High School for the Arts and the Colburn School. Raven Wilkinson performed as a soloist in the Frederic Chopin ballet “Les Sylphides.” For several years, she danced with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in New York and faced discrimination while touring with the company because of her race. Wilkinson, who died in 2018, will be posthumously honored at