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The swans of Harlem : five Black ballerinas, fifty years of sisterhood, and their reclamation of a groundbreaking history  Cover Image Book Book

The swans of Harlem : five Black ballerinas, fifty years of sisterhood, and their reclamation of a groundbreaking history

Valby, Karen (author.).

Summary:

"The forgotten story of a pioneering group of five Black ballerinas, the first principals in the Dance Theatre of Harlem, who traveled the world as highly celebrated stars in their field and whose legacy was erased from history until now. At the height of the Civil Rights movement, Lydia Abarça was a Black prima ballerina with a major international dance company--the Dance Theatre of Harlem. She was the first Black ballerina on the cover of Dance magazine, an Essence cover star, cast in The Wiz and on Broadway with Bob Fosse. She performed in some of ballet's most iconic works with her closest friends--founding members of the company, the Swans of Harlem, Gayle McKinney, Sheila Rohan, Marcia Sells, and Karlya Shelton--for the Queen of England and Mick Jagger, with Josephine Baker, at the White House, and beyond. Some forty years later, when Lydia's granddaughter wanted to show her own ballet class evidence of her grandmother's success, she found almost none, but for some yellowing photographs and programs in the family basement. Lydia had struggled for years to reckon with the erasure of her success, as all the Swans had. Still united as sisters in the present, they decided it was time to share their story themselves. Captivating, rich in vivid detail and character, and steeped in the glamor and grit of professional ballet, The Swans of Harlem is a riveting account of five extraordinarily accomplished women, a celebration of their historic careers, and a window into the robust history of Black ballet, hidden for too long"-- Provided by publisher.

Item details

  • ISBN: 9780593317532
  • ISBN: 0593317521
  • ISBN: 9780593317525
  • Physical Description: 292 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm
    print
  • Edition: First edition.
  • Publisher: New York : Pantheon Books, [2024]
  • Badges:
    • Most Copies: 1 / 5.0

Contents / Notes

Bibliography, etc. Note: Includes bibliographical references (pages 263-271) and index.
Subject: African American ballerinas Biography
Dance Theatre of Harlem History
Abarca, Lydia
McKinney, Gayle
Rohan, Sheila
Sells, Marcia Lynn
Shelton, Karlya
Ballet United States History
Ballet États-Unis Histoire
PERFORMING ARTS / Dance / Classical & Ballet
Abarca, Lydia
McKinney, Gayle
Rohan, Sheila
Dance Theatre of Harlem.
African American ballerinas
Ballet
United States
Ballet
Genre: Biographies.
Biographies.
History.
Biographies.

Currently available copies

  • 42 out of 46 copies are currently available at PINES. (Show)
  • 2 out of 2 copies are currently available at Flint River Regional Library System. (Show)
  • 1 out of 1 copy are currently available at Peachtree City Library.

Holds

  • 0 current holds on 46 total copies.
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Library System: Library Branch Name
Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status  
Flint River Regional Library System:
      Peachtree City Library
792.809 VALBY ( Send Text)
31022010443007 ADULT Available

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Showing Item 2 of 3025

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