JANET COLLINS
Ballerina
1917 -
Janet Collins was born on this day in 1917, in New Orleans, Louisiana. In
1941, she performed with the new, but world renown Black dance troupe formed
and directed by the great Katherine Dunham. At the age of fifteen, Collins
successfully auditioned for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo at the
Philharmonic, but after being told she would have to paint her face white to
perform, she declined the offer. Having told her aunt what happened, she was
advised, "You get back to the barre and start your City exercises. Don’t try
to be good, be excellent." As a prima ballerina, in 1951 she became the first
Black artist to perform on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House
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Janet Collins
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in New York Starring in the 1951 production of Cole Porter's Out of This World,
Collins won the Donaldson Award, signifying the best dancer on Broadway.
She remained with the Met until 1954, dancing in Carmen, Aida, La Gioconda and
Samson and Delilah, afterwhich she toured the United States and Canada in solo
dance concerts. Having taught at several colleges and dance institutions in
New York and California, she has since retired and has now taken up residence
in Seattle.
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