Zita Allen

Budding Black ballerina breaks NYC Ballet’s Nutcracker color barrier

This past holiday season, ballet history was made when New York City Ballet’s annual production of George Balanchine’s “The Nutcracker” featured 11-year-old Charlotte Nebres, the first Black ballerina cast as the classic’s lead since it was first produced sixty-five years ago, in 1954.

Young Black hoofer holding it down in Dorrance Dance Company

Byron Tittle, a young tap dancer with the Dorrance Dance, the critically acclaimed tap troupe headed by MacArthur Award winner Michelle Dorrance.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater season sparkles

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s season is in full swing from Dec. 4 – Jan. 5 at City Center with five-weeks of performances that promise to rival the sparkle of the Swarovski crystal-studded Times Square ball that will bring in 2020.

Celebrating trailblazing icon, activist Diahann Carroll

Dianne Reeves’ soul-stirring rendition of Paul McCartney’s “Black Bird,” was a song Carroll’s daughter, Suzanne Kay, said her mother specifically requested be sung at her tribute when she passed.

Kyle Marshall pushes movement’s envelope at BAM’s Next Wave Festival

Kyle Marshall Choreography, which makes its debut as part of the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave 2019 program (Dec. 4-7), is part of a roster of talented companies being showcased this season as BAM’s new Artistic Director David Binder introduces audiences to an exciting new crop of compelling young artists.

An evening with Masazumi Chaya, keeper of the Ailey flame

On a stage in the jewel box theater at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre headquarters, the vibrant warmth and quick wit of the man who capped a 15-year career performing with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater with 30 years as the company’s associate artistic director—Masazumi Chaya—charmed and delighted an adoring audience. With host Renee Robinson, herself a former Ailey dancer (1981-2012), the two created a most engaging evening of dance history.

Camille A. Brown choreographs Met Opera’s ‘Porgy & Bess’

Standing in front of a large studio filled with some 90 singers and dancers, is a young, diminutive Black woman whose profile is reminiscent of a regal African sculpture thanks to a head wrap that forms a bun atop her head...

NDI: There is a rose in East Harlem

There is a rose in East Harlem where hundreds of youngsters learn ballet, tap, modern dance, music, choreography and more while experiencing “a love of the arts, a passion for learning and a desire to strive for their personal best.” The name of the rose is the National Dance Institute.

Brooklyn Mack makes historic debut in American Ballet Theatre’s ‘Le Corsaire’

Brooklyn Mack, internationally acclaimed African-American ballet dancer formerly of the Washington Ballet, made an historic debut as a guest artist in American Ballet Theatre’s production of “Le Corsaire” at the Metropolitan Opera House, June 11-15.