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As word of
Wilkinson's racial identity spread, discrimination became increasingly problematic in both her personal and professional life. Denham forbid her from dancing in certain locations and sent her ahead to safer cities on the tour. Ultimately, one of the company's ballet mistresses told her she
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Sergei Denham, director of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, bought the
Swoboda School in 1951, giving Wilkinson an opportunity to audition for the troupe. Although she was light-skinned, acceptance into a ballet company was unlikely because of her race. Fellow ballet students also advised her not to
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method. According to
Wilkinson, "It was basically eurhythmics and was all about music and tempi and meters." For her ninth birthday, an uncle made her the gift of ballet lessons at the Swoboda School, later known as the Ballet Russe School. Wilkinson's first teachers included well-known dancers from
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For two years, things went well. Because there were many foreign dancers in the company, including a number of South
Americans, her skin color was not an issue. In 1957, however, she was barred from staying with the troupe when an Atlanta, Georgia, hotel owner asked her outright if she was black.
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would not go any further in her ballet career and should leave to start a school of
African dance. Exhausted by years of discrimination, as well as the belief that the financially stressed troupe had become old-fashioned, Wilkinson left the company in 1961.
254:. But, she was not accepted. Disheartened, she stopped dancing for two years. Wilkinson worked briefly in customer service for a New York department store. Then, because she had always been attracted to the spiritual life, she joined an Anglican convent in
354:, a full-length documentary. The film tells the story of three black ballerinas from the past: Wilkinson, Delores Brown and Joan Myers Brown and contrasts their experiences with those of three young black dancers presently pursuing ballet careers.
274:, suggested Wilkinson approach that company. After speaking with them, she was invited to join the troupe as second soloist. She moved to the Netherlands in 1967 and stayed with the National Ballet for seven years. She performed in Les Sylphides,
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seek a position. But, in 1954, Wilkinson auditioned for the Ballet lopotre. She was rejected. On a second attempt, she was rejected once again. On her third try, in 1955, Denham informed her that she had been accepted on a six-week trial basis.
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Anne Raven
Wilkinson was born in New York City on February 2, 1935, to Anne James Wilkinson and Dr. Frost Birnie Wilkinson, a doctor. She had a brother 2 years younger, Frost Bird Wilkinson Jr. The family lived in a middle-class neighborhood in
230:" hotels, Wilkinson kept her race a secret. She later told an interviewer, "I didn't want to put the company in danger, but also never wanted to deny what I was. If someone questioned me directly, I couldn't say, 'No, I'm not black.'"
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asked her to dance. She performed with them from 1974 until 1985. She continued with the opera as a character dancer and actor until 2011 when the company disbanded. Among her acting credits is the role of Malla in
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Wilkinson advanced to the position of soloists in her second season with Ballet Russe and remained with the group for six years. She performed with the company across the U.S., routinely dancing the waltz solo in
262:. She stayed for only six months as she soon realized she had been given a great gift she had not used to its fullest. She returned to ballet classes, and not long after, to performing when and where she could.
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Award to
Copeland in December of that year. In June 2015, Wilkinson received the 2015 Dance/USA Trustee Award from presenter Misty Copeland.
540:"Black Ballerinas Dancing on the Edge: An Analysis of the Cultural Politics in Delores Browne's and Raven Wilkinson's Careers, 1954–1985"
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Following her departure from Ballet Russe, Wilkinson auditioned for several U.S.-based ballet companies, including
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for lessons. But they said they could not accept her until she was nine, so she initially trained in the
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Wilkinson became a ballet fan at a young age, after seeing Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo perform
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Live from
Lincoln Center: Season 15, Episode 3, New York City Opera: A Little Night Music.
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The Wind at My Back: Resilience, Grace, and Other Gifts from My Mentor, Raven
Wilkinson.
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As an
African American, she faced many difficulties while on tour, particularly in the
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Wilkinson refused to lie and was sent away in a "colored" taxi to a "colored motel."
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In the mid-1960s, Sylvester Campbell, an African-American principal dancer with the
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Wilkinson did not stay in retirement long. When she returned to New York, the
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523:"Misty Copeland's mentor: The courageous black ballerina who defied racism"
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Pioneer Ballerina Raven Wilkinson has Passed away at the age of 83
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575:"'Firebird' Lands on the Page, from ABT Soloist Misty Copeland"
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in 1955 when she signed a contract to dance full-time with the
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Raven Wilkinson died on December 17, 2018, at the age of 83.
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New York: Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 978-1538753859.
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740:20th-century American ballet dancers
725:21st-century African-American people
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735:21st-century African-American women
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488:"Raven Wilkinson, Ballet Pioneer"
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598:2015 Dance/USA Trustee Awards.
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319:(1990–1991). She also played
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111:company. Wilkinson broke the
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603:September 10, 2015, at the
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542:. Temple University, 2001.
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242:Between ballet companies
501:"An Unlikely Ballerina"
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476:"Raven Wilkinson"
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321:Bloody Mary
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228:whites only
81:Nationality
679:Categories
373:References
284:Mozartiana
145:Early life
89:Occupation
53:1935-02-02
464:Dance USA
327:in 1987.
260:Wisconsin
217:Swan Lake
174:Russia's
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601:Archived
361:See also
296:La Valse
280:Serenade
171:Dalcroze
163:Coppelia
84:American
205:Giselle
152:Harlem
63:, U.S.
69:Died
43:Born
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