Born Today:
Raven Wilkinson

Ballerina Raven Wilkinson (1935-2018) began dancing with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1955, becoming the first African American woman to dance for a major ballet company. She performed with the company for six years and for the Dutch National Ballet until 1974, when she returned to the US to perform for the New York City Opera until 2011. You can see interviews about her experiences in the documentary Black Ballerina (2016).

Also Born Today: Choreographer and mime dancer, Luigi Manzotti (1835-1905) who is best known for his ballet Excelsior (1881). Ballerina Olga Preobrajenska (1871-1962), who danced with the Russian Imperial Ballet and became a sought-after teacher in Paris whose pupils went on to notable careers worldwide. Member of a large family of dancers, Edouard Espinosa (1872-1950) created a syllabus of examinations and co-founded what would later become the Royal Academy of Dance. Modern dancer Yuriko Kikuchi (1920-2022), who danced with Martha Graham (1894-1991) for 50 years after being held in Japanese internment camps from 1941-1943. Ballet dancer Jean Babilée (1923-2014), who worked with the French Resistance during WWII and returned to his dance career afterwards with the Ballets des Champs-Élysées. 

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Ballet Premiere: Balanchine’s The Nutcracker in 1954