Dance Lineage Timeline

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  • Period: to

    Denishawn Tour

  • Mary Wigman forms her own school

  • Marie Rambert opens a ballet school in London

  • Isadora Duncan founds a school in Moscow

  • Josephine Baker premieres in La Revue Negre in Paris

  • Martha Graham opens a school in New York

  • Loie Fuller dies

  • George Balanchine choreographs Apollo

  • Lester Horton creates his first solo concert choreography, Kootenai War Dance

  • First All-Black Concert in America

    Hemsley Winfield and the New Negro Art Dancers

  • Ted Shawn parts artistic company with Ruth St. Denis

  • the Nicholas Brothers appear in their first Hollywood movie, Kid Millions

    Vaudeville tradition, flash dancing

  • Kykynkor is performed

    Choreographed by Asadata Dafora

  • American Ballet Theatre established

  • Debut of American Negro Ballet

    under the direction of Eugene Von Grona

  • Merce Cunningham begins his collaboration with John Cage

  • Bill Robinson appears in his final film, Stormy Weather

  • Wilson Williams and the Negro Dance Company premier Prodigal Son, Spring Ritual

  • Pearl Primus travels to Africa to study dance

  • Carmen De Lavallade becomes a member of Lester Horton's company

  • Carman De Lavallade performs in House of Flowers

  • Arthur Mitchell makes his debut as soloist

    Mitchell was the first black principal dancer in the NYC Ballet

  • Geoffrey Holder becomes a leading dancer with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet

  • Alvin Ailey is formed

  • Donald McKayle choreographs Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder

  • Premiere of Revelations

  • Premiere of the Judson Dance Theatre collective

  • Eleo Pomare makes his major NYC Debut

  • Rod Rodgers forms his integrated company

  • Dance Theatre of Harlem is formed

  • The Black Belt, choreographed by Talley Beatty, is televised by National Educational Television

  • Beginnings of hip-hop in New York

  • Pina Bausch stages her first work

  • Paul Taylor premieres Esplanade

  • Louis Johnson becomes the third black choreographer for the Metropolitan Opera

  • Michael Jackson's Thriller video is released

  • Urban Bush Women is founded

  • Gregory Hines appears in White Nights

  • Animal Trilogy is premiered

    Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane company

  • Black and Blue by Savion Glover premieres

    He becomes one of the youngest performers to be nominated for a Tony award

  • Lauren Anderson becomes the first black principal dancer for a major ballet company, Houston Ballet

  • Dance Theatre of Harlem performs in South Africa

    At the tail end of apartheid, they performed to a mixed crowd

  • Ralph Lemon travels to West Africa to do research for his seminal work, Geography

  • Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk premieres

    Savion Glover's seminal work that he choreographed and performed in

  • The award-winning film Three is premiered

    By Bebe Miller, Ralph Lemon, and Isaac Julien

  • Ebony Williams performs in Beyonce's Single Ladies music video

  • Sidra Bell Dance NYC named #1 in Contemporary Dance in 2014

    by the Pittsburgh Examiner

  • Misty Copeland is the first African American principal dancer at ABT

  • MK Abadoo named "25 to Watch"

    Named as part of Dance Magazine's annual 25 to watch series

  • Jenna Beardsley graduates from VCU Dance & Choreography department