Description: The online digital installation highlighting Joan Myers Brown, Delores Brown and Judith Jamison, three Black Philadelphian dancers who were classically trained, outlines branches of the family tree of ballet that formed during a dynamic time in Philadelphia's cultural and social history, where the ever-present lines of racial segregation would often blur within the city's vibrant art scene.
King immigrated to Philadelphia from Jamaica with her family when she was six years old. At seven, she was a member of the inaugural class at the Essie Marie Dorsey School of Dance where, even at that tender age, she took classes every day. King excelled at ballet and would advance to become the lead ballerina of the school. But being Negro, and too brown to pass for white, there was
no higher level to which she could ascend. She danced
until she married in 1936 at 19 years old.