Overview:
Author Karen Valby's new book, 'The Swans of Harlem,' tells the forgotten story of pioneering Black ballerinas and their 50-year sisterhood, shining a light on their historic careers and the power of female friendship in the world of Black ballet.
By Michiko Clark
Special to the Herald
The forgotten story of a pioneering group of five Black ballerinas and their 50-year sisterhood, was a legacy erased from history — until now, thanks to author Karen Valby’s new book, “The Swans of Harlem.”
At the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Lydia Abarca was a Black prima ballerina with a major international dance company — the Dance Theatre of Harlem, a troupe of women and men who became each other’s chosen family. She was the first Black company ballerina on the cover of Dance magazine, an Essence cover star; she was cast in “The Wiz” and in a Bob Fosse production on Broadway. She performed in some of ballet’s most iconic works with other trailblazing ballerinas, including the young women who became her closest friends — founding Dance Theatre of Harlem members Gayle McKinney-Griffith and Sheila Rohan, as well as first-generation dancers Karlya Shelton and Marcia Lynn Sells.
Marcia Lynn Sells began her life in the arts as a ballerina at Dance Theatre of Harlem and, before that, in the Cincinnati Ballet. In 2021, she became the first chief diversity officer for the Metropolitan Opera. Previously, she held positions in the private and public sectors including Reuters America, the National Basketball Association, Columbia University School of Law, Harvard Law School and the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office. She is the daughter of the late Mamie Earl Sells, a popular Cincinnati Herald columnist.
These Swans of Harlem performed for the Queen of England, Mick Jagger and Stevie Wonder, on the same bill as Josephine Baker, at the White House and beyond, but decades later, there was almost no record of their groundbreaking history to be found. Out of a sisterhood that had grown even deeper with the years, these Swans joined forces again — to share their story with the world.
Captivating, rich in vivid detail and character and steeped in the glamour and grit of professional ballet, “The Swans of Harlem” is a riveting account of five extraordinarily accomplished women, a celebration of both their historic careers and the sustaining, grounding power of female friendship, and a window into the robust history of Black ballet, hidden for too long.
The book is on sale April 30, 2024.