Ballerina Marcia Sells revisits Cincinnati

“The Swans of Harlem” by Karen Valby unveils the forgotten legacy of five Black ballerinas who made history with the Dance Theatre of Harlem. Marcia Sells, a Cincinnati native who was among them, now serves as the Metropolitan Opera’s chief diversity officer. The book is a captivating journey of sisterhood, resilience, and the enduring power of Black ballet. It tells the forgotten story of a pioneering group of five Black ballerinas and their fifty-year sisterhood, a legacy erased from history — until now. 

Marcia Sells returned to her hometown on May 10 to discuss and sign “The Swans of Harlem” at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Norwood.

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 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 Sells, the youngest of the group.

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.

Marcia Lynn Sells began her life in the arts as a ballerina at the 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, and Charles Sells, the Executive Director of Seven Hills Neighborhood House.

Sells said, “This book came about when Karlya, Gayle, Lydia, Sheila, and I started talking with each other during COVID to connect. We felt it was essential to come together and make sure we shared how we were doing in our lives after DTH and our memories of our time in DTH. We realized these stories had not been heard, and many did not know about DTH’s Black ballerinas and dancers, all before Misty Copeland was even born.

“It was beautiful for me to see Dance Theatre of Harlem right here in Cincinnati when they first went on tour. DTH appeared at the Corbett Theater, and seeing Black dancers on stage when I was the only Black girl in the College-Conservatory of Music preparatory program was inspiring. I then knew I could become a professional ballet dancer. I was so glad that my parents, Mamie and Charles Sells, invited Arthur Mitchell, who founded a training school and the first African American classical ballet company, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and Lorenzo James, who worked with DTH, to come back to our house for dinner at 134 Mary Lane. It was there that Arthur Mitchell told my parents I had talent. It helped carry me through my years in Cincinnati Ballet, where I became a company member, before leaving to join DTH in NYC.  

She said the directors advised her on what she needed to do to succeed, and the dancers supported each other.

“I think about all of this now as I come back to promote the book and even to celebrate Cincinnati Ballet’s 60th Anniversary on May 9, that it was that chance to see Dance Theatre of Harlem on the stage in Cincinnati that led me to this moment with the fantastic Black ballerinas, my fellow Swans of DTH. 

“Dance Theatre of Harlem also was part of a major fundraiser for Seven Hills Neighborhood House in 1971 and then performed at Music Hall for sold-out performances. This was when my dad was the Executive Director for Seven Hills.”

Sells said she was raised in a home that was “infused with a sense of culture and the arts, including ballet.” She added, “I loved the ballet.”

At age 4, her mother placed her in Dance Cincinnati, where she was the only Black dancer. “This was a place,” she said, “where they said, ‘You can do this.’”

She had classes three days a week but was advised that to become serious about ballet; she would have to expand her classes to five or six days per week, which she did. She added that she was impressed that Cincinnati Dance had taken on a Black child and was serious about working with her.

She said that her mother never pressured her to continue her involvement with Cincinnati Ballet. Each year, her mother would ask her if she wanted to enroll again in ballet classes for the year, she explained.

James Truitt, of Cincinnati Ballet and an associate professor at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, allowed her to join the Black Ballet in Harlem at a time when Black ballet was proving itself. However, reviews of their work reported, “My God! They are good!” she explained.

Living with family and friends in Brooklyn, she continued developing her skills in New York and traveled with the Dance Theater of Harlem.

Eventually, after gaining a little weight, which she would have to lose to continue dancing, Sells became concerned about something happening to her body due to the strenuous exercises and moves that ballet requires and decided to move on to other fields.

She graduated from Law School at Columbia University in New York. She became a lawyer with the Legal Aid Division of the New York District Attorney’s Office, handling domestic violence and sex crime cases. Her varied employment is discussed above, and she is now Chief Diversity Officer for the Metropolitan Opera, where she reaches out to diverse groups to interest younger people in the opera. She notes the average age of operagoers has fallen considerably in recent years, from age 65 to age 43.      Sells praised Cincinnati for what she called “The Cincinnati Factor,” which she described as the community’s civic engagements and investments in its cultural venues.