Karen Brown (ballerina) facts for kids
Karen Brown, born in 1955 in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, is a famous American ballerina. She is also a teacher, a ballet coach (called a répétiteur), a ballet mistress, and a director. She is well-known for her many years as a main dancer with the Dance Theatre of Harlem. She also made history as the first African-American woman to lead a ballet company.
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Early Life and Ballet Beginnings
Karen Brown grew up in Augusta, Georgia, in a large family with six brothers and sisters. Her parents worked in the medical field. As a child, she and her brother Stephen were among the first African-American students to attend Episcopal Day School.
When Karen was eight years old, her mother encouraged her to start ballet lessons. This was to help her with a habit of falling down. She studied ballet with Ron Colton, a former dancer from the New York City Ballet. She also attended the Joffrey Ballet school as a summer scholarship student.
Joining a Professional Company
At 17, Karen had already danced with the Augusta Civic Ballet for five years. Ron Colton took her to a ballet festival in Virginia. There, Karel Shook, a co-founder of the Dance Theatre of Harlem, noticed her talent. He invited her to join the company in New York.
A Career in Dance
Karen Brown became an apprentice with the Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) in 1973. She was known for being a very flexible dancer. A writer for the New York Times in 1984 described her as "compelling" in all types of ballets.
Brown toured the world as a main ballerina with DTH. She visited Russia, making DTH the first American company to perform there after the Soviet Union ended. She also toured South Africa after the end of apartheid.
Famous Ballets and Roles
Karen Brown performed in many important ballets. These included:
- Mendelssohn's Concerto by William Dollar
- Holberg's Suite, John Henry, and The Greatest by Arthur Mitchell
- Dougla, Bele, and Banda by Geoffrey Holder
- Graduation Ball by David Lichine
- Sensemaya by Carmen de Lavallade
- Agon, Serenade, Concerto Barocco, Stars and Stripes, and Four Temperaments by George Balanchine
- Voluntaries and Dialogues by Glen Tetley
- Fall River Legend by Agnes de Mille
- Piano Movers by David Gordon
- Swan Lake, Creole Giselle, Paquita, and Pas de Dix by Frederic Franklin
- Ginastera by Billy Wilson
- Variations Serieuses by Goh Choo San
- Joplin Dances by Robert Garland
- The Firebird by John Taras
- Signs and Wonders by Alonzo King
- Footprints Dressed In Red by Garth Fagan
Teaching and Moving On
While dancing with DTH, Brown also taught dance classes. She was part of Arthur Mitchell's Dancing Through The Barriers program. This program helped teach dance to many different communities. She was even featured in a TV show about this program.
After 22 years, Karen Brown left DTH in 1995. She then joined the Atlanta Ballet Center for Dance Education. There, she became the director of education and diversity.
Leading a Ballet Company
Karen Brown looked for new leadership roles in ballet. In 2000, she was chosen to be the artistic director of Oakland Ballet. This was a very important moment. She became the first African-American woman to lead a ballet company in history. She was also the first African-American person to run a ballet company that had only been led by white directors before.
When the Dance Theatre of Harlem stopped performing for a while in 2004, Karen Brown was the only African-American artistic director of a ballet company in the world. She worked hard to make the Oakland Ballet more diverse. She wanted the dancers to look more like the people of Oakland.
Expanding the Repertoire
Brown kept Oakland Ballet's tradition of performing classic ballets. These included works by famous choreographers like José Limón, Agnes de Mille, Eugene Loring, and Bronislava Nijinska. But she also added new ballets by modern choreographers. These included Trey McIntyre, Francesca Harper, Dwight Rhoden, Dudley Brooks, and Donald McKayle.
One of her main goals was to show that there were many talented dancers of color who were trained in classical ballet. The mayor of Oakland at the time, Jerry Brown, praised her work. To help Oakland Ballet stay open, Brown canceled its 2004 season. Instead, she focused on raising money and hiring new dancers for the company's 40th anniversary.
Karen Brown left Oakland Ballet in 2007. She then became an assistant professor of dance at the University of The Arts in Philadelphia.
Later Career and Awards
In Philadelphia, Brown received a grant to study dance movement using computer programming. She also joined the faculty at the Harlem School of The Arts. She even returned to performing with Paradigm, a dance company for experienced dancers. She won a Bessie Award in 2010 for her performances with this group.
In 2016, she became the executive director of Garth Fagan Dance. In 2017, she joined Ballet Wichita as a guest artistic director. In 2020, she became an assistant professor at the University of Missouri Kansas City Conservatory.
Personal Life
Karen Brown was a close friend of the ballet star, Mel Tomlinson. She was a loyal friend to him, supporting him during a difficult time.
Brown also continued her education. She graduated from St. Mary's College of California in 2013.
