Precious Adams facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Precious Adams
Precious Adams dances for Swans for Relief in May 2020
Born	1994/1995 (age 29–30) Canton, Michigan, U.S.
Education	Moscow State Academy of Choreography
Occupation	Ballet dancer
Current group	English National Ballet

Precious Adams is an amazing American ballet dancer. She was born in 1994 or 1995. Today, she dances with the famous English National Ballet.

Early Life of Precious Adams

Precious Adams grew up in Canton, Michigan. This is a town in the United States.

Ballet Training and Education

Precious started dancing when she was seven years old. She first learned jazz dance. At age nine, she began studying classical ballet. Her teacher was Sergey Rayevskiy in Wixom, Michigan.

She spent three summers training with the American Ballet Theatre. There, she learned from Brian Reeder and Franco de Vita. She also won the Catherine Zeta Jones Scholarship twice.

When she was eleven, Precious went to the National Ballet School in Toronto. Mavis Staines was in charge there. At fourteen, she was chosen to study at The Princess Grace Academy of Classical Dance in Monte Carlo. Her teachers were Roland Vogel and Luca Masala.

In 2011, she joined a special summer program. It was sponsored by the U.S. State Department. This program taught her Russian and ballet at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy. She studied there with Natalia Igoravich Reivich and Marina Leonova.

In 2012, Precious attended the Ellison Ballet summer program. In 2013, she performed in the Stars of Russian Ballet Gala in Michigan. In 2014, she won two awards at the Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland. Precious is also a Young Artist finalist and a silver medalist.

Facing Challenges in Training

While studying at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, Precious faced difficulties. She was sometimes left out of performances. She was also prevented from trying out for roles. She was even told to "try and rub the black off." This shows she experienced unfair treatment because of her race.

Precious Adams' Ballet Career

Precious Adams is currently a dancer with the English National Ballet. She joined this company in 2014. In 2017, she was promoted to First Artist. In January 2018, Precious won the Emerging Dancer Competition.

In 2017, she was invited to perform at the Royal Opera House. This was for a special event called Kenneth MacMillan – A National Celebration. She danced the Calliope Rag in Elite Syncopations. She performed with dancers from The Royal Ballet and Northern Ballet.

Precious has danced many important roles. These include the Chosen One in Pina Bausch’s Le Sacre du printemps. She also played Stepsister Edwina in Christopher Wheeldon’s Cinderella. Another role was a lead sylph in La Sylphide.

Making a Statement with Tights

In September 2018, Precious Adams made an important decision. She announced she would no longer wear pink tights on stage. Instead, she would wear brown tights to match her skin tone. Some people in the ballet world did not agree with her choice. However, the director of the English National Ballet, Tamara Rojo, supported her.

Recognition and Recent Work

In 2019, Precious Adams was named one of the BBC 100 Women. This list includes 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world.

In 2020, Precious took part in a fundraiser called Swans for Relief. This event was organized by Misty Copeland. Precious danced The Swan to help dancers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The money raised went to dance companies and other relief funds. That same year, she was promoted to junior soloist.

See also

In Spanish: Precious Adams para niños