Night's Dancer: The Life of Janet Collins

by Yael Tamar Lewin, Janet Collins

Dancer Janet Collins, born in New Orleans in 1917 and raised in Los Angeles, soared high over the color line as the first African-American prima ballerina at the Metropolitan Opera. Night's Dancer chronicles the life of this extraordinary and elusive woman, who became a unique concert dance soloist as well as a black trailblazer in the white world of classical ballet. During her career, Collins endured an era in which racial bias prevailed, and subsequently prevented her from appearing in the South. Nonetheless, her brilliant performances transformed the way black dancers were viewed in ballet. The book begins with an unfinished memoir written by Collins in which she gives a captivating account of her childhood and young adult years, including her rejection by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Dance scholar Yael Tamar Lewin then picks up the thread of Collins's story. Drawing on extensive research and interviews with Collins and her family, friends, and colleagues to explore Collins's development as a dancer, choreographer, and painter, Lewin gives us a profoundly moving portrait of an artist of indomitable spirit.

Genres: Biography

384 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Karrie Draxler · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a school project we had to choose someone that was important in America's history. I chose Janet because like her I am dedicated to ballet. And her story is very inspiring to me.

[Nora Blue · Rating 5 out of 5]

At age 9 someone gave me A. H. Frank's picture book of ballerinas. There was Nora Kaye, Diana Adams, Zizi Jeanmaire, Yvette Chauvire, Margot Fonteyn, Rosella Hightower. Turning the pages, I came across the picture of Collins as Night. I was mesmerized: the tightness of the sous-sus the delicate configuration of the arms, the relaxed neck, slight tip of the torso forward the uplifted chin with arched left eyebrow--I couldn't get enough of this picture. I am so glad to find a biography that describes the life and times of this remarkable woman.

[Eli · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many things to say. Janet Collins was a remarkable woman--an artist and apostle. The first black prima ballerina at the Metropolitan Opera, she broke color lines every day of her life, and her calm and dignity made that a small achievement. The way it should be.
I'm angry no one told me about her when I was a little girl studying ballet and being told there was no way my body would grow into the body of a ballet dancer, just because I'm black. I wish I had known about Janet Collins, so I could have told those well-meaning racists they were WRONG.
But like I said, the race issue isn't the point.
Collins painted, wrote, danced, choreographed, even became a sort of lay sister in the Catholic church, an oblate, because she was able to give herself wholly to her passions. Whether for her art or for God, she left nothing for herself. Her last performance (at nearly 50) was a liturgical dance. Her last choreographic work performed was for the Catholic school where she taught ballet. She dealt with depression (even recovering from a horrific stay in an asylum at 22)and loneliness, moving across the country several times to follow the church or ballet. Her life could have been really painful, but she was loved wherever she went and her talent was recognized. It's terrible that there is very little film of her dancing, because every person quoted about her style says it was dreamlike, beautiful, almost alien, but classically perfect.
I'm glad there's a book, told mostly in her humorous, elegant words, that captures a little of her dance through life.

[BMR, LCSW · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read loads of ballet history over the decades and never heard of Janet Collins until a few months ago. Ms. Collins had a relatively brief career in dance, but she left a long and distinguished legacy. Her first cousin Carmen De Lavallade is more well known, and Carmen has said repeatedly that she was inspired by Janet.

The histories of minorities in ballet have not been well documented, for a multitude of reasons. I'm so glad I lucked up on finding this book on Janet Collins.

[Clare · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fascinating read. I had never heard of Janet Collins and found her story to be inspiring. She was a true artist.

[Mills College Library]

792.8028 L672 2011