The Legacy of PHILADANCO: Broadening Appreciation and Opportunities for the Art of Dance

Abstract

Last month, PHILADANCO was the first American company ever to perform at Dance Fest Skopje in Skopje, Macedonia. According to the feedback cited above, it appears PHILADANCO not only made history, but expanded its fan base beyond the more than 100,000 diverse audience members who attend PHILADANCO’s roster of 50–60 performances each year.

Since its trailblazing inception in 1970 to address the lack of opportunities for minority dancers, PHILADANCO is credited with training more than 4,500 dancers who have traversed stages in the Americas, Europe, Asia and beyond. The company’s artistic directors and dancers, alongside nationally and internationally renowned guest choreographers, have cultivated a reputation for a dance repertory with passion, power, skill and diversity that has catapulted PHILADANCO into the role of a cultural ambassador representing the City of Philadelphia, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the United States, as exhibited by its current tour to Macedonia.

Under the leadership of its Founder and Artistic Director, Joan Myers Brown, PHILADANCO has truly made the globe its stage and continues to make its mark in the world of art & culture as documented in the biography, Joan Myers Brown & The Audacious Hope of the Black Ballerina: A Biohistory of American Performance. In the book, internationally acclaimed author Brenda Dixon Gottschild highlights the achievements of PHILADANCO as she details the hardships and artistic advances of African-Americans seeking to create opportunities for dancers of all races in the 20th and 21st centuries. A testament to what can be achieved in the face of adversity, the book could also serve as a case study of the trials and triumphs of nonprofit arts organizations across the country which daily fight to survive despite their undeniable, positive impact upon the communities in which we live and work.