★ 01/15/2024

Vanity Fair contributor Valby (Welcome to Utopia) paints a vibrant portrait of the “first permanent Black professional ballet company” in the U.S and the five trailblazing dancers who put it on the map. Originated in 1968 by George Balanchine protégé Arthur Mitchell, the Dance Theatre of Harlem featured “founding” ballerinas Lydia Abarca, Mitchell’s “prized” dancer who later landed on the covers of Essence and Dance magazines; Sheila Rohan, who performed while running a household and raising three children; Juillard-trained Gayle McKinney-Grffith, who served as the company’s “ballet mistress” and later taught choreography for the 1978 film The Wiz; Marcia Sells, who joined the company at just 16; and Karlya Shelton, who stepped in with little notice to star in the 1978 production of Serenade. The company shattered artistic boundaries even as it strained under financial pressures, the whims of the brilliant yet tyrannical Mitchell, and an old guard media that favored more renowned—and more white—troupes. Valby meticulously untangles the prejudices woven into the dance world and analyzes the politics of establishing a Black ballet company amid a period of backlash to the civil rights movement (“Let the gorgeous lines of his dancers’ bodies serve as fists in the air,” she writes of Mitchell’s mission). In the process, Valby successfully counters the perception that Misty Copeland was the “first” Black American ballerina. The result is a captivating corrective to an often-whitewashed history. Agent: Barbara Jones, Stuart Krichevsky Literary. (Apr.)

A Most Anticipated Book from The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, Goodreads, The New York Post,Town and Country, Oprah Daily, AARP, Cosmopolitan, The Week, The Millions, Book Riot, and Arlington Magazine

“Karen Valby’s The Swans of Harlem brings to life the stories of Black dancers whose contributions to the world of ballet were silenced, marginalized, and otherwise erased. Karen introduces readers to important figures of our past, while inspiring us to courageously chase our dreams. This is the kind of history I wish I learned as a child dreaming of the stage!”
-Misty Copeland, New York Times-bestselling author of Black Ballerinas: My Journey To Our Legacy

“These five original Dance Theatre of Harlem ballerinas fell in love with an art form that most of America believed was white and should remain so. Upon Arthur Mitchell’s founding of an all-Black company in 1969, they eagerly took their places at the barre and challenged themselves to the utmost. They triumphed. They showed that Blacks could not only excel at classical ballet but could also shape the art in their own vibrant image. Karen Valby weaves their stories together as a choreographer would: the women form an ensemble, yet each gets her own riveting solo. It’s thrilling to watch as they join forces at last and claim their unique place in American ballet’s past, present and future.”
—Margo Jefferson, author of Constructing a Nervous System

“Until Valby’s utterly absorbing, flawlessly-researched book, I never knew the story of the original Dance Theatre of Harlem ballerinas—and now, I demand that their lives be taught in schools! Valby finally sheds light on these towering dance pioneers, all of whom triumphed as dancers in a world that didn’t believe Black people had a place in the classical art form. Vibrant, propulsive, and inspiring, The Swans of Harlem is a richly drawn portrait of five courageous women whose contributions have been silenced for too long!”
—Tia Williams, New York Times-bestselling author of Seven Days in June

“If [The Swans of Harlem] were just a quest for cultural redress, the result might have been a dusty scroll of the Swans’ ballet bona fides. It’s by getting personal that it leaps high…Valby skillfully maps the ugliness of a segregated art form…All of this [history] is absorbing. Yet it’s the odd details that shine brightest…There’s so much meaning and humanity in this kind of minutiae…The moral of this important and tear-stained book is actually a reminder: Bare oneself, fly into the grandest of jetés and live free.”
—New York Times Books Review

“A remarkable underdog story…This feels, rightly, like the beginning of a larger conversation…There are so many stories still to tell; these efforts might help the next black ballerina to find her wings.”
—The Telegraph

“A vivid portrait…‘The 152nd Street Black Ballet Legacy Council,’ writes Ms. Valby, ‘came together to write themselves back into history.’ Thanks in part to her book, that history can be told with greater fidelity—a history to inspire dancers and dance enthusiasts alike.”
—Wall Street Journal

“Valby introduces and celebrates the extraordinary lives and careers of ballerinas Lydia Abarca-Mitchell, Gayle McKinney-Griffith, Sheila Rohan, Karlya Shelton-Benjamin and Marcia Sells…Swans burns with the dancers’ distinct sense of urgency and purpose…Valby provides an absorbing glimpse into this world through vivid details of the women’s lives as artists, wives, mothers, friends and Black women. More than a chronicle of dance history, the book is a testament to the enduring power of sisterhood and female friendships, especially in the face of discrimination and exclusion…The book also works to set the record straight, ensuring the women take their rightful place in history.”
—Ms. Magazine

“Remarkable…Spirited…Valby’s extensive interviews with the dancers lend an intimacy to the narrative, the details of their lives elevated and their perspectives clearly observed. The women of the 152nd Street Black Ballet Legacy Council are determined to bring their story out of obscurity. In The Swans of Harlem, they become unforgettable.”
—Bookpage

“A loving tribute.”
—Smithsonian Magazine
 
“Five of the world's greatest dancers helped change the face of ballet—they performed at the White House, they appeared on Broadway, they were on the covers of magazines…This insightful history from Karen Valby tells the stories of Lydia Abarca, Gayle McKinney-Griffith, Sheila Rohan, Karlya Shelton, and Marcia Sells, celebrating the contributions they made to their art form and giving them the recognition they so greatly deserve.”
—Town and Country Magazine

“Valby’s group biography of five Black ballerinas who forever transformed the art form at the height of the Civil Rights movement uncovers the rich and hidden history of Black ballet, spotlighting the trailblazers who paved the way for the Misty Copelands of the world.”
—The Millions

“In this deeply researched history, Valby gracefully recounts the dance careers and personal lives of these five trailblazing ballerinas—who were once lost to history. What results is a book suffused with rich character studies and memorable details…that will captivate dance experts and novices alike.”
—Oprah Daily

“With vivid character development and detailed storytelling, Valby has crafted an engaging and informative account of five Black ballerinas, fifty years of sisterhood, and a passionate reclamation of a truly groundbreaking history…I found myself completely immersed…The Swans of Harlem is an ideal read for Black History month but a vital read for every month of the year.”
—The Independent Critic

"A vibrant and captivating look at five trailblazing women."
—Arlington Magazine

“For those who love Hidden Figures and are interested in dance and culture…Captivating, rich in vivid detail and character, and steeped in the glamor and grit of professional ballet, The Swans of Harlem is a riveting account of five extraordinarily accomplished women, a celebration of their historic careers, and a window into the robust history of Black ballet, hidden for too long.”
—Texas Lifestyle Magazine

“Vibrant…A captivating corrective to an often-whitewashed history.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“A skilled storyteller with an eye for significant details and thematic complexity…[A] dynamic, tumultuous, and inspiring journey of the five central ballerinas, the book is deeply researched and full of heart. A rich, detailed, and complex history of Harlem’s first prima ballerinas.”
—Kirkus

“Engaging and insightful… A powerful narrative of professional triumphs and personal challenges that celebrates Black excellence in ballet. Anyone who appreciates dance will be enriched and inspired by the stories of these five intrepid dancers.”
—Booklist

“There is joy in the way the women discuss their decades-long friendships and trailblazing performances in this book. Valby gives each dancer space for their stories to naturally flow, writing them as fully realized individuals with their own hopes and dreams…Heartwarming.”
—Library Journal

 “A story that you’ll be glad you know now, one you’ll be satisfied to’ve read. So find The Swans of Harlem. You want it, so don’t waste a minute.”
—NJ Urban News

02/01/2024

In this meticulous expansion of a 2021 New York Times article by Valby, five women reflect on their time as ballerinas with the Dance Theatre of Harlem, an all-Black troupe founded in 1969 by George Balanchine protégé Arthur Mitchell. Prima ballerina Lydia Abarca longed for stardom and financial security; Gayle McKinney-Griffith left Julliard for the opportunity to dance with the company; Sheila Rohan balanced dancing with her home life as a married mother of three; Karlya Shelton and Marcia Sells were in awe of the three above-mentioned founding members and moved across states to join the troupe. The five women made their way onto national and international stages just as a backlash to the civil rights movement began. They also dealt with varying degrees of colorism, criticisms of their bodies, and Mitchell's domineering behavior and teaching methods. Even so, there is joy in the way the women discuss their decades-long friendships and trailblazing performances in this book. VERDICT Valby gives each dancer space for their stories to naturally flow, writing them as fully realized individuals with their own hopes and dreams. A heartwarming addition to performing arts biographies.—Anjelica Rufus-Barnes

2023-11-28
A journalist uncovers the forgotten legacy of a group of pioneering Black ballerinas.

In 1969, Arthur Mitchell—“the first Black principal dancer” of George Balanchine’s famed City Ballet—“formally incorporated” the Dance Theatre of Harlem, writes Valby, an Austin-based journalist and former EW writer. Begun in the shadow of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, the theater’s purpose was to “once and for all prove that a person’s skin color was irrelevant to their right or relationship to classical dance.” To this end, Mitchell recruited and trained a collection of talented Black ballerinas, including Lydia Abarca, the company’s prima ballerina, who dreamed of one day buying her parents a house; Sheila Rohan, whose widowed mother had raised her on Staten Island; and Gayle McKinney-Griffith, Marcia Sells, and Karlya Shelton, who left their Connecticut, Ohio, and Colorado families (respectively) to try to make it in the world of New York dance. In its early years, the theater grew thanks to the talent, strength, grit, and ingenuity of these remarkable women, who, in a time of intense racial inequality, earned standing ovations on European tours and solicited donations that would keep the company afloat for decades to come. Together, they weathered Mitchell’s tyrannical training techniques, colorism, and sexual harassment, all of which complicated their idolization of the man they credited with the success of their careers. Valby, “a white woman with two Black daughters who are dancers themselves,” is a skilled storyteller with an eye for significant details and thematic complexity. While her decision to begin and end the book with Misty Copeland’s widespread misidentification as the first Black prima ballerina detracts from the dynamic, tumultuous, and inspiring journey of the five central ballerinas, the book is deeply researched and full of heart.

A rich, detailed, and complex history of Harlem’s first prima ballerinas.