꩜ Pioneers in American dance, including Pearl Primus, Geoffrey Holder, Carmen De Lavallade, and Joe Nash, illustrate a soaring legacy of expressive movement and expert technique in this curated selection of mid-20th-century photographs. From African and Caribbean dance traditions to ballet, tap, and social dance styles, the Schomburg Center’s Photographs & Prints Division preserves many views of diasporic dance history and bodies in motion.
꩜ While this exhibition represents a very small fraction of Black dance photography preserved at the Schomburg Center, all you need is a New York Public Library card and a research appointment to view more of these materials. Scroll to the bottom to view the resource list, and learn about how to access our dance related archives.
꩜ This exhibition was curated by Kimberly A. Henderson, the Schomburg Center’s Digital Curator, in collaboration with the Photoville Festival and the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation. Special thanks to the staff of the Schomburg Center’s Photographs and Prints Division, and the Copyright and Information Policy Department of the New York Public Library.
Founded in 2011, Photoville has throughout its history sought to populate New York’s public space with perspectives as diverse and international as the city itself. In pursuit of this mission, they launched the Photoville Festival, committed to nurturing a new lens of representation, an overarching vision that extends to a diversity of themes and stories. Celebrating and emulating New York’s spirit and identity at the nexus of the hyper-local and vastly global, the festival’s exhibitions offer windows into lives and stories unfolding down the block and oceans away.
1957, Arthur Mitchell in George Balanchine's "Agon." By Martha Swope, courtesy of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Arthur Mitchell Portrait Collection Photographs and Prints Division. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations.
Judith Jamison in “Facets.” By Jack Mitchell Joe Nash Black Dance Photograph Collection Photographs and Prints Division. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations. Photograph by Jack Mitchell © Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, Inc. and Smithsonian Institution, All rights reserved.
Judith Jamison. By Jack Mitchell Joe Nash Black Dance Photograph Collection Photographs and Prints Division. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations. Photograph by Jack Mitchell © Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, Inc. and Smithsonian Institution, All rights reserved.
Barbara Wright, Louis Johnson, and Georgia Collins in “Variations.” By Milton Meltzer Dance Photograph Collection Photographs and Prints Division. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations. © Milton Meltzer.
Geoffrey Holder in “Aida.” By Milton Meltzer Joe Nash Black Dance Photograph Collection Photographs and Prints Division. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations. © Milton Meltzer.
Carmen De Lavallade. By Sledge LeBland, courtesy of Metropolitan Opera Archives Carmen De Lavallade Portrait Collection Photographs and Prints Division. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations.
Elena Carter, performing the piece “Serenade,” choreographed by George Balanchine. By Martha Swope, courtesy of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture Dance Photograph Collection Photographs and Prints Division. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations.
Cassandra Phifer (in motion), Melanie Person, and Charmaine Hunter of Dance Theater of Harlem, performing “Concerto Barocco.” By Martha Swope, courtesy of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture Dance Photograph Collection Photographs and Prints Division. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations.
circa 1940 - 1960, Dancer Pearl E. Primus performing "Anger." By Gerda Peterich Pearl Primus Photograph Collection Photographs and Prints Division. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations.
1947, Joe Nash and Pearl Primus in “Playdance.” By Gerda Peterich Joe Nash Black Dance Photograph Collection Photographs and Prints Division. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations.
Janet Collins, prima ballerina in “La Gioconda.” By Milton Meltzer Joe Nash Black Dance Photograph Collection Photographs and Prints Division. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations. © Milton Meltzer.
Janet Collins, prima ballerina in “La Gioconda.” By Sledge LeBland, courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera Archives Joe Nash Black Dance Photograph Collection Photographs and Prints Division. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations.
Paul Russell By Kenn Duncan, courtesy of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture Dance Photograph Collection Photographs and Prints Division. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations.
Dyane Harvey By Johan Elbers Dance Photograph Collection Photographs and Prints Division. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations. © Johan Elbers.
~A FEW HIGHLIGHTS WITHIN THE COLLECTIONS
꩜ March 3, 1955, Carmen de Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder pose together, by Carl Van Vechten. The Fania Marinoff collection of photographs of dancers and allied artists. Series A. Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library, Digital Collections. IMAGE ID 58621641.
꩜ Husband and wife, Geoffrey Holder and Carmen de Lavallade, are among the most celebrated Black dancers of the 1900s. As she described their love in A Wealth of Wisdom: Legendary African American Elders Speak (Cosby and Poussaint, 2004), "[Geoffrey and I] just kind of hit it off. Who knows how things work? Bango, there it was, but we've been together forty-seven years.”
Carmen de Lavallade, who passed away in December of 2025, was the younger cousin of Janet Collins, featured in this exhibition as well, and notably the first Black prima ballerina for the Metropolitan Opera.
“If I stopped to listen to what people said, I would not have done what I did. I was too involved in doing what I was doing. I have a very quiet determination. I just go on and do."
-Carmen de Lavallade in A Wealth of Wisdom: Legendary African American Elders Speak (Cosby and Poussaint, 2004).
꩜ Judith Jamison in “Facets.” By Jack Mitchell Joe Nash Black Dance Photograph Collection Photographs and Prints Division. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations. Photograph by Jack Mitchell © Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, Inc. and Smithsonian Institution, All rights reserved.
꩜ Internationally renowned dancer and choreographer Judith Jamison was a muse of famed dance extrodinaire Alvin Ailey, and spent much of her career dancing with and creative directing for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
View digitized archives related to her life and legacy in the library’s digital collections, or scroll to the resource list at the end of this digital exhibition to find reading materials and archives related to her work.
꩜ 1947, Joe Nash and Pearl Primus in “Playdance.” By Gerda Peterich Joe Nash Black Dance Photograph Collection Photographs and Prints Division. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations.
꩜ Throughout his career as a professional dancer and dance historian, Joe Nash compiled an extensive collection of "photographs, manuscripts, programs and flyers, news clippings, decoupage art, books, and dissertations documenting black dance and dancers from the 1920s through the l980's."
Without his archival practices, this exhibition would not be possible. Make a research appointment with the Schomburg Center’s Photographs and Prints Division to view the Joe Nash Black Dance Photograph Collection, and scroll to the resource list for further reading.
~MORE ON BLACK DANCE FROM THE ARCHIVES
In addition to the curated selection of photographs installed at Jackie Robinson Park at 145th St and Bradhurst Ave in Harlem, the following list of publications and related resources paints a picture of timeless dance traditions throughout the African Diaspora and beyond.
꩜ Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference Division
A Wealth of Wisdom: Legendary African American Elders Speak, edited by Camille O. Cosby and Renee Poussaint (2004). Call No. Sc D 04-1148.
Dancing in Blackness: A Memoir, by Halifu Osumare (2018). Call No. Sc E 18-739.
Dancing Spirit: An Autobiography, by Judith Jamison with Howard Kaplan (1993). Call No. Sc E 93-641.
The Black tradition in American Dance, by Richard A. Long; photographs selected and annotated by Joe Nash (1989). Call No. Sc F 90-19.
Pearl Primus: Cross-cultural Pioneer of American Dance, by Jean Ruth Glover (1989). Call No. Sc+ F 93-215.
꩜ Moving Images and Recorded Sound Division
Syvilla: They Dance To Her Drum, directed, produced, and narrated by Ayoka Chenzira (1979), 1 film reel (23 min.). Call No. Sc Visual VRA-236 Service copy.
Judith Jamison: Television News Program (1987), 1 videodisc (7 min.). Call No. Sc Visual DVD-1210.
*A television news program segment about dancer and choreographer Judith Jamison, who began her career in Philadelphia and rose to become the Artistic Director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
An African American Dance Forum, a recorded public program honoring eight Black Dance Masters (1990), 2 videodiscs (approximately 160 min.), Call No. Sc Visual VRA-37b. *This program coincided with an exhibition entitled "Black Visions '89 Movements of the Dance Masters,” curated by James Briggs Murray.
Oral history interview with Pearl Primus, produced by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (1993). Five videodiscs (102min.). Call No. Sc Visual DVD-1554.
Positively Black: “I knew the man Bojangles,” produced by WNBC-TV Public Affairs presentation; host, Gus Heningburg (1990). Call No. Sc Visual DVD-1499.
꩜ Photographs and Prints Division
Dance Collection, Call No. Sc Photo Dance.
1850 - 1995, Dance consists of portraits and views of African American and African professional dancers, views of performances, views of dance classes, and general views of African Americans dancing.
Carmen De Lavallade Portrait Collection, Call No. Sc Photo De Lavallade, Carmen.
Joe Nash Black Dance Photograph Collection, Call No. Sc Photo Joe Nash Black Dance Collection.
The Joe Nash Black Dance Photograph Collection was compiled by Nash, historian and researcher of black dance history, to document and acknowledge the contributions of black dancers, choreographers, and dance companies from the 1930s to the 1980s.
Alvin Ailey Dance Theater Photograph Collection, Call No. Sc Photo Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Collection. The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Photograph Collection documents the dance company's performers and performances, 1955 - 1980.
꩜ Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division
Schomburg Programs and Playbills Collection,Call No. Sc MG 928.
The Schomburg Programs and Playbills collection consists of thousands of programs, playbills, and other ephemera, spanning the nineteenth to twenty-first centuries, documenting Black theatrical, musical, and dance performances, as well as events put on by Black academic, community, religious, and political organizations.
Black Dance Collection, Call No. Sc MG 224. Organized by professional dancer, dance historian, and archivist, Joe Nash.
꩜ Art and Artifacts Division
Contact the research division to learn more about dance related art and artifacts materials: SchomburgArt@nypl.org
