© 2024 Milwaukee Public Media is a service of UW-Milwaukee's College of Letters & Science
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

The Glass Ceiling On The Ballet Floor

Dancers from the Royal Ballet perform a scene from "Song of the Earth" during a dress rehearsal in 2015. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)
Dancers from the Royal Ballet perform a scene from "Song of the Earth" during a dress rehearsal in 2015. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)

When Misty Copeland was promoted to principal dancer of American Ballet Theater this summer, she made headlines as the first female African-American principal in the 75-year history of that company.

But as companies prepare for a new season, ballets’ artistic leadership and choreographers are almost exclusively white and male. And, as Here & Now contributor Sharon Basco reports, that’s not likely to change anytime soon.

Reporter

  • Sharon Basco, journalist, critic and public radio producer.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.