Waverly T. Lucas of Ballethnic

Perseverance, innovative ideas, and community support are just some of the ways Atlanta’s Ballethnic ballet company not only survived, but is continuing to thrive, despite mandated theater shutdowns and quarantine restrictions surrounding the COVID pandemic during the past two years.  

Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director Nena Gilreath says they stepped up their outdoor performances to help with social distancing, work masks during performances, selected venues carefully making certain they followed health guidelines and increased virtual performances.  

And now, for the first time in 31 years of performing, Atlanta’s Ballethnic Dance Company has been invited to appear at the prestigious Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. as part of a week-long celebration called, “Reframing the Narrative,” showcasing Black ballet artists. (scheduled for June 14-19). They will be joined by the Dance Theater of Harlem & other Black-identifying ballet dancers across the U.S. 

This type of inclusion has special significance to Ballethnic, a company that more than 30 years ago was established with the vision that there needed to be a professional, Black-led Ballet company in the South that could represent the possibilities of a professional career for many overlooked and undervalued Black dancers and dancers of other ethnicities.