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The Legacy of Black Philadelphia's Dance Institutions and the Educators Who Built the Tradition

Cultural arts institutions have played a significant role in the life of Black Philadelphians since the 1920s. Such organizations as the Philadelphia Concert Orchestra, Dra Mu Opera Company, and Heritage House (Visual and Performing Arts Center) were efforts to preserve and promote the traditions of African American culture. (“Black” and “African American” will be used interchangeably here.) Dance schools have traditionally received ardent support from the community and were established because of limited opportunities for Black youth to study dance in Philadelphia. Marion Cuyjet's Judimar School, the Sydney (King) School of Dance, Arthur Hall's Ile Ife Black Humanitarian Center, and Joan Myers Brown's Philadelphia School of Dance Arts were key institutions that created a vital training environment for dancers, dance educators, and dance companies that emerged between the late 1940s and early 1970s. Cuyjet and King studied with dance pioneer Essie Marie Dorsey in the late 1930s. Hall and Brown were students of Cuyjet and King and established themselves as third generation leaders who created dance companies as well as schools.