Janet Fay Collins: The African-American Dream
Janet Fay Collins was the Metropolitan Opera's first African-American Prima Ballerina who broke the color barrier, paving the way for African-American dancers to come after her.
Janet was born on March 2nd, 1917 in New Orleans, Louisiana. At the age of four years old she moved with her family to Los Angeles, California. There, she was enrolled into a Catholic Community Center for dance training. Her family did not have money to pay for Janet’s training. So as the idiom goes “ one hand washes the other,” Janet’s mother created and sewed the costumes for the students dance recitals.Later on in life Collins majored in art at Los Angeles City College. She later transferred to the Los Angeles Art Center School where she continued her studies in dance rather than in art.
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