Black Ballerina directed by Fran McElroy will screen at 4:30pm Tuesday February 3rd, 2015 at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center Amphitheater, 144 West 65th Street

Black Ballerina (free event, limited seated, first come/first serve)
A 55 minute cut of Black Ballerina will screen at the prestigious Dance on Camera Festival in New York City. This documentary-in-progress uses the overwhelmingly white world of classical ballet to take a fresh look at race, diversity, and inclusion. Narrated by black women of different generations but united in their passion for ballet, the film asks if anything has changed and why diversity in dance matters.

The screening will be followed by a panel featuring producer/director Frances McElroy, Dance Theater of Harlem artistic director Virginia Johnson, and former Ballets Russes ballerina Raven Wilkinson. For more information on the film please go to http://blackballerinadocumentary.org/.

Synopsis: Six decades ago, while pursuing their dreams of careers in classical dance, Joan Myers Brown, Delores Browne and Raven Wilkinson confronted racism, exclusion and unequal opportunity. In 2014, three young black women also pursue careers as ballerinas. Do they find that the color of ballet has changed? If so, how? If not, why?