Anne Raven Wilkinson Dies, reposted
Anne Raven Wilkinson was born in New York City on February 2, 1935, to Anne James Wilkinson and Dr. Frost Bernie Wilkinson, a dentist. She had a brother six years younger, Frost Bernie Wilkinson Jr. The family lived in a middle-class neighborhood in Harlem Her father's office at 152nd Street and Amsterdam Avenue was located across the street from the Dance Theatre of Harlem.
Wilkinson became a ballet fan at the age of five after seeing Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo perform Coppelia. Her mother, who had studied ballet in Chicago, took young Raven to the School of American Ballet for lessons. But, they said they could not accept her until she was nine, so she initially trained in the Dalcroze method. According to Wilkinson, "It was basically eurhythmics and was all about music and tempi and meters." For her ninth birthday, an uncle made her the gift of ballet lessons at the Swoboda School, later known as the Ballet Russe School. Wilkinson's first teachers included well-known dancers from Russia’s Bolshoi Theatre, Maria and Vecheslav Swoboda.
Sergei Denham, director of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, bought the Swoboda School in 1951, giving Wilkinson an opportunity to audition for the troupe. Although she was light-skinned, acceptance into a ballet company was unlikely because of her race. Fellow ballet students also advised her not to seek a position. But, in 1954, Wilkinson auditioned for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. She was rejected. On a second attempt, she was rejected once again. On her third try, in 1955, Denham informed her that she had been accepted on a six-week trial basis. She was 20 years old.
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