Philadanco founder Joan Myers Brown to celebrate 95th birthday
By Jay Nachman
In 1931, Black women were not allowed to ride a bus or trolley. So, Joan Myers Brown’s mother had to walk a mile from her home at 15th and Christian streets to Graduate Hospital at 19th and Lombard streets to give birth to her. Myers Brown later went to segregated schools until she attended West Philadelphia High School.
Myers Brown persevered through life’s obstacles to found The Philadelphia School of Dance Arts in 1960 and the much-lauded Philadelphia Dance Company (Philadanco) in 1970.
In 2012, Brown received the National Medal of the Arts. In 2013, President Barack Obama honored her at a ceremony that took place at the White House. President Obama cited Brown for carving out “an artistic haven for African American dancers and choreographers to innovate, create and share their unique visions with the national and global dance communities.”
She now lives in West Philadelphia, near Philadanco’s home, and is the mother of three daughters and six grandchildren. In December, Myers Brown will turn 95. At the opening night of Philadanco’s concert series, called “For The Love of Philly,” a birthday celebration will be held in her honor.
Myers Brown was introduced to dance while in high school by a white teacher who had been a member of the Philadelphia Ballet Company. The teacher invited Myers Brown to join a ballet club. She was the only Black dancer in the club and wasn’t treated nicely. “I felt the challenge,” Myers Brown said. “I fell in love with dance and that was it.”
After high school, Myers Brown received a grant from the Philadelphia Cotillion Society to study at the Katherine Dunham School in New York. “For the first time, I saw nothing but Black people dancing,” she said. Dunham is known for bringing Black dance and rituals into the Eurocentric American dance world.
After studying there, Myers Brown couldn’t find a job with a ballet company. There were no Black dance companies at that time. She began working as a backup dancer in nightclubs for such stars as Cab Calloway, Sammy Davis Jr. and Pearl Bailey. In every city where she worked, she would look for a dance school so she could continue honing her craft.
“One day I woke up in Boston and thought, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore. I want to teach Black kids what I know. Then, maybe, times will change, and they’ll have an opportunity later in life,’” Myers Brown said. “And that’s been my goal. And I’m still here in Philadelphia with a company.”
Since forming her own dance company, the number of accolades and awards she has received locally, nationally and internationally would fill an entire dance studio.
In 2005, the Kennedy Center honored her as a Master of African American Choreography. In 2009, she received the prestigious Philadelphia Award. Then, November 7, 2010, was declared Joan Myers Brown Living Legacy Day.
In 2019, she received the prestigious New York Dance & Performance Award – The Bessie for Lifetime Achievement. Her generosity, artistry, leadership in choreography, training and mentoring of dancers helped shape American dance for more than six decades. Myers Brown’s work also championed and created spaces for the work of African American choreographers through the formation of seminal organizations, including The International Association of Blacks in Dance.
Her school has been described as the farm team for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Twenty-eight of her dancers have joined the acclaimed dance company. Ailey credits Myers Brown for setting the level of expertise for his company.
Myers Brown’s favorite dance for her company to perform is Talley Beatty’s “A Rag, a Bone and a Hank of Hair.” She said, “I think that sets the style of the company because we’re doing something that nobody else is doing with ballet training with jazz music and nightclub work.”
While there are more opportunities now for Black dancers, “there’s not an abundance of work for Black dancers,” she said.
Myers Brown, affectionately known as “Aunt Joan” or “JB,” currently serves as Philadanco’s artistic adviser. She still goes into work every morning for a couple hours to oversee four performing companies, two schools and 34 teachers.
Her daughter, Marlisa Brown Swint, runs Philadanco as the managing director. “I’m keeping check on her as she is keeping check on me,” Myers Brown said. “I’m blessed with good health.”
Jay Nachman is a freelance writer in Philadelphia who tells stories for a variety of clients.
