Philadanco! – The Philadelphia Dance Company
A Complete History (1970–2025)Founder & Living Legend
Joan Myers Brown (“Miss Joan”)
Born 1931 in South Philadelphia. Trained at the Sydney School of Dance (the only Black student allowed in the 1940s). Studied with Antony Tudor, Karel Shook, and Essie-Marie Dorsey. Danced with Pearl Primus and Talley Beatty in New York, but returned to Philly because of segregation.Key Milestones
Signature Works & Choreographers
“I started Philadanco because when I was coming up, there was no place for a Black girl to dance professionally unless you were in an all-Black revue. I said, ‘If they won’t let us in, we’ll build our own door.’ And we did.”Philadanco! is not just a company — it is the single most important institution in the history of Black concert dance in the United States.
Still fierce. Still Black. Still Philly.
Joan Myers Brown (“Miss Joan”)
Born 1931 in South Philadelphia. Trained at the Sydney School of Dance (the only Black student allowed in the 1940s). Studied with Antony Tudor, Karel Shook, and Essie-Marie Dorsey. Danced with Pearl Primus and Talley Beatty in New York, but returned to Philly because of segregation.Key Milestones
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Year
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Milestone
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1960
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Opens The Sydney School of Dance on South Broad St. – first Black-owned classical ballet school in Philadelphia.
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1970
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Founds The Philadelphia Dance Company (Philadanco!) as a professional company to give her students a place to perform after graduation. First rehearsal space: church basements.
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1973
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First full season at the Walnut Street Theatre.
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1977
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Becomes one of the first U.S. dance companies to tour the Soviet Union under cultural exchange (pre-Perestroika).
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1981
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Moves into permanent home at 9 N. Preston St., West Philly.
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1988
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Purchases and renovates the former Joan Kerr Dance Studio at 1735 Market St. (current headquarters).
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1991
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Establishes D/2 (second company) and D/3 (trainees) – the only three-tier Black professional company in America.
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2001
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Opens the Philadelphia School of Dance Arts (PSDA) – pre-professional training program.
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2010
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Receives National Medal of Arts from President Obama (first dance company ever).
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2020
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Celebrates 50th anniversary despite COVID shutdowns with virtual gala.
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2025
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Still touring internationally; current artistic director is Kim Y. Bears-Bailey (appointed 2023).
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- Gatekeepers – Gene Hill Sagan (1994) – signature piece about Black men in America.
- Enemy Behind the Gates – Christopher Huggins.
- Southern Landscape – Talley Beatty (1947, restaged by Philadanco!).
- The Walkin’ Miracle – Jawole Willa Jo Zollar (Urban Bush Women).
- Moanin’ – Ronald K. Brown.
- Exotica – Alvin Ailey (restaged).
- First Black woman to own a major dance building in the U.S. (1988).
- First Black company to perform at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Next Wave Festival (1984).
- Longest continuously operating Black modern dance company in America (55 years as of 2025).
- Over 3,000 alumni; dancers have gone to Alvin Ailey, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Complexions, Broadway (The Lion King, Fela!).
- Philadanco! – main company (12–14 dancers)
- D/2 – second company (8–10 dancers)
- D/3 – trainee program (12–16 dancers)
- Philadelphia School of Dance Arts – 300+ students ages 4–18
- Annual spring season at the Kimmel Center or Perelman Theater
- Summer intensive draws students from across the world
- National Medal of Arts (2010)
- Bessie Award (New York, 1992)
- Philadelphia’s “Living Legend” award
- Joan Myers Brown named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People (2022)
“I started Philadanco because when I was coming up, there was no place for a Black girl to dance professionally unless you were in an all-Black revue. I said, ‘If they won’t let us in, we’ll build our own door.’ And we did.”Philadanco! is not just a company — it is the single most important institution in the history of Black concert dance in the United States.
Still fierce. Still Black. Still Philly.