TBT: Virginia Johnson on Dance’s Ability to Inspire Change

In the October 1990 issue of Dance Magazine, associate editor Marilyn Hunt interviewed Virginia Johnson. The star ballerina, then 40, was more than 20 years into her Dance Theatre of Harlem career and was internationally lauded for her facility with dramatic roles.

Johnson recalled feeling, in her early days performing with the company, that she wasn’t doing enough to contribute to various causes in need of activism. “But now I feel the arts and dance are maybe the best way to change people’s attitudes,” she said. “Back there in sixty-eight, everybody wanted change to happen overnight. But it doesn’t. You have to be ready to commit to a long-term, gradual awakening. You can’t force anybody to change. You have to let them see something that makes them change. I think the arts do that, because they speak to your humanity.” She also recalled the impact that seeing Raven Wilkinson perform had on her as a young dancer in Washington, DC: “That was momentous for us—‘She’s black! She’s doing serious ballet!’ Because when you go to the ballet and see everybody in their pink tights, it’s hard to make that leap and see yourself up there.”

Johnson undeniably contributed to generations of young Black dancers seeing themselves on ballet stages, both with her performances and as DTH’s artistic director, a role in which she served at Arthur Mitchell’s request from 2010 until she handed the reins to Robert Garland in 2023.