Virginia Johnson is a founding member and former principal dancer of Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) where she is now the artistic director. Born in Washington, DC, she graduated from the Academy of the Washington School of Ballet and briefly attended the School of the Arts at New York University as a University Scholar before joining DTH in 1969. During her 28 years with the company, she performed most of the repertoire, with principal roles in Concerto Barocco, Allegro Brillante, Agon, A Streetcar Named Desire, Fall River Legend, Swan Lake, Giselle, Voluntaries, and Les Biches, among others, several of which were recorded for broadcast on PBS, network television, and cable.
Her choreographic credits include the television film Ancient Voices of Children, and works for Goucher College, Dancers Responding to AIDS, the Second Annual Harlem Festival of the Arts, Thelma Hill Performing Arts Center, and Marymount Manhattan College, where she was an adjunct professor.
While still performing, her interest in journalism led her to Fordham University. After she left the stage, she was given the opportunity to create POINTE magazine. She was editor-in-chief from 2000-2009.
Her honors include a Young Achiever Award from the National Council of Women, Outstanding Young Woman of America, and the Dance Magazine Award, a Pen and Brush Achievement Award, the Washington Performing Arts Society’s 2008-2009 Pola Nirenska Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2009 Martha Hill Fund Mid-Career Award, and an honorary doctorate from Cornish College of the Arts.
Her commitment to community service is maintained through volunteer assignments with New York Cares.
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