Black Ballerina Stuns Paris: Frances Taylor and the Dunham Legacy

A 22-Year-Old Dancer Walks Into History

In 1951, the Parisian press lit up with praise for an unexpected name: Frances Taylor, a 22-year-old Black ballerina from Chicago performing with the Katherine Dunham dance troupe. French critics compared her to Leslie Caron—then starring in An American in Paris—but Taylor brought something else entirely to the stage. Her breakout moment came during a gala performance of Dunham’s electrifying piece Voodoo Death, and the crowd was left breathless. What they witnessed wasn’t just technical mastery—it was cultural power, channeled through a dancer who moved outside the strict lines ballet had long enforced.

Chicago, Dunham, and the Making of a Star

Frances Taylor trained with several of the best in American dance, including a brief period studying under George Balanchine. She was already gaining attention before joining the Dunham Company. But it was Dunham’s groundbreaking choreography—infused with Afro-Caribbean rhythms, modern dance, and ballet—that gave Taylor the space to shine. Dunham didn’t just teach steps; she taught anthropology, diasporic history, and resistance through movement. Within that framework, Taylor emerged as both student and star.

Voodoo Death at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées

At the Foreign Press Gala in Paris that December, Taylor performed alongside dancers from the Paris Opera Ballet in a rare cross-cultural production. Her role in Voodoo Death—a haunting piece rooted in ritual and rhythm—left the audience spellbound. French critics described her as “mature beyond her years,” surprised that such command and emotional intensity came from someone so young—and so Black. One reviewer dubbed her the “Leslie Caron of the tropics,” a racially loaded comparison that still revealed the weight of her performance in a postwar European context.

A Groundbreaking Appearance with the Paris Opera Ballet

Taylor’s participation in the gala marked a significant milestone: she became the first Black woman known to perform with the Paris Opera Ballet, though it was not in the context of an official contract or company membership. Still, the moment mattered. In a field dominated by whiteness and exclusivity, her presence disrupted the unspoken rules of who was allowed center stage. And unlike many Black dancers who were often expected to conform to European aesthetics, Taylor performed with the cultural grounding of Dunham’s diasporic legacy intact.

After Paris: Fame, Frustration, and Fade-Out

Frances Taylor would later become the first wife of jazz legend Miles Davis—a connection that often overshadows her own artistry. Their relationship was publicly glamorous but privately controlling, and Davis discouraged her from continuing her dance career. She later appeared in West Side Story on Broadway and performed with other companies, but her early promise—and that electric night in Paris—remains largely overlooked in ballet history.

She wasn’t just a dancer. She was a cultural bridge, a breakthrough, a challenge to ballet's narrow gatekeeping. And when the spotlight found her, she didn’t shrink. She performed Voodoo Death—and made the City of Light hold its breath.

Further Reading:

“Frances Taylor: First Black Ballerina to Perform with the Paris Opera Ballet.” Vegebon, 2023.
Katherine Dunham Timeline. Library of Congress.
Ebony Magazine, 1952.
Taylor, Frances. Oral history interviews (unpublished).
Wikipedia entry: Frances Taylor Davis.
Gallica (Bibliothèque nationale de France): French newspaper coverage of 1951 gala performance.