The Swans of Harlem
Five Black Ballerinas, Fifty Years of Sisterhood, and Their Reclamation of a Groundbreaking History
A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW NOTABLE BOOK • Finalist for the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography
The forgotten story of a pioneering group of five Black ballerinas and their fifty-year sisterhood, a legacy erased from history—until now.
“This is the kind of history I wish I learned as a child dreaming of the stage!” —Misty Copeland, author of Black Ballerinas: My Journey to Our Legacy
“Utterly absorbing, flawlessly-researched…Vibrant, propulsive, and inspiring, The Swans of Harlem is a richly drawn portrait of five courageous women whose contributions have been silenced for too long!” —Tia Williams, author of A Love Song for Ricki Wilde
At the height of the Civil Rights movement, Lydia Abarca was a Black prima ballerina with…