Joan Myers Brown

Joan has been dedicated to creating opportunities for aspiring artists to study and pursue careers in dance. A trained ballet dancer who performed in tours with Pearl Bailey, Cab Calloway, and others, she founded the Philadelphia School of Dance Arts in 1960 to give primarily Black dancers quality training at a time when racial discrimination kept African Americans out of white studios. Ten years later, Joan formed the Philadelphia Dance Company (PHILADANCO) so that the school’s highly skilled dancers would have performance opportunities commensurate with their abilities. The company, which bridges cultural divides, would go on to perform for audiences across the globe, and is now the resident modern dance company at The Kimmel Center. The school is still in operation providing tuition-free dance instruction each year. In 1991, Joan would establish the International Association of Blacks in Dance. In 2013, she was presented with the National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama.