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Black British Ballet

Jerry Douglas

Ethnic heritage: African-American

Year of birth: 1980

Ballet training: Jerry Douglas grew up in California and started dancing jazz in the fourth grade before focusing on ballet at Pamela Hayes Classical Ballet Training. After Douglas and his mother drove Arthur Mitchell to the Sacramento airport, Mitchell offered Douglas a scholarship to Dance Theatre of Harlem, and he joined their summer intensive programme in 1993.

From there he went on to study at the Royal Ballet School and in 1997 when he was just 17 years old, he joined the Royal Ballet. He was the first African American to officially join the company, and just the second black man after Johaar Mosaval. Douglas made his debut in Romeo and Juliet.

However, he wanted to perform more classical roles, and eventually left to join American Ballet Theatre in 2000.

Dancers are the athletes of God.
- Albert Einstein