The dancer was not given a contract for the English National Ballet. Why? Nothing to do with her skills – but because of the colour of her skin.
Julie Felix always knew being a mixed-race ballerina would be a challenge.
Growing up in 1960s Ealing, she was accustomed to sticking out. “It was normal for me to see only white faces in my area,” she says. Yet, ballet became her refuge: “From the moment I started dancing at five, I knew it was my gift. It’s the love of my life.”
That love carried her through years of rigorous training, including dancing under famous dancers such as Rudolf Nureyev. By 16, Felix had earned a place at The Rambert School, overcoming financial obstacles with the help of a grant.
But at 17, her dreams hit a devastating wall. Felix was rejected by the London Festival Ballet (now the English National Ballet), not for lack of talent but because of the colour of her skin.
“They told me I’d ruin the line of the corps de ballet”, she says. “They said, ‘You can’t have a row of white swans with a brown one at the end – you’d stand out.’”
It was crushing. “I cried so much, I thought my career was over. I knew my skin colour would make things harder, but I believed my talent would overcome any prejudice”.
However, fortune intervened when the Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) held auditions in London the following summer.
Founded in 1969 by Arthur Mitchell, DTH made history as the first all-Black ballet company in the US. After one class with the company, Mitchell offered Felix a contract.
“I initially declined because I didn’t want to leave London,” she says. “However, when my teacher at Rambert found out I declined, she was horrified. I remember her saying, ‘Darling, you never refuse a contract!’”
So, in 1977, at 20 years old, Felix moved to New York City. “The diversity in the company was unlike anything I’d seen before”, she says. “Arthur held us to the highest standards. He knew people expected less from us. He wanted to prove that Black dancers could be just as exceptional as those in top American companies.”
However, life in New York came with its challenges. “It was terrifying”, Felix says. “During my first week, I saw two Black men shot by police for shoplifting”.
She also remembers when a DTH tour in Mississippi had to be cancelled. “We were walking to the theatre when we saw the Ku Klux Klan marching down the street, holding burning crosses and shouting the ’N’ word. We got inside, and Mitchell said we had to cancel the season. It was too dangerous.”
Felix spent 10 years with DTH, rising as a soloist and dancing for Micheal Jackson and Prince. By 1986, the pull of home brought her back to the UK. Four years later, she joined the Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) as a teacher.
At BRB, Felix launched Dance Track, an initiative to provide ballet training to young Black dancers who can’t afford ballet school.
“Blaming the lack of diversity in professional ballet companies on a lack of training is not an excuse. Dancers of colour need more access”, she says.
In December 2023, Felix was appointed an MBE in recognition of her services to the arts.
All images courtesy of Julie Felix