Biography

 

Janet Faye Collins was born on March 7, 1917 in New Orleans. The very same year that the race riots were happening in east Illinois. Having gratefully avoided it and other racial attacks going on in the south at that time, she and her family moved to Los Angeles, where she stayed until she began her ballet career. In the 1930s she watched ballet companies perform in the Los Angeles Philharmonic Auditorium and fell deeply in love with dance. She began studying with a teacher in her neighborhood, until she started looking for ballet schools  in Los Angeles. Like so many determined black dancers during those years, she was turned away because of her race. School directors were afraid that having a black student would threaten their business making other white parents uncomfortable. Charlotte Tamon gave her private lessons that provided her with the thorough training that she would need. At 16 years old, her aunt suggested that she audition for Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Leonide Massine, the company’s leading choreographer, conducted the audition. He said that Collins danced her heart out, and even  the other dancers applauded with enthusiasm. She had a conversation with Massine after her audition, and he stated in a very rational way that in order for him to train her and take her into the company, she would have to make her skin white. She respectfully refused and left. Having been rejected just because of her skin color hurt her, especially after she had danced her heart out. That experience, although extremely painful, did not discourage her to stop pursuing her dreams of ballet. She continued to look for different outlets that would help her display her talents.