Joan Myers Brown

Joan Myers Brown (born 25 December 1931) is an American dance company director and former dancer. In 1970, she founded PHILADANCO, a modern dance company in Philadelphia.^[1] In 2012, she received a National Medal of Arts in recognition of her career.^[2]

Brown is the only child of Nellie Lewis, a nuclear scientist, and Julius Myers, a chef and restaurateur, born on 25 December 1931 in Philadelphia. Native to both Philadelphia and North Carolina, she grew up mainly on 47th Street and Paschall Avenue of Southwest Philadelphia.^[3]

Brown's first dance instructors and role models were Essie Marie Dorsey, Sydney Gibson King, and Marion Durham Cuyjet. As a child she wished to shatter the social barriers prohibiting African Americans from becoming famous in the world of dance.^[4]

During a time where famous dance personalities were predominantly light-skinned, Brown worked hard to make sure that people of color acquired equal status in mainstream dance. She dreamed of a school where African Americans could learn and develop through methods tailored specifically to their individual needs - a program that was specially created for ethnic bodies.^[4]

Brown's accomplishments were many:^[3]

• 1960: Established The Philadelphia School of Dance Arts
• 1970: Founded The Philadelphia Dance Company (more commonly known as Philadanco)
• 1988: Founded the International Conference of Black Dance Companies
• 1991: Created the International Association of Blacks in Dance (IABD) in 1991
• 1995–: Distinguished guest, dance faculty at Howard University

• Honored in "Dance Women; Living Legends", a tribute to African American pioneer women of modern dance^[5]
• Brown was one of the recipients of the 2012 National Medal of Arts, by President and Mrs. Obama, in the White House's East Room, on Wednesday, July 10, 2013.^[2]

• Joan Myers Brown Philadanco papers from the African American Museum in Philadelphia