Recipient of 22nd Annual Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime contribution to the arts and culture, presented by President Bill Clinton in
Washington D.C., on Dec. 5, 1999.
A member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
She was awarded the American National Medal of the Arts in 2001 by the
National Endowment of the Arts.
Grew up in Philadelphia and trained there in ballet from a young age. At a time when Black dancers were rare in ballet, she began with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1965.