Anne Benna Sims was the first African-American danceuse

Ballerina

A ballerina is a title used to describe a principal female professional ballet dancer in a large company; the male equivalent to this title is danseur or ballerino...

at American Ballet Theatre

American Ballet Theatre

American Ballet Theatre , based in New York City, was one of the foremost ballet companies of the 20th century. It continues as a leading dance company in the world today...

. Sims danced with the Grands Ballets Canadiens in 1972.

At ABT she was in the first cast of the company premiere of Paul Taylor's Airs (reconstructed by Eileen Cropley); other members of the cast were Lisa Rinehart, Janet Shibata, Rebecca Wright, Brian Adams, Warren Conover and Robert La Fosse. http://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/23/arts/ballet-taylor-s-airs-and-sylphides.htmlNY Times, Anna Kisselgoff

Anna Kisselgoff

Anna Kisselgoff is a dance critic and cultural news reporter for the New York Times. She began at the Times as a dance critic and cultural news reporter in 1968, and became its Chief Dance Critic in 1977, a role she held until 2005...

, April 23, 1981] She had earlier been featured in a revival of Antony Tudor

Antony Tudor

Antony Tudor was an English ballet choreographer, teacher and dancer.-Biography:Tudor, born William Cook, discovered dance accidentally. He began dancing professionally with Marie Rambert in 1928, becoming general assistant for her Ballet Club the next year...

's Undertow with Peter Fonseea. Theatre World, Glenne Currie, The Hour, June 5, 1979 http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00C15FC3E5D12728DDDA90B94DD405B898BF1D3NY Times, Anna Kisselgoff

Anna Kisselgoff

Anna Kisselgoff is a dance critic and cultural news reporter for the New York Times. She began at the Times as a dance critic and cultural news reporter in 1968, and became its Chief Dance Critic in 1977, a role she held until 2005...

, May 30, 1979] Sims graduated from Bishop Reilly High School in 1970. Her sister is museum curator Lowery Stokes Sims

Lowery Stokes Sims

Lowery Stokes Sims is Curator at the Museum of Arts and Design. From 2000-2007 Sims was executive director then president of The Studio Museum in Harlem and served as Adjunct Curator for the Permanent Collection. Sims was on the education and curatorial staff of The Metropolitan Museum of Art from...

.

External links

• review by Brenda Dixon in Dance Research Journal, Vol. 22, No. 1 (Spring, 1990), pp. 31–32, University of Illinois Press, of Black Dance: An Annotated Bibliography by Alice J. Adamczyk, New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1989