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Mel Tomlinson
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Born: January 3, 1954
Occupation: dancer
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Born one of six
siblings in Raleigh, North Carolina, Mel Tomlinson became interested in dance after
studying high school gymnastics. When he was 17, he began formal
dance study at the North Carolina School of the Arts. Tomlinson received
his B.F.A. degree in only two years, while he also toured as a principal
dancer in Agnes De Mille's Heritage Dance Theatre and switched from a
modern dance concentration to ballet. In 1974 he moved to New York to join
the Dance Theater of Harlem (DTH), where his powerful build, crystalline
articulation of line, and supple flexibility propelled him to soloist,
most notably as the snake in Arthur Mitchell's "Manifestations"
(1975). In 1976 he took a leave of absence to perform with the Alvin Ailey
American Dance Theater, where he took over the male role in Ailey's "Pas
de Duke" with Judith Jamison and premiered the revival of Lar
Lubovitch's "The Time Before the Time After" ("After the Time
Before") with Sara Yarborough. Discouraged by the heavy touring
responsibilities of the Ailey company, Tomlinson returned to the DTH in
1978 to perform principal roles in "Swan Lake" and
"Scheherazade" . In 1981 he joined the New York City Ballet as its
only African-American member. He was quickly promoted to the rank of
soloist, and his performance in George Balanchine's "Agon" was called
"dynamic and electric" by the NEW YORK TIMES. Tomlinson left that
company in 1987 to join the faculty at the North Carolina School of Arts.
In 1991 he joined the Boston Ballet as a dancer and master teacher in the
CITYDANCE program, bringing classical dance to public school children in
the Boston area.
-- Thomas F. DeFrantz
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Stuart, Otis. "Black and White in
Color." BALLET INTERNATIONAL (November 1983).
Wilson, Arthur. "Mel
Tomlinson in the Spotlight." ATTITUDE 1, no. 8
(1983).
Source Citation: "Mel
Tomlinson." ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN CULTURE AND HISTORY. 5
vols. Macmillan, 1996. Reprinted by permission of Gale Group.
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