Virginia Johnson

you're listening to the immortal icons of dance podcast i'm your host lauren johnson Today I'll be speaking with Virginia Johnson.

Virginia was a founding member of the Dance Theater of Harlem, where she was a principal dancer.

She was also Arthur Mitchell's first successor as artistic director of the company.

Born and raised in Washington, D.C., she trained with Terrell Smith and Mary Day at the Washington School of Ballet before joining the Dance Theater of Harlem in 1969.

During her 28-year performance career with the company, she toured internationally and danced works by choreographers including George Balanchine, Michael Fokine, and Glenn Tetley.

Her performances in Giselle, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Fall River Legend were recorded for network and cable television broadcast.

After retiring from dancing in 1997, Virginia resumed her undergraduate studies in journalism, leading to the creation of Point Magazine.

She was the publication's founding editor and served as editor-in-chief from 2000 to 2009.