Precious Adams

Adams was born and raised in Canton, Michigan.^[2][3]

Adams began dancing at the age of seven at a competitive jazz dance studio.^[4] She began studying classical ballet at the age of nine with Sergey Rayevskiy at the Academy of Russian Classical Ballet in Wixom, Michigan. Adams participated in three consecutive summer intensives with American Ballet Theatre, training under Brian Reeder and Franco de Vita, where she twice received the Catherine Zeta Jones Scholarship.^[5] When she was eleven years old, she went to study at the National Ballet School in Toronto under the direction of Mavis Staines. At the age of fourteen, Adams was selected to study at The Princess Grace Academy of Classical Dance in Monte Carlo under Roland Vogel and Luca Masala.^[6] In 2011, she was selected to participate in the U.S. State Department Sponsored NSLI-Y Russian language and Bolshoi Ballet Academy summer program. She studied at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow with Natalia Igoravich Reivich and Marina Leonova. In 2012, Adams attended the Ellison Ballet summer intensive under Edward Ellison. In the summer of 2013, she performed in the sixth annual Stars of Russian Ballet Gala in Michigan. In 2014, she was a two-time prize winner at the Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland.^[7] Adams is also a Young Artist finalist and silver medalist.^[8]

While a student at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, Adams faced discrimination due to her race including being left out of performances, being prevented from taking part in auditions, and being told to "try and rub the black off."^[2][9][10]