Thea Nerissa Barnes

After moving to New York, she achieved a Bachelor of Arts in dance from the Juilliard School and a master's degree in Dance Education from Columbia Teachers College. She studied at Arthur Mitchell's Dance Theatre of Harlem after winning a scholarship and was trained in a variety of techniques with practitioners in the field including Igor Schwezoff and DanceAfrica founder Chuck Davis.^[4]

She began her professional career with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater^[5] (1972) and later became a principal dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company from 1979; she stayed for ten years.^[6][7] She toured worldwide and during her career danced with a number of dance companies including the Julian Swain Inner City Dance Theatre in Chicago as a soloist and guest performer. She performed on Broadway, in film and on television and venues included Metropolitan Museum of Art and Palais Garnier in Paris.^[8]

In 1992, she moved to London to teach at the Laban Centre for Movement and Dance, transferring to Phoenix Dance Theatre^[9] and becoming its artistic director in 1997. Between 2001 and 2018, she was resident dance supervisor for the West End production of The Lion King.^[3]

Described by Associate Newspapers as "a truly beautiful and expressive dancer",^[3] Barnes was praised for inspiring and nurturing black performers both in the US and the UK. She died on 28 December 2018 in Chicago.

• Igor Schwezoff (1904-1982)
• Thea Barnes Legacy Fund
• Thea Nerissa Barnes
• Julian Swain (1924-2011)