Black History Month: Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre names Adam W. McKinney as new artistic director
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Someone new is ready to take the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre to the next level, and his appointment will be a first in the company's more than five-decade history.
Adam W. McKinney is the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre's first Black artistic director.
"I move into this role with a sense of pride and dignity and excitement about what is to come," McKinney said.
McKinney is the seventh artistic director in the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre's 54-year history. His background includes dancing with famous companies from New York to Switzerland, and he comes to Pittsburgh from Fort Worth, Texas, where he was a tenured associate professor of dance in ballet.
Being the first African American artistic director is special, he said
"Now I join the ranks of many senior arts leaders who are Black, who are directing ballet companies," McKinney said. "Who have had long wonderful careers and are now welcoming many others to join us in this beautiful work."
He does not officially start his new job for a couple of more weeks, but he is already touring his new workplace in the Strip District, which is familiar.
"Pittsburgh Ballet Theater has been on my mind for the last 25 years when I was first introduced to the company," McKinney said. "My father lived in Pittsburgh. He was an attorney with the National Labor Relations Board and came to Pittsburgh often."
McKinney believes Pittsburgh is ready for the future he sees on stage.
"I'm excited about bringing in new stories to Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre," he said. "And those are stories that are representative of us, of the diversity of Pittsburgh, of the diversity of ballet. And that will also be represented in our sets and in our costumes and in our audiences."
McKinney said there's a misconception about the involvement of Blacks in ballet. Blacks have been part of ballet for decades, like Janet Collins, Arthur Mitchell — founder of the Dance Theater of Harlem — and more recently Misty Copeland.
"My predecessors have set the stage for me to be successful in this role," he said. "I move through this moment with pride, dignity and the awareness that I'm the first and won't be the last."