Marion Cuyjet

Who is Marion Cuyjet?

Marion Cuyjet /suːˈʒeɪ/ born July 29, 1920 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was a pioneer in dance education in Black Philadelphia.

Cuyjet's formal dance training began with Essie Marie Dorsey in the 1930s who is responsible for initiating formal classical ballet training to Black Philadelphia. In the pre-Civil Rights era, African American students of dance were not allowed to join classical ballet classes in Philadelphia because of the color of their skin. Some students studied ballet through private lessons and only a handful of studios, mostly in New York City, would admit black students to special, all black classes. Cuyjet, however with her fair-skinned complexion was able to enroll at the Philadelphia Ballet Company, who did not admit black students at that time, and studied there until her identity was revealed after a performance. While at the Dorsey school, Cuyjet became close with another student, Sydney Gibson King, who shared the desire to sustain and develop the groundwork laid by Dorsey.

Cuyjet, with King, opened the Sydney-Marion School of Dance in 1946 which led to the forming of their own schools shortly after.