Graham Johnson: The Spanish Exile of an African American Ballet Dancer

Abstract In exile in late Francoist Spain, African American ballet dancer Graham Johnson used the performing arts as a form of interracial dialogue. As the lead dancer of the first long-term Black ballet company in American history, the First Negro Classic Ballet, Johnson chose to live abroad to pursue his art, thus joining a history of Black artists and intellectuals who opted for exile rather than live in the often oppressive racial climate in the United States. As he wrote his former dance teacher and friend, choreographer Joseph Rickard: “America will not change for the likes of me . . . and I cannot change for the likes of it.” In 1970 Johnson settled in the northern Spanish province of Asturias, in the village of Llanes. He stayed for three years, yet until recently what he achieved there remained largely unknown. Drawing on recently discovered archival material in Spain, combined with interviews with those who knew him, this article explains what Johnson set out to accomplish, and how the people of Llanes responded to his skills in the performance of dance, yoga, and song. Although scholars often emphasize the hardships of exile, the author takes a different approach and considers how exile can bring opportunities as well as challenges.