Janet Collins (1917-2003) was an American dancer and choreographer, and a pioneering Black artist in American ballet and opera. She became the first Black prima ballerina at the Metropolitan Opera.

In the Pristine catalogue she appears in the 1953 Met broadcast of Verdi’s Aida, a reminder that historic opera performance involved dancers and stage artists as well as singers and conductors.

Collins’s importance reaches beyond this single catalogue appearance. Her career challenged racial barriers in American classical performance and opened space for later artists.

Her page is therefore a necessary historical marker. The artist index should make room for the body in motion as well as the voice in song.