Carolyn Adams

Carolyn Adams (born August 16, 1943) is an American dancer, choreographer, and teacher. In 1965, she joined the Paul Taylor Dance Company (PTDC), being the first and only African-American member at the time, and she remained a dancer there until 1982. She is faculty at the Juilliard School in New York City since 1983.

Biography Adams was born on August 16, 1943, in New York City, and raised in Harlem. She attended the Ethical Culture Fieldston School, and studied dance at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance (now Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance), with Martha Graham. She also attended the Sorbonne University in Paris.

In 1965 joined the Paul Taylor Dance Company (PTDC), while attending her final year at Sarah Lawrence College. Adams is a curator at the American Dance Legacy Institute at Brown University, an organization founded by her sister. She has also served as a panelist on the New York State Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.