Debra Austin

Debra Austin (born July 25, 1955) is an American ballet dancer who rose to prominence in 1982 when she was promoted to the rank of principal dancer at Pennsylvania Ballet, making her the first African-American female principal dancer of a major American ballet company. She was also the first African-American female dancer at the New York City Ballet. She currently serves as the ballet mistress for the Carolina Ballet.

Career Debra Austin began dancing when she was eight years old. At the age of twelve, she was awarded a scholarship to dance at the School of American Ballet in New York City. While a dance student at the School of American Ballet, she attended the Professional Children's School for academics. She was handpicked by George Balanchine at age sixteen to join the New York City Ballet, officially becoming the company's first African-American female dancer at age sixteen. Austin appeared in performances that were televised for the PBS series Live from Lincoln Center and the NBC television special Live From Studio H. making her the first African-American woman to reach the rank of principal dancer in a major American ballet company. This was eight years before Lauren Anderson became a principal dancer for the Houston Ballet, even though she is commonly incorrectly accredited as being the first. At the Pennsylvania Ballet, Austin danced in Swan Lake, Coppélia, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Apollo, Symphony in C, Giselle, and La Sylphide. She danced at a Gala Performance at the Academy of Music, hosted by Bill Cosby, while accompanied by Grover Washington on the saxophone.

Austin assisted Lynne Taylor-Corbett in her ballet The Dancing Princesses for Miami City Ballet, which premiered at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., on April 25, 1995. She served as a preliminary judge for the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts. She and her husband both work as ballet masters for the Carolina Ballet. They have two daughters, Olivia and Bianca.