Maggie Black

Margaret Black (March 31, 1930 – May 11, 2015) was a ballet teacher who taught in New York City during the 1970s and 1980s. She coached dancers such as Martine Van Hamel, Kevin McKenzie, Natalia Makarova, Gelsey Kirkland, Robert Hill, Amanda Mckerrow, and John Gardner She developed a ballet technique based on anatomy. She stressed moving from a neutral spinal and pelvic alignment with weight evenly distributed throughout each foot. She amassed a large following of both ballet and modern dancers. Eventually, she split her class into two, one for modern dancers and one for ballet dancers. Choreographers such as William Forsythe and Ohad Naharin attended her class.

Black was born in Rhode Island in 1930, and moved to New York City at the age of 16 to study dance. On May 11, 2015, Black died in her East Hampton, New York home from, according to Black's friend Gary Chryst, congestive heart failure.

In October 2016, seventeen dancers remembered legendary teacher Maggie Black in Ballet Review Fall edition -- " Maggie Black ( 1930- 2015)" by Joseph Carmine