This is the girl who danced in the breeze to the swoosh, swoosh, swoosh of towering trees. 

Janet Collins was a graceful, talented girl. She wanted to be a ballerina in the 1930s and '40s, a time when racial segregation was widespread in the United States. Janet pursued dance with a passion, seeking private lessons after being excluded from discriminatory dance schools. When she was accepted into the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo as a teenager on the condition that she painted her skin white for performances, Janet refused. She continued to go after her dreams, never compromising her values along the way.

From her early childhood lessons to the height of her success as the first African American prima ballerina in the Metropolitan Opera House, this is the story of a remarkable pioneer.

From the dust jacket