Les Ballets Nègres

Les Ballets Nègres was Europe's first black dance company, founded in 1946 by Jamaican dancers Berto Pasuka and Ritchie Riley, along with brother and sister dancers Tony and Pearl Johnson. Berto Pasuka was born in Jamaica and trained as a classical ballet dancer in Kingston. He moved to London in 1939 and took further training in choreography at the Astafieva Dance School. Pasuka was asked to dance in and help recruit other dancers for the film Men of Two Worlds in 1946, and this experience prompted him to start his own dance company. Richard "Richie" Riley (1910-1997) first performed with Pasuka while in Jamaica. He migrated to London in 1946.