Nora Kimball

Nora Koito Kimball-Mentzos or simply Nora Kimball is a ballet teacher and former American ballerina, who is often overlooked for being one of the first African American female soloists—the second -- [at American Ballet Theatre (ABT). She danced with the ABT in the mid-1980s and as an African American who is also Asian American, preceded Misty Copeland, who is often credited as the first. ABT has been described as one of the three great American-style classical ballet companies on the world stage today (along with New York City Ballet and San Francisco Ballet).Kimball trained in New York City at the National Academy of Ballet before attending The Harkness House for Ballet Arts. Studied further at The American Ballet Theatre School. Kimball has been a soloist with the Nederlands Dans Theater and the Frankfurt Ballet. She has also worked with Eliot Feld Ballet, the Stuttgart Ballett, Karole Armitage and Peter Sellars. She had moved to the Frankfurt Ballet by 1991. She has worked with William Forsythe. She continues to work in Frankfurt teaching for the Zena Rommett Floor Barre Technique TM since 2001 and the Dancedepartment of the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst.