Ballethnic Dance Company Inc. began with the love story of a young couple, Nena Gilreath and Waverly T. Lucas II, who met at the Dance Theatre of Harlem. On January 15, 1990, they successfully launched the second Black-founded professional ballet company and the first by a Black woman, creating another vehicle in the U.S. for dancers of color to be at the forefront. Today, the dance company is a classically trained, culturally diverse ballet company that blends traditional ballet with the artistic influences of other ethnic cultures – especially African American – to produce unique and exciting dance performances.