Former general manager of Beyoncé’s Parkwood Entertainment, Janet Rollé, will now lead one of the country’s most prestigious ballet companies. 

The move to becoming CEO and executive director of the American Ballet Theatre has been touted as a significant move in the predominantly white-dominated world of ballet. 

Rollé credits her mother, a Jamaican immigrant, for providing the foundation of her career as an 8-year-old child when she enrolled her into her first dance class at their local YMCA. 

“Through dance, I learned how to be a professional, the value of discipline and technique, and my love for the creative process,” Rollé said in a release from the American Ballet Theatre. “These lessons have always been at the core of my professional life and work.” 

Rollé goes on to say that it’s a privilege to be entrusted with extending the theatre’s legacy and to give back to the artform that has given her so much in life. 

In her latest role with Beyoncé’s Parkwood Entertainment company, she served as an associate producer for the singer’s iconic performance as the first Black woman to headline the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. 

She was also credited for her role in the Emmy Award-nominated Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé (2019), which documents the Coachella performance, and the OTR II Tour. 

Additionally, she was an executive producer for Beyoncé’s award-winning visual album Black Is King, which accompanied the live-action remake of the Disney classic The Lion King in 2019.