Darius Barnes passed away on July 8, 2019, at Hospice House of the Western Reserve in Cleveland.
He was MJ’s dance captain during development of the show whose contributions are celebrated on stage every night.
On Monday July 31, the MJ cast and crew are honoring Darius with a Remembrance Day:
Darius Barnes Remembrance Day: BLOCK PARTY
Beats by Ari Grooves
Location: Neil Simon Theater (250 W 52nd St., New York, NY 10019)
Time: 4pm – 7pm
AFTER PARTY to follow at Haswell Green’s (240 W 52nd St., New York, NY 10019)
Sponsored by Times Square Arts, NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, Haswell Green’s & MJ the Musical
Barnes began his dance training at the Baltimore School for the Arts and went on to enroll at the prestigious School of American Ballet. He trained at the Kirov Ballet Academy, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Chautauqua Institute, and American Ballet Theatre with the support of scholarships from Rudolf Nureyev and Estelle Dennis Barnes’s exceptional skill was initially shown while he was an apprentice and a member of the New York City Ballet’s corps de ballet. Later on, he joined the Suzanne Farrell Ballet and provided invaluable support to the Dance Theatre of Harlem. As his career progressed, Barnes branched out into the world of theatrical dance, leaving his mark on such Broadway shows as Mean Girls, Memphis, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, Kiss Me Kate, and Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella. His immense talent, dedication, and contributions to the fields of dance and theater will be remembered fondly by those who were fortunate enough to witness one of his outstanding performances. His death has been attributed to a sickness, albeit the exact cause remains uncertain. The dancing community is in mourning over the untimely loss of a very great performer.
