She is noted for her long career as a principal dancer with the Dance Theatre of Harlem and as the first African-American woman to lead a ballet company.
As a child she attended Episcopal Day School alongside her brother Stephen, making them the first African-American children to integrate the institution.
[3] In 1984 she was profiled by Jennifer Dunning in the New York Times for her versatility as "one of those dancers who is as compelling in plotless ballets as in dramatic works that require her to portray a character".
[5][6][7][8] Brown's repertoire included William Dollar's Mendelssohn's Concerto,[9] Arthur Mitchell's Holberg's Suite, John Henry, and The Greatest,[10][11] Geoffrey Holder's Dougla, Bele, and Banda,[12][13] David Lichine's Graduation Ball,[14] Carmen de Lavallade's Sensemaya,[15] George Balanchine's Agon, Serenade, Concerto Barocco, Stars and Stripes, and Four Temperaments,[16][17][18][19] Glen Tetley's Voluntaries and Dialogues,[20][21][22] Agnes de Mille's Fall River Legend,[23] David Gordon's Piano Movers,[24] Frederic Franklin's Swan Lake, Creole Giselle, Paquita, and Pas de Dix,[25][26] Billy Wilson's Ginastera,[27] Goh Choo San's Variations Serieuses, Robert Garland's Joplin Dances,[28] John Taras' The Firebird, Alonzo King's Signs and Wonders,[29] and Garth Fagan's Footprints Dressed In Red.
[30] While performing with DTH, Brown taught residencies and masterclasses as an associate artist of Arthur Mitchell's Dancing Through The Barriers program.
[44] To prevent Oakland Ballet from shuttering, Brown canceled its 2004 season, focusing instead on a $500,000 fundraising campaign and hiring a new roster of dancers for the organization's 40th anniversary celebration.