Mel Alexander Tomlinson’s life began in Raleigh, North Carolina, and continued to the grand stages of America’s greatest dance companies.
Born on January 3, 1954, Mel Tomlinson grew up in the Chavis Heights public housing neighborhood of Southeast Raleigh. The son of Tommy and Marjorieline Tomlinson, Mel’s father worked for Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and as a delivery man for a jeweler, while his mother was a homemaker. Even as a child, Mel stood out for his energy and determination. While most children rode bicycles, he proudly rode a unicycle—a Christmas gift his father saved for when Mel was just nine.
His love for movement took shape in his teenage years at Fred J. Carnage Junior High School, where he studied under local ballet teacher Betty Kovach. At John W. Ligon Senior High School, a segregated school in the 1960s, he continued to explore dance and gymnastics.
It was during a high school halftime performance, where he served as the school mascot, that a local ballet instructor noticed his natural talent and offered him free dance lessons—a gesture that would set the course of his life…