Businesswoman who leads Beyoncé’s empire to head up leading US ballet company

24 November 2021, 14:00 | Updated: 24 November 2021, 14:20

Janet Rollé was the general manager of Beyoncé Knowles’ media empire. Picture: Getty

By Sophia Alexandra Hall

Janet Rollé moves from Parkwood Entertainment – a media and management company founded by Beyoncé – to a leading US ballet company.

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The general manager of Parkwood Entertainment, a media and management company founded by US singer-songwriter Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, is moving to American Ballet Theater for a chief executive position.

Janet Rollé, 59, will be the first person of colour to hold the chief executive role at the leading US dance company.

“When my dear Mom, an immigrant from Jamaica, took me to my first dance class at the age of eight at the YMCA in Mount Vernon, New York, she set me on the path that would provide the foundation of my career,” explains Rollé.

“To come full circle and be in a position to give back to the art that has given me so much is a source of unbridled and immense joy.”

American Ballet Theater's “The Nutcracker”. Picture: Getty

Rollé has worked with Parkwood since 2016, and was previously the executive vice president and chief marketing officer for the news channel, CNN Worldwide.

Parkwood Entertainment, which was founded in 2010 by Beyoncé, houses departments in music and video production, management, marketing, digital, creative, philanthropy, publicity and a newly formed record label, Parkwood Music.

During Rolle’s time at Parkwood she was associate producer of Beyoncé’s Coachella performance, the Emmy Award®-nominated Homecoming: A Film By Beyoncé (2019), and the second co-headlining stadium tour of Beyoncé and Jay-Z, the On the Run II Tour.

She was also an executive producer of the Emmy®-winning film, Black Is King.