Detroit ballerina Christen Devani Elliott has won a national gold medal in ballet at the NAACP’s Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics competition.
Elliott discussed the achievement with Jamie Sherrod in a FOX 2 Detroit interview, reflecting on her success at the prestigious ACT-SO contest.
The Cass Technical High School alumna represented Detroit Central Branch in the 49th national ACT-SO competition, where she took gold in the Dance: Ballet category, according to the NAACP’s official list of 2026 medalists. ([fox2detroit.com](https://www.fox2detroit.com/video/fmc-0sii7kk07ox1wa5x))
Her result marked a significant improvement on the previous year, when she won bronze at the Detroit branch competition and did not qualify for the national finals. Detroit Public Schools Community District reported that the setback motivated her to refine her choreography and return to the contest. ([detroitk12.org](https://www.detroitk12.org/news/post-details/~board/detroit-public-schools-community-district-news/post/cass-tech-alumna-christen-devani-elliott-turns-bronze-into-national-gold-at-naacp-act-so-competition?utm_source=openai))
ACT-SO is a year-round NAACP programme for high school students, covering academic, artistic and technical disciplines. Local gold-medal winners qualify to compete nationally during the organisation’s annual convention, with dance among the performing arts categories. ([naacp.org](https://naacp.org/convention/act-so))
Elliott, who has recently graduated from Cass Tech, is due to attend Western Michigan University.
