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Photo: Rachel Neville
On February 11, 1969, at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook founded Dance Theatre of Harlem. Their vision remains one of the most democratic in dance.
In moments of extreme injustice and frustration the most impactful art is born. This is true of the inception of one of the most influential American ballet companies of the last five decades, Dance Theatre of Harlem.
Arthur Mitchell created the company in New York City, after making history in 1955 as the first black principal dancer at New York City Ballet.
He was also the famed protégé of George Balanchine—the Russianborn dancer, choreographer and co-founder of the School of American Ballet. Mitchell’s impulse to start Dance Theatre of Harlem is said to have been spurred by the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968. Working in Brazil on a commission from the American government to assist in the founding of the National Ballet of Brazil, Mitchell decided to return to the U.S. to try to make a difference in his community by teaching ballet classes in his native Harlem. At the height of the civil rights movement, in a graceful moment of artistic resistance, he created a haven for dancers of all colors who craved training, performance experience and an opportunity to excel in the classical ballet world.
Dance Theatre of Harlem
DTH Co-founders Karel Shook & Arthur Mitchell in 1971.
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Photo: Marbeth
Mission
Founded on February 11, 1969, by Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook, Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) is headquartered in the Sugar Hill section of Harlem in New York City. DTH’s mission statement is to:
•Present a ballet Company of African American and other racially diverse artists who perform the most demanding repertory at the highest level of quality;
•Maintain a world-class school that trains young people in classical ballet and the allied arts and;
•Provide arts education, community outreach programs, and positive role models for all
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Former DTH Company Artist Choong Lee
Photo: Rachel Neville
DTH PROGRAMS
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DTH Company
Under the director of Artistic Director Virginia Johnson, the Dance Theatre of Harlem Company has 19 extraordinary dancers from diverse backgrounds, 9 states and 3 countries, who tour each year, reaching 60,000 audience members. With a robust repertory that includes works by a breadth of choreographers, including George Balanchine, Arthur Mitchell, Anabelle Lopez Ochoa, and Claudia Schreier, set to a music by everyone from Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky to Aretha Franklin, the DTH Company is a master of both the classical and neo-classical ballet traditions.
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DTH Company Artist Stephanie Rae Williams
Photo: Rachel Neville
DTH Company Touring
2022 -2023
(subject to change)
August 9-13, 2022
BAAND Together Festival
Lincoln Center New York, NY
October 7-8, 2022
Washington Performing Arts
Sidney Harman Hall Washington, DC
October 21, 2022
Gaillard Center Charleston, SC
October 27, 2022
Carolina Theatre Durham, NC
October 30, 2022
Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts Reno, NV
November 5, 2022
Seattle Theatre Group
Paramount Theatre Seattle, WA
November 10, 2022
Univ of Arizona/Centennial Hall Tucson, AZ
November 18, 2022
ASU/Gammage Auditorium Tempe, AZ
January 20-21, 2023
Annenberg Center at Univ of Penn Philadelphia, PA
February 2-3, 2023
Jones Hall for the Performing Arts Houston, TX
February 10, 2023
Bass Concert Hall, Univ of TX – Austin Austin, TX
February 24-27, 2023
Sarasota Ballet
FSU Center for the Performing Arts Sarasota, FL
March 2, 2023
Morgan State University Baltimore, MD
March 16-17, 2023
Lesher Center for the Arts Walnut Creek, CA
March 21, 2023
Mount Bake Theatre Bellingham, WA
March 24-25, 2023
Dance Victoria/ Royal Theatre Vancouver, BC, Canada
April 18-23, 2023
New York City Center New York, NY
May 4, 2023
Hanover Theatre Worcester, MA
May 7, 2023
SUNY Stony Brook
Staller Center for the Arts Stony Brook, NY
DTH Company Artists in Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Balamouk
The Dance Theatre of Harlem School
The Dance Theatre of Harlem School provides high-quality classical training to children and youth from ages 3 to 18, ensuring that students of diverse backgrounds feel inspired and supported. Under the artistic direction of former DTH Principal Dancer and current DTH School Director, Robert Garland, nearly 300 students receive a holistic and nurturing training experience via the Whole Dancer training curriculum and the guidance of their instructors.
The DTH School also hosts an annual Summer Intensive for students ages 8-24. Students come from across the country to participate in this 3-week program that offers classes in ballet, character, and jazz
DTH also offers merit-based scholarships for the most promising
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Dancing Through Barriers ®
• Dancing Through Barriers® (DTB) provides year-round education programs to more than 4,000 students in public schools across the New York City metropolitan area and in DTH tour cities*.
• Activities include in-school and after-school residencies; schooltime lecture demonstration performances; site visits to the Dance Theatre of Harlem; and other community events. The program aims to help provide arts learning to students who have limited to no access to arts programs in their regular school curriculum.
• DTB teaching artists work with classroom teachers to build custom residencies based on each classroom’s needs. Students learn about the history of DTH, basic ballet movement, elements of choreography, teamwork, and other 21st century skills.
• DTB residencies are fee-based programs for schools. With your support, you can help DTH provide more free or reduced priced programs for schools.
• In response to COVID-19, the DTB program is now available to school partners via Zoom, Google Classroom, or other approved online platforms.
*In recent years, DTH has also been offered at schools in Michigan, Maryland, and St. Maartin.
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Students in residency at PS234Q Photo: Cherylynn Tsushima
Community Engagement
Core to DTH’s mission is offering programs that serve the Harlem community. By providing free or low-cost programs, DTH continues to fulfill Arthur Mitchell’s vision of making ballet and the arts accessible to everyone.
es* welcome neighbors from the local community and supporters virtually from around the world to interact with artists in presentations that showcase artists from other disciplines, Company dancers, students from the DTH school, and live music. These free performances take place 46 time per year. They include post performance receptions to facilitate dialog between the artists and the audience.
Other community engagement programs include open studio rehearsals, performances at partner institutions such as the Guggenheim and New York Botanical and other community-based organizations, when possible.
DTH anticipates returning to in-person programming in 2023.
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Women Who Move Us
• Launched in 2015, DTH’s Women Who Move Us (WWMU) initiative supports the creative work of female choreographers by providing opportunity to develop their voice and cultivate within the classical idiom.
• The initiative consists of residencies, workshops, and commissions that provide choreographers studio time with the DTH company artists to explore and develop new work.
Helen Pickett (When Love), Francesca Harper (System), Elena Kunikova (Divertimento), Dianne McIntyre (Change), Claudia Schreier (Passage), and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa (Balamouk), and Tiffany Rea-Fisher (Sounds of Hazel 10
• WWMU commissions include
DTH Company Artists in Claudia Schreier’s Passage
DTH Videos (click on links) • Dancing Through Harlem • A Place For All Of Us l The Dance Theatre of Harlem Company • Many Hues, One Line l DTH Innovates Matching Skin Tone Tights & Shoes • About Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Arts Education Program • UNDERDOG: DTH X Alicia Keys Everybody Rise Up! • The Brain at the Barre: The Neuroscience of Ballet • Inside Creole Giselle 11
