They're back!!!
Nearly two years has elapsed since Arthur Mitchell and
the Dance Theatre o f Harlem premiered to sell-out
crowds at Civic Auditorium.
On April 7th, the 44-member company returns for four
evening performances and a matinee, this year sponsored
by Evergreen Events in Portland.
The Dance Theatre o f Harlem is recognized and re
spected as a major presence in American dance, not only
for its technical virtuosity but for the diversity and vital
ity o f its performers and repertoire.
During its second visit to Portland, the company will
present two completely different shows from its extensive
repertoire.
Among the pieces selected are Frankie and Johnny, a
ballet based on the famous old ballad about betrayed
love, which was first performed in 1938 as part o f the
dance theatre project o f the Works Progress Administra
tion; and a Dance Theatre o f Harlem adaptation o f A
Streetcar Named Desire, which premiered this winter.
Composer/choreographer Geoffry Holder will be rep
resented by Banda and Songs o f Averne. Banda is the
dance of a spirit that lives in a graveyard who tries to help
the mother o f a dead child understand the difference be
tween life and death. Songs o f Averne, danced for the
company by the “ magnificent” Virginia Johnson (Mary
Clark, Dancing Times, Sept. 1981), was originally cho
reographed for Carmen deLavalade.
In contrast to the more modern pieces, Dance Theatre
o f Harlem will also demonstrate its classicl excellence by
performing the full length version o f Balanchine’ s Fire
bird.
There has probably never been a story quite like the
DTH story in American Dance.
The company has performed to sell-out crowds world
wide and has distinguished itself as a powferful force not
only in classical ballet but in ethnic modern dance as well.
Dance Theatre o f Harlem is a “ dance landmark” (Dora
Sowden, The Jerusalem Post).
Dance Theatre o f Harlem was started by Arthur Mitch
ell, former principal dancer with the New York City Bal
let, as his personal commitment to the Harlem commu-
J nity following the assasination o f M artin Luther King,
Jr. Incorporated in February, 1969, it began in the base
ment o f a Harlem church. In 1971, a generous donation
by Mrs. Bernard F. Gimbel enabled Dance Theatre o f
Harlem to purchase its present permanent home.
Dance Theatre o f Harlem began as a com m unity
school and aspiring ballet company with thirty students
and two teachers. Its premise was to promote interest in
and teach young people the art o f classical ballet, modern
and ethnic dance, thereby creating more self-awareness
and better self images in the students. Dance Theatre o f
Harlem has grown to become a school o f the allied arts
where over 1100 students from across the country and
around the world learn dance, sewing and costume ap
prenticeship, and choral and percussion ensemble tech
niques and its ballet company is in te rn a tio n a lly ac
claimed. Dance Theatre is now an organization in a much
larger community to which all people desiring cultural en
richment can turn.
Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook, DTH co-directors,
have created a ballet company which in ten years has
made two command performances before the Queen
Mother o f England; has broken attendance and box of-
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