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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 18, 1982)
fice records during 3 separate performance series at Lon don’ s Sadlers Wells Theatre; has become the first foreign major classical ballet company to perform in Dublin, Ire land since 1957; has toured the Caribbean, made num erous national tours and has had three New York seasons on Broadway. In February, 1978, Columbia University and DTH an nounced a significant co lla b o ra tio n involving a broad range o f performances, workshops and instruction. It is though to be the first o f its kind between a major dance company and a university. and just recently returning from a highly acclaimed per form ance at the Berlin Festival, as well as from a spe cially commissioned performance at the 41st Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia in August o f 1976. T h e ir most recent endeavor was an unprecedented second command performance for the Queen o f England on November 15, 1976. This performance was televised over BBC, w ith an estimated audience o f 50,000,000. This is the first time in history a command performance has been televised. "The Four Temperaments" the U.S., Europe, the Caribbean and the West Indies. It has perform ed fo r the crowned heads o f N orw ay and twice at command performances fo r H R M , the Queen Mother o f England. Less than nine years ago, Dance Theatre o f Harlem was w o rkin g in a garage which, on hot days, kept its doors open so that kids from the street wandered in to see what was happening. T oday the com pany is ranked among the m ajor ballet companies o f the world, playing to sell-out audiences and national and international criti cal acclaim. "The Four Tem peram ents" Choreographer: George Balanchine. Music: Paul Hindemith. Dan cers: Yvonne Hall, Eddie Shellman. The company was the subject o f tw o television spe cials, “ Rhythm etorn: Dance Theatre o f H arlem ,” pro duced by C apital C ities C om m unications, Inc., which aired in March, 1973, and "Dance Theatre o f H arlem ” which aired in March, 1977 as part o f Public Broadcast ing System’ s “ Great Performances— Dance in America” series. Both specials received extraordinarily high tele vision ratings. Am ong the five awards the “ Rhythme- tron” special won are the Silver Award o f the N.Y. Inter national F ilm and T elevision Festival (1972), and the Gold Hugo, Highest Award o f the Chicago International Film Festival (1974). "The Four Tem peram ents" Choreographer: George Balanchine. Music: Paul Hindemith. Dan cers: Karen Brown, Keith Saunders. “ We are already paying the price o f success,” says A rth u r M itc h e ll, the com pany’ s founder. “ By being superefficient, we created problems for ourselves. People think we are doing so well we don’ t need help. The fact is, Dance Theatre o f Harlem needs more money now than when it started. “ A healthy baby outgrow s everything, fa s t. I f you cramp the ch ild ’ s growth, you cripple it. That’ s just the case now with D TH . We grew by leaps and bounds and we need more money now merely to m aintain the old standards. “ But in Dance Theatre o f Harlem we have to challenge as well as encourage the Black classical tecnhician, and to to that we must consistently raise our standards.” "The Four Temperaments" The Dance Theatre o f Harlem special o f the “ Dance in America series was among the ten highest rating specials on the Nielsen scale covering a four-w eek period in March, 1977. Consisting o f 39 dancers, ranging in age from teens to early twenties, the Dance Theatre o f Harlem is m ulti-ra cial. It has a classical, modern and ethnic repertoire o f over 60 works. It has been acclaimed as one o f the five m ajor ballet companies in the U.S., and regularly tours "C aravanssrai" Choreographer: Taras Music: Santana Photographer: Martha Swope » Troy Game Choreographer: Robert North. Dancer: Ronald Perry “ So much love and w ork has gone in to starting the Dance Theatre o f Harlem, that, with God’ s help, it w ill succeed,” says A rthur M itchell, director and founder. And succeed they did. In 1974, its sixth year o f exist ence, Dance 1 heat re o f Harlem emerged as the first es tablished Black classical ballet company with an interna tional reputation. The first exclusive season took place at New V ork s AN 1 A I heatre and was received w ith re sounding public and critical acclaim. Then came a glitter ing tour of Mexico. Soon there were standing ovations that made history in the historic Sadler's Wells Theatre in London. There follow ed the excitement o f a command performance before King O laf V o f Norway, shining tri umphs in Finland and Belgium, and a grand return to London in response to the call o f her M ajesty, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. Since then. Dance Theatre’ s momentum has increased steadily, with the company completing a second record- breaking season at Sadler's Wells Theatre in London, Music: Tchaikovsky. Dancer: Virginia Johnson. High in p rio rity for M itchell’s purpose is a home the ater for Dance Theatre o f Harlem. “ My whole purpose in calling the company Dance Theatre o f Harlem was to identify it with Harlem. Why Harlem? Because to people all over the world Harlem means the Black man’ s culture a culture lorn out o f slavery in America.”
