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.”