Arthur Mitchell: Harlem's Ballet Trailblazer

TIMELINE

DANCE THEATRE OF HARLEM

1968–2004

COMPILED BY LYNN GARAFOLA

 

The detailed information about Dance Theatre of Harlem’s very earliest years is largely based on Jacqueline Quinn Latham’s dissertation “A Biographical Study of the Lives and Contributions of Two Selected Contemporary Black Male Dance Artists—Arthur Mitchell and Alvin Ailey—in the Idioms of Ballet and Modern Dance, Respectively” (Texas Women’s University, 1973).  Other sources include the list of “Highlights” in the Dance Theatre of Harlem’s twentieth-anniversary booklet, programs and playbills from the Arthur Mitchell Collection, and the press, especially the growing number of newspapers available digitally.  The first time a work is mentioned the full title is given; subsequently, only the short title is used.  Production credits are given in the Repertory List.

 

1968

Martin Luther King killed in Memphis, Tennessee, April 4, 1968.

Arthur Mitchell begins teaching at Dorothy Maynor’s Harlem School of the Arts, 141^st Street and St. Nicholas Avenue, in a garage adjacent to St. James Presbyterian Church, using his own money and the help of friends to cover initial expenses.  The Department of Dance, with Mitchell at its head, opens on July 8, 1968.

Karel Shook joins Mitchell as Ballet Master and Associate Artistic Director of the Department of Dance at the Harlem School of the Arts, July 31, 1968.  He subsequently resigns from Dutch National Ballet.

The company gives its first lecture-demonstration in Rensselaerville, New York, August 6, 1968.  Lydia Abarca, Gerald Banks, Walter Raines, and Llanchie Stevenson form the nucleus of the emerging company.

In the fall Mitchell choreographs Ode to Otis, to a score by Coleridge Taylor Perkinson, and the first movement of Tones, to music by Tania León.  He also revives Rhythmetron, originally choreographed for the Companhia Brasileira de Ballet, for the young Harlem dancers.  They are soon joined by Gayle McKinney, Patricia Ricketts, Arturo Vivaldo, and Derek Williams.  An apprentice group, comprised of Valerie Bower, Laura and Susan Lovelle, yvonne Hall, Cassandra Pheifer, and Jewel Melchior, is formed.

The school rapidly expands, and the staff of teachers expands to include Tanaquil Le Clercq, Mitchell’s first New York City Ballet partner, James Truitte, Pearl Reynolds, and Mary Hinkson.  Tania León is appointed Musical Director.

The Ford Foundation awards Harlem School of the Arts a grant specifically allocated for the financing of the Dance Department.  This marks the beginning of a long relationship between the foundation and the Dance Theatre of Harlem.

1969

Ode to Otis premieres at St. James Presbyterian Church, February 2, 1969.  The dancers are  Lydia Abarca, Gerald Banks, Walter Raines, Samuel Smalls, Arturo Vivaldo, and Derek Williams.

Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) is incorporated on February 11, 1969.  The six-member board of directors includes Mitchell, as President; George Balanchine, First Vice-President; actress Cicely Tyson, Second Vice-President; actor Brock Peters, Third Vice President; City Center board member Nancy Lassalle, Secretary; and financial planning consultant Charles DeRose, Treasurer.  In the following months the new organization would acquire non-profit status.

Mitchell and “the Harlem School of the Arts Dance Company” featured Leon Bibb’s WNBC-TV show Someone New, Sunday, March 30.  The company consists of Lydia Abarca, Patricia Rickets, Sheila Rohan, Llanchie Stevenson, Virginia Johnson, Gerald Banks, Walter Raines, Arturo Vivaldo, and Derek Williams.  Tania León also performs.

The Arthur Mitchell Dance Group, consisting of Lydia Abarca, Gerald Banks, Walter Raines, Arturo Vivaldo, and Derek Williams, performs Mitchell’s Ode to Otis in the Black Chamber Dance Concert presented at the Minor Latham Playhouse, Barnard College, May 1-3, 1969.  The program is sponsored by the Harlem Cultural Council, the Uran Center of Columbia University, and Barnard College.  Works by Louis Johnson (No Outlet) and Rod Rodgers (duet excerpts from Schism) are also presented.

The Harlem School of the Arts closes the Dance Department on August 15, 1969.  Mitchell temporarily relocates his company and school at Glen Tetley’s studio in Chelsea at 124 West 18^th Street.

DTH finds a new home in Harlem at the Church of the Master at 86 Morningside Avenue at 122^nd Street.  It remains at this location from September 23, 1969 until September 1971.

Wednesday afternoon “open-rehearsal sessions” are initiated to establish community contact and promote good public relations.  Numerous celebrities attend rehearsals, including soprano Leontyne Price, director Lucchino Visconti, photographer Lord Snowdon, composer Gian-Carlo Menotti, founder and director of the Spoleto Festival; modern dance pioneer Ted Shawn, founder and director of Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival; Dance Magazine editor Lydia Joel, etc., etc.

DTH makes its Philadelphia debut at the Academy of Music with a program that includes Rhythmetron, November 1969.

Performs at a fund-raising benefit sponsored by Lee Nordness Galleries, 236 East 75^th Street, on December 4, 1969.  The benefit also features a preview art exhibition of works by Ben Jones and Al Moving, and glass sculptures by Marvin Lipofsky.  The benefit is hosted by Dorothy Hammerstein, Leontyne Price, Cicely Tyson, and Arthur Mitchell.

1970

Takes part in a “Festival Celebration” at the Clark Center for the Performing Arts, New York City, January 25, 1970.  Carmen de Lavallade, and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater are among the other participants.

Appears in “Sold on Ice,” an NAACP-sponsored all-star tribute to Duke Ellington, at the Felt Forum, Madison Square Garden, February 23, 1970.  Stevie Wonder, Peggy Lee, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Richie Havens, Roberta Flack, and the youth choral group Voices of East Harlem are other participants.

Presents “Ballet’s Greatest Moments,” with New York City Ballet’s Jacques d’Amboise and Melissa Hayden as guest stars, Academy of Music, Philadelphia, March 15, 1970.  In addition to Mitchell’s Rhythmetron, the performance includes choreography by George Balanchine.

Makes first Caribbean tour, performing in as the major attraction of the First Bermuda Arts Council Summer Festival, June 17-20, and also appearing in Nassau, the Bahamas (June 24-27) and Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles (June 29-July 1).  The company performs Holberg Suite, Biosfera, Tones, Ode to Otis, and Rhythmetron, all by Mitchell, and Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco, a company premiere.

Appears at Jacob’s Pillow, Becket, Massachusetts, August 18-22, 1970.  Presents four works, all choreographed by Mitchell – Holberg Suite, Biosfera, Ode to Otis, and Rhythmetron.

Returns to the West Indies, performing in San Fernando, Trinidad (October 26); Port-of-Spain, Trinidad (October 28-31); and Kingston, Jamaica (November 4-7).

Four DTH dancers – Llanchie Stevenson, Sheila Rohan, Pamela Jones, and Clover Mathis – dance an excerpt from Mitchell’s Holberg Suite on the television special A Holiday Celebration with Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee, WOR-TV, Channel 9, New York City, December 17, 1970.  Leon Bibb and Odetta are among the other guest artists.

1971

Makes its official New York debut on January 8-10, 1971 at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.  Three works by Mitchell – Tones, Fête Noire (a premiere), and Rhythmetron – are performed.

Embarks on a transcontinental tour that includes appearances at the Loeb Drama Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts, February 5-6, 1971; Fairchild Theatre, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, February 9; Ford Auditorium, Detroit Michigan, February 12; Inner City Cultural Center, Inner City Theatre, Los Angeles, February 18-20; Memorial Auditorium, Ohio State University, Athens, Ohio, February 23, 1971.

Makes its Broadway debut in the City Center American Dance Marathon, ANTA Theatre, New York City, March 8, 10, and 12, 1971.  Repertory includes Biosfera, Fun and Games, Fete Noire, and Rhythmetron, all by Mitchell, Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco, the premiere of Mitchell’s Fun and Games, and DTH premieres of John Taras’ Design for Strings and Jerome Robbins’ Afternoon of a Faun.

Appears in Reflections of the Black Experience, television special in commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., WNEW-TV, April 4, 1971.  The other participants include Roberta Flack, Diana Sands, the Louis Johnson Dancers, and Julian Bond.

With members of the New York City Ballet, dances Concerto for Jazz Band and Orchestra at NYCB’s spring gala, New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, May 6, 1971.  The choreography is by George Balanchine and Mitchell.

Makes Chicago debut under the auspices of the Chicago Urban League, Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, May 9-11, 1971.  The repertory includes Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco, Jerome Robbins’ Afternoon of a Faun, and Mitchell’s Fete Noire, Ode to Otis, Biosfera, Tones, and Rhythmetron.

Presents two free programs for more than 3,000 schoolchildren at McMillan Theatre, Columbia University, New York City, June 2, 1971.

Makes first European tour, opening at the Teatro Nuovo in Spoleto (June 25-July 11), dancing the company premiere of Agon, and continuing to Torino (July 14), Verona (July 17-19), Florence (July 21), Amsterdam (July 24-31), Knokke, Belgium (August 3),  and Ostende (August 4).

Moves into a home of its own in a renovated garage and warehouse at 466 West 152^nd Street, New York City, during the week of September 20, 1971. The purchase of the building was made possible by Mrs. Alva Gimbel of the Gimbel’s department store family.

Gives two performances and a lecture-demonstration at the Walnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia, November 2-4, 1971.

Opens the year’s concert series of the St. Thomas Community Association, Charlotte Amalie High School, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, November 24, 1971.  A second performance at St Croix follows on November 26.

Appears in a benefit performance for Reality House, a drug rehabilitation center in Washington Heights, Hunter College Playhouse, New York City, December 11, 1971.  The program includes the first DTH performance of Lester Horton’s The Beloved and a preview of Forces of Rhythm, a work-in-progress by Louis Johnson.

1972

Returns to Southern California under the auspices of the Inner City Cultural Center, Inner City Theatre, Los Angeles, January 7-9, 1972.  The repertory includes The Beloved, by Angeleno choreographer Lester Horton, Balanchine’s Agon and Concerto Barocco, Louis Johnson’s Forces of Rhythm, and Mitchell’s Fete Noire, Rhythmetron, Biosfera, and Fun and Games pas de deux.

Makes Washington debut at Kennedy Center Opera House, Washington, D.C., February 21-23, 1972.  The repertory includes Balanchine’s Agon and Concerto Barocco, Louis Johnson’s Forces of Nature, Lester Horton’s The Beloved, and Mitchell’s Biosfera, Fete Noire, and Rhythmetron.

Returns to the Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, performing in its Dance Series, March 4-5, 1972.  The repertory includes Balanchine’s Agon and Concerto Barocco, Louis Johnson’s Forces of Rhythm, Lester Horton’s The Beloved, and Mitchell’s Fete Noire.

Appears in the Dance Series at Brooklyn College Center for the Performing Arts, New York City, April 29, 1972.

Appears with Ruth Page’s Chicago Ballet in “Chicago and Harlem United in Ballets of Love and Death,” a concert program showcasing Page’s Carmina Burana and a new version of Carmen, en titled Carmen and José, Civic Theater, Chicago, May 12-14, 1972.

Makes second European tour, performing in Italy (Milano, Genoa, Palermo, and Nervi), Portugal (Lisbon), Yugoslavia (Dubrovnik), and Belgium (Ostende and Knokke).

Performs Agon and Forces of Rhythm at the American Dance Marathon, ANTA Theatre, New York City, November 7-10, 1972.  The company shares the program with the Paul Sanasardo Dance Company.

The company’s Harlem Homecoming benefit, with performances by Lena Horne and Leontyne Price, hostesses for the event, draws nearly 3,000 people, including stars of theater and screen and New York City political figures, to Loew’s Victoria Theater, New York City, November 13, 1972.  Lord Snowdon takes photographs of the dancers for the souvenir journal.

1973

New York City Community College, Klitgord Auditorium, Brooklyn, February 10, 1973.  Performs Forces of Rhythm (Louis Johnson), Afternoon of a Faun (Jerome Robbins), Agon (Balanchine), Rhythmetron (Mitchell).

Dances Forces of Rhythm (Louis Johnson), Afternoon of a Faun (Jerome Robbins), Agon (George Balanchine), and Rhtymetron (Mitchell) at Lyric Theater, Baltimore, March 24, 1973.  Te performance, which is presented by the Baltimore Chapter of Yong Audiences, Inc., is preceded by several days of lecture-demonstrations at city and county schools.

The prize-winning documentary Rhymetron aired on PBS, March 26, 1973.

Returns to the Auditorium Theater, Chicago, May 18-19, 1973.   In addition to Milko Sparemblek’s Ancient Voices of Children, a premiere, the company dances Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco, Louis Johnson’s Forces of Rhythm, Jerome Robbins’ Afternoon of a Faun, Ruth Page’s Carmen and José, and Mitchell’s Biosfera and Rhythmetron.

Following several weeks of lecture-demonstrations gives benefit performance at Crampton Auditorium, Howard University, Washington, D.C., April 14, 1973.

Returns to Los Angeles, performing at Ingalls Auiditorium, East Los Angeles College, under the aegis of the Inner City Cultural Center, May 31-June 2, 1973.  The company performs Louis Johnson’s Forces of Rhythm, Mitchell’s Biosfera and Rhythmetron, Ruth Page’s Carmen and José, Milko Sparemblek’s Ancient Voices of Children, George Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco, and Jerome Robbins’ Afternoon of a Faun.

Appears at the Connecticut College American Dance Festival, performing Walter Raines’ Haiku, Milko Sparemblek’s Ancient Voices of Children, Mitchell’s Tones and Rhythmetron, Louis Johnson’s Forces of Rhythm, and George Balanchine’s Agon, New London, Connecticut, July 20-21, 1973.

Makes a third European tour, including Yugoslavia and Spain.

1974

The Dance Theatre of Harlem and Arthur Mitchell airs on WNET/13, April 11, 1974.

Gives first major season in New York City, beginning with an Arts Exposure Week of reduced-price performances for children and senior citizens, ANTA Theatre, New York City, April 8- 28, 1974. In addition to new works by Manuel Alum (Moonscape) and Geoffrey Holder (Dougla), the repertory includes Balanchine’s Agon and Concerto Barocco, Talley Beatty’s Caravansarai, Louis Johnson’s Forces of Rhythm and Wings, Mitchell’s Fete Noire, Holberg Suite, and Tones, Walter Raines’ Haiku, Karel Shook’s Le Corsaire, Milko Sparemblek’s Ancient Voices of Children, and John Taras’ Design for Strings.

Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret and the Earl of Snowdon visit the company’s Harlem studios, May 7, 1974.

Returns to the Auditorium Theater, Chicago, May 18-19,1974.  The repertory includes Wings (Louis Johnson), Dougla (Georffrey Holder), and Fete Noire (Mitchell).  A new support organization, “Chicago Friends of the Dance Theatre of Harlem,” is launched.

Gives its first season at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London, August 5-24, 1974.  A special return season by popular demand is given September 9-14, 1974, following performances in Oslo, Helsinki, and Belgium.  The London repertory includes Afternoon of a Faun (Jerome Robbins), Agon and Concerto Barocco (George Balanchine), Caravansarai (Talley Beatty), Le Corsaire (Karel Shook), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), Design for Strings (John Taras), Forces of Rhythm (Louis Johnson), and Holberg Suite, Rhythmetron, and Tones (Mitchell).

Performs under the auspices of the Greater Manchester Council at the Palace Theatre, Manchester, the week commencing September 17-21, 1974.

DTH and Mitchell are featured on a segment of Positively Black, aired on WNBC/Channel 4, October 27, 1974.

They are featured again on The Mike Douglas Show, co-hosted by Cicely Tyson, WNBC/Channel 4, November 15, 1974.

Takes part in the Royal Variety Show before the Queen Mother at the London Palladium, November 18, 1974.  Josephine Baker, Perry Como, and Ted Rogers are among the other entertainers.  Televised on BBC1, November 26, 1974.

Performs in the “Festival of the Arts Tenth Anniversary Concert Series,” New York City Community College, November 23, 1974.

DTH principal dancers Lydia Abarca and Paul Russell perform the grand pas de deux in Ruth Page’s production of The Nutcracker, Arie Crown Theatre, Chicago, December 27-29, 1974.

Dougla and Le Corsaire broadcast in Great Britain on Granada Television/ITV, December 29, 1974.

1975

Gives first season at Broadway’s Uris Theater, New York City, April 7-May 11, 1975.  The season begins with two Arts Exposure Weeks of lecture-demonstrations and reduced-price performances for children and senior citizens, followed by a Gala Benefit Performance on April 22, under the umbrella title “The Evolution of an Idea.”  The repertory includes premieres of William Scott’s Every Now and Then and Walter Raines’ After Corinth, New York premiere of Karel Shook’s Don Quixote (Pas de Deux), and company premieres of Balanchine’s Bugaku and Allegro Brillante.   Holberg Suite, Rhythmetron, and Fête Noire (Mitchell), Forces of Rhythm (Louis Johnson), Le Corsaire (Karel Shook), Design for Strings (John Taras), Afternoon of a Faun (Jerome Robbins), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), and Agon and Concerto Barocco (Balanchine) complete the offerings.

Returns to the Auditorium Theater, Chicago, appearing in its Dance Series, May 23-24, 1975.  The repertory includes Allegro Brillante and Bugaku (Balanchine), Rhythmetron (Mitchell),  Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), Don Quixote and Le Corsaire (Karel Shook), After Corinth (Walter Raines), and Every Now and Then (Walter Scott).

1976

Gives master classes and performances at University of Texas at Austin, February 10-11, 1976.

Gives third New York season at Broadway’s Uris Theater, February 25-March 28, 1976.  The repertory includes the premiere of Gabriella Taub-Darvash’s Romeo and Juliet (Balcony Scene pas de deux), New York premiere of Mitchell’s Manifestations and Ruth Pages Carmen and José, and New York company premieres of William Dollar’s Mendelssohn Concerto and The Combat.  Fête Noire, Biosfera, Holberg Suite, and Rhythmetron (Mitchell), Don Quixote and Le Corsaire (Karel Shook), Forces of Rhythm (Louis Johnson), Every Now and Then (William Scott), Caravansarai (Talley Beatty), The Beloved (Lester Horton), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), Afternoon of a Faun (Jerome Robbins), Design for Strings (John Taras), Agon, Bugaku, and Allegro Brillante (Balanchine) complete the offerings.  At the closing night party, company members and ticket holders sing “Happy Birthday” to Arthur “Aries” Mitchell.

Annual DTH boat ride and Street Festival, June 25-26, 1976.

Opens second British tour in Manchester on July 4, 1976, then travels to Newcastle and London, where it performs at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, August 11-28.  The repertory includes Agon, Allegro Brillante, and Bugaku (George Balanchine), The Beloved (Lester Horton), The Combat and Mendelssohn Concerto (William Dollar), Le Corsaire (Karel Shook)  Design for Strings (John Taras), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), Fête Noir, Holberg Suite, and Manifestations (Arthur Mitchell), Forces of Rhythm (Louis Johnson), Romeo and Juliet (Gabriella Taub-Darvash).  Mitchell returns to New York to be a dinner guest of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh aboard the Royal yacht, Britannia, July 9, 1976.

Appears at 41^st International Eucharistic Congress, Robin Hood Dell West, Philadelphia, August 5-6, 1976.  Mitchell choreographs Spiritual Suite (Dance in Praise of His Name), which he dedicates to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Marian Anderson is guest artist.

1977

DTH takes part in “Salute to Marion Anderson,” presented by Young Audiences in celebration of the singer’s 75^th birthday, Audiences, Carnegie Hall, New York, February 27, 1977.  The other participants include Clamma Dale, Leontyne Price, Shirley Verrett, James Levine, Pinchas Zukerman, and the Heritage Society Chorus.

The Dance Theatre of Harlem airs in the Dance in America series on WNET/13, March 23, 1977.  The company performs Bugaku (George Balanchine), The Beloved (Lester Horton), and Dougla (Geoffrey Holder) in addition to excerpts from Forces of Rhythm (Louis Johnson) and Holberg Suite (Mitchell).

The DTH board of directors cancels the company’s season at the Uris Theatre, New York City, April 13-May 8, stating that the company “cannot afford a deficit which might jeopardize existing funding” (New York Times, April 4, 1977).  Eleven of the company’s twenty-four dancers subsequently leave.

Members of DTH take part at the 12^th Annual Frederick Douglass Awards Dinner of the New York Urban League, Americana Hotel, New York City, May 5, 1977.

Takes part in a special concert given by George Benson at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, New York City, May 8, 1977.  Three new works are given, all by Arthur Mitchell—Breezin’, The Greatest (Pas de Deux), and El Mar.

Returns to Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, May 17-22, 1977.  The repertory includes Design for Strings (John Taras), Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux and Allegro Brillante (Balanchine), Manifestations (Mitchell), Caravansarai (Talley Beatty), Romeo and Juliet (Pas de Deux) (Gabriella Taub-Darbash, Adagietto No. 5 (Royston Maldoom), and Forces of Rhythm (Louis Johnson).

Performs at Royce Hall, UCLA, Los Angeles, June 10-11, 1977.  The repertory includes Fête Noire, Manifestations, and Holberg Suite (Mitchell), Forces of Rhythm (Louis Johnson), Caravansarai (Talley Beatty), Le Corsaire (Karel Shook), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), The Combat (William Dollar), and Adagietto No. 5 (Royston Maldoom).

Gives two programs at Carter Barron Amphitheatre, Washington, D.C., July 19-24, 1977.  Holberg Suite (Mitchell), Agon, Allegro Brillante, and Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux (Balanchine), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), Le Corsaire (Karel Shook), Romeo and Juliet (Gabriella Taub-Darvash), The Combat (William Dollar), Adagietto No. 5 (Royston Maldoom), Every Now and Then (William Scott), Forces of Rhythm (Louis Johnson), and Caravansarai (Talley Beatty).

Gives “Summer Community Dance Series,” Wollman Auditorium, Columbia University, July 27-August 7, 1977.  In addition to George Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, a company premiere, the repertory includes Agon (Balanchine), Romeo and Juliette (Pas de Deux) (Gabriella Taub-Darvash), Forces of Rhythm (Louis Johnson), and Every Now and Then (Walter Scott).

American Dance Festival, Rogers High School, Newport, Rhode Island, August 19-20, 1977.  Performs Forces of Rhythem (Louis Johnson), Adagietto No. 5 (Royston Maldoom), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), and Untitled (Work in Progress), a premiere.

Mitchell takes part in Columbia University’s American Assembly on “The Future of the Performing Arts,” a four-day conference on the increasing role of government in the arts, Arden House, Harriman, New York, November 3-6, 1977.

1978

Whitman Hall, Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts (BCBC), Brooklyn College, February 18, 1978.  Three works by Royston Maldoom are featured—Adagietto No. 5 and two premieres, Doina and Invasion.

Columbia University President William J. McGill announces collaboration between the School of the Arts and Dance Theatre of Harlem, February 22, 1978.  The collaboration involves performances, Arts Exposure programs, relocation of DTH’s technical department to a building near the Columbia campus, and eventual establishment of a dance program within the School.

Marian Anderson with the Dance Theatre of Harlem Choral Ensemble and Dance Theatre of Harlem, Easter Eve performance at St. Paul’s Chapel, Columbia University, March 25, 1978.

Members of the Dance Theatre of Harlem give the U.S. premiere of Robert North’s Troy Game at the Second International Dance Festival of Stars, Civic Opera House, Chicago, June 9, 1978.

Doin’ It (A Celebration of Dance, Music, and Song), a “commercial vehicle for the company,” opens for an extended engagement at Philadelphia’s Schubert Theatre, August 15-September 2, 1978.  Marion Anderson part in the opening performance.

Fall Community Dance Series, Wollman Auditorium, Columbia University, September 29-October 1, 1978.  Several company premieres are presented – Carlos Carvajal’s Shapes of Evening and Choo San Goh’s Introducing... and Variations Serieuses, and the New York company premiere of Troy Game (Robert North).  Biosfera and The Greatest (Mitchell), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), Doina (Royston Maldoom) and Forces of Nature (Louis Johnson) complete the repertory.

Tours West Coast with stops in Berkeley, Pasadena, Seattle, Vancouver, Los Angeles, and Pasadena, October-November 1979.  The repertory includes Biosfera and Manifestations (Mitchell), Forces of Nature (Louis Johnson), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), Shapes of Evening (Carlos Carvajal), Troy Game (Robert North), Le Corsaire (Karel Shook), and Doina (Royston Maldoom).

1979

A Salute to George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein.  Opening Night Gala Performance, City Center, New York City, February 20, 1979.  Marking its tenth anniversary, the company opens with an all-Balanchine program—Bugaku, Agon, Allegro Brillante, and The Four Temperaments, which is a DTH premiere, as is Serenade, performed on a later program. The repertory includes premieres of Carmen de Lavallade’s Sensemaya and Carlos Carvajal’s Secret Silence and the company premiere of Billy Wilson’s Mirage (The Games People Play).  Bisofera and Manifestations (Mitchell), Adagietto No. 5 (Royston Maldoom), Introducing... (Choo San Goh), and Troy Game (Robert North) completed the offerings.

Gives a highly successful season at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London, August 7-18, 1979.  The repertory includes several Balanchine ballets (Allegro Brillante, The Four Temperaments, Agon, and Serenade) in addition to Biosfera, Manifestations, and The Greatest (Mitchell), Mirage (Billy Wilson), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), Shapes of Evening (Carlos Carvajal), Adagietto No. 5 (Royston Maldoom), Forces of Rhythm (Louis Johnson), Le Corsaire (Karel Shook), and Troy Game (Robert North).

Presents the first of three programs at the Olympia Theatre, Dublin, August 21, 1979.

1980

Gives a three-week season at City Center, New York City, January 9-27, 1980.  The company premieres include DTH’s first classical ensemble works—Swan Lake (Act II) and Paquita, staged by Frederic Franklin and Alexandra Danilova—and the U.S. premiere of Glen Tetley’s Greening.  Serenade and The Four Temperaments (Balanchine), Holberg Suite and Manifestations (Mitchell), Le Corsaire and Don Quixote (Karel Shook), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), Troy Game (Robert North), and Mirage complete the repertory.

Takes part in the “Imagination Celebration,” a two-week Children’s Arts Festival sponsored by the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., beginning April 6, 1980.

Dance Theatre of Harlem replaces the Feld Ballet as one of three companies (the others being the Erick Hawkins Dance Company and Merce Cunningham Dance Company) in the American Dance Season at Sadler’s Wells, London, June 25-28, 1980.  Eight works are presented: The Four Temperaments (Balanchine), Adagietto No. 5 (Royston Maldoom), Holberg Suite and Manifestations (Mitchell), Mirage (Billy Wilson), Troy Game (Robert North), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), and Paquita (Petipa).

Makes a six-week tour of Australia and performs in Hong Kong, summer 1980.

Performs at the Bushnell Memorial, Hartford, CT, October 9-11, 1980.

As a member of a “cultural study team” headed by Charles Reinhart, president of the American Dance Festival, Arthur Mitchell arrives in China for a three-week visit, November 18, 1980.  The group, which includes Stuart Hodes, Bella Lewitzky, Michael Smuin, and Suzanne Shelton, visits Beijing, Kunming, Chengdu, and Shanghai. They are the first of five government-administered and funded arts exchange groups to visit China under the 1979-80 Implementing Accord for Cultural Exchange, signed in August 1979 by Vice President Walter Mondale and former Vice Premier Deng Ziaoping.

1981

Gives a highly successful three-week season at City Center, New York City, January 3-25, 1981.  The season’s highlight was the revival by Frederic Franklin of Michel Fokine’s Scheherazade.  Also performed were Serenade, The Four Temperaments, Concerto Barocco, and Allegro Brillante (Balanchine), Design with Strings (John Taras), Adagietto No. 5 and Doina (Royston Maldoom), The Beloved (Lester Horton), Belé and Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), Greening (Glen Tetley), Swan Lake (Franklin), Troy Game (Robert North), Manifestations and The Greatest (Mitchell), and Mirage (Billy Wilson).

Gives first season at the Kennedy Center, Washington D.C., February 10-15, 1981. The opening performance, which includes Serenade (Balanchine), Mirage (Billy Wilson), and Scheherazade (Michel Fokine), is attended by President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan, who visit the company backstage.  Greening (Glen Tetley), Le Corsaire  (Karel Shook), Dougla (GeoffreyHolder), and Troy Game (Robert North) complete the offerings. The season is preceded by a week of arts-exposure programs.

Performs at the White House at a state dinner honoring British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, February 26, 1981.

Pays return visit to the Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, April 21-26, 1981.  The repertory includes the much anticipated Schéhérazade (Michel Fokine), Serenade and The Four Temperaments (Balanchine), Troy Game (Robert North), Greening (Glen Tetley), Mirage (Billy Wilson), Manifestations (Mitchell), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), and Le Corsaire (Karel Shook).

Makes first appearance at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, July 27-August 8, 1981.  The repertory includes the London premiere of the company’s Schéhérazade (Michel Fokine), along with several Balanchine works (Serenade, Concerto Barocco, The Four Temperaments, and Agon), Geoffrey Holder’s Dougla and Belé, Robert North’s Troy Game, Glen Tetley’s Greening, and Karel Shook’s Le Corsaire.  On August 5 Mitchell and the company give a lecture-demonstration for minors and accompanying adults.

Appears at Lyric Theatre, Kansas City, Missouri, presented by William Jewell College and the University of Missouri–Kansas City in association with The Mid-America Arts Alliance, October 30-31, 1981.  Performs Serenade (Balanchine), Manifestations (Mitchell), Adagietto No. 5 (Royston Maldoom), and Dougla (Geoffrey Holder).

Tours Japan under the auspices of the Nippon Cultural Centre, performing in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kobe, November 13-19, 1981.

Performs at the Lyric Theatre, Baltimore, December 4-5, 1981.

1982

Gives five-week season at City Center, New York City, January 12-February 14, 1982.  The premieres include Firebird (John Taras), Banda and Songs of the Auvergne (Geoffrey Holder), Equus: The Ballet (Domy Reiter-Soffer), and the first DTH performance of A Streetcar Named Desire (Valerie Bettis).  Four works by Balanchine (The Four Temperaments, Serenade, Concerto Barocco, Allegro Brillante), the Grand Pas from Paquita (staged by Alexandra Danilova and Frederic Franklin), and Ruth Page and Bentley Stone’s Frankie and Johnny added to the repertory. 

Returns to the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., February 23-28.  The season offers five local premieres—John Taras’ Firebird, Geoffrey Holder’s Banda, Valerie Bettis’ A Streetcar Named Desire, Domy Reiter-Soffer’s Equus, and Paquita.  The repertory also includes Serenade and The Four Temperaments (Balanchine) and Dougla (Holder).

Firebird, a documentary about the making of the DTH production with a performance of the ballet recorded during the Kennedy Center season, airs nationally on “Kennedy Center Tonight,” PBS, May 5, 1982.  The show wins a Peabody Award.

Gives a week-long season at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium that opens with a gala evening hosted by the Museum of African American Art, Pasadena, May 11, 1982.  In addition to the local premiere of Firebird (John Taras), the company performs Serenade, Agon, and Concerto Barocco (Balanchine),  Belé (Geoffrey Holder), Paquita, and Le Corsaire (Karel Shook).

Opens a five-performance series at the silver jubilee season of the Festival of Two Worlds, Spoleto, Italy, July 7, 1982.

Returns to the West Coast for a season at the Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, September 8-11.  In addition to the first local performances of A Streetcar Named Desire (Valerie Bettis), the company performs Serenade, Allegro Brillante, and The Four Temperaments (Balanchine), Firebird (John Taras), Banda (Geoffrey Holder), and Adagietto No. 5 (Royston Maldoom).

Appears at the Twentieth International Festival of Dance, Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, October 1982.  Replacing American Ballet Theatre, which is forced to withdraw because of labor problems, DTH receives a glowing front-page review in Le Monde.  The repertory includes The Four Temperaments (Balanchine), Troy Game (Robert North), Firebird (John Taras), and Othello (John Butler).

Appears in Margot Fonteyn’s six-part series, “The Magic of Dance,” which makes its U.S. debut on PBS, October 25, 1982.  The company danced Mitchell’s duet The Greatest. 

Gives two programs at Indiana University Auditorium, Bloomington, November 6-7, 1982.  The repertory includes Serenade, Concerto Barocco, and The Four Temperaments (Balanchine), A Streetcar Named Desire (Valerie Bettis), Firebird (John Taras), Le Corsaire (Karel Shook), and Banda (Geoffrey Holder).

1983

Gives five-week season at City Center, New York City, January 25-February 27, 1983.  The premieres include Les Biches (Bronislava Nijinska), Fall River Legend (Agnes de Mille), Graduation Ball (David Lichine), Square Dance (Balanchine), Wingborne (Loyce Houlton), Othello (John Butler), Pas de Dix and Sylvia Pas de Deux (both staged by Frederick Franklin).  Completing the repertory are works by Balanchine (Allegro Brillante, Concerto Barocco, and The Four Temperaments), John Taras (Firebird), Michel Fokine (Scheherazade), Ruth Page/Bentley Stone (Frankie & Johnny), Valerie Bettis (A Streetcar Named Desire), Domy Reiter-Soffer (Equus) and two works from the late nineteenth-century Russian repertory staged by Franklin (the second act of Swan Lake and the grand pas from Paquita).

Returns to the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., March 1-6, 1983.  Four works are Washington premieres—Bronislava Nijinska’s Les Biches, David Lichine’s Graduation Ball, Balanchine’s Square Dance, and Pas de Dix.  In addition, the company performs Firebird (John Taras), Banda (Geoffrey Holder), Frankie and Johnny (Ruth Page), Swan Lake, and Scheherazade (Michel Fokine).  On March 5, under the sponsorship of Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, the company gives ballet and jazz master classes in nearby Annapolis.

Performs in West Palm Beach and Miami Beach, Florida, March 12-15, 1983.

Hosts an Open House at Aaron Davis Hall, City College, April 10, 1983.  In addition to performing the Sylvia Pas de Deux and Pas de Dix, both staged by Frederic Franklin, and John Butler’s Othello, the dancers model fashions from Mary McFadden’s new collection.

Performs at the Lehman Center for the Performing Arts, Lehman College, the Bronx, April 30, 1983.  The program includes Allegro Brillante (Balanchine), Adagietto No. 5 (Royston Maldoom), Mirage (Billy Wilson), and Troy Game (Robert North).

Returns to the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, Pasadena, California, May 10-15, 1983.  In addition to Firebird (John Taras), several new works are given, including Balanchine’s Square Dance, Frederic Franklin’s stagings of Sylvia Pas de Deux and Pas de Dix, and David Lichine’s Graduation Ball.  Featured in the Museum of African American Art Guild May Festival on May 14.

DTH makes its first appearance at the Spoleto Festival USA, held in Charleston, South Carolina, May 20-June 5, 1983.  The company performs The Four Temperaments (Balanchine), A Streetcar Names Desire (Valerie Bettis), and Firebird (John Taras), and is featured on “Great Performances: Festival! Spoleto U.S.A.,” telecast on PBS on June 27.

The Dance Theatre of Harlem studios are vandalized over the weekend of September 24, 1983.  Donations pour in to help cover the damages estimated at $100,000.

Twenty-one youngsters are selected out of more than 230 who come to Los Angeles to audition to spend the summer in New York studying at the Dance Theatre of Harlem school, November 1983.

1984

Stephanie Dabney and Donald Williams, wearing their costumes for Firebird, appear on the Avon Products float, “Firebird,” in the Rose Parade in Pasadena, California, January 2, 1984.

DTH returns to the Caribbean, performing in St. Croix, Saint Thomas, San Juan, and Santo Domingo, January 13-19, 1984.

Mitchell’s mother, Willie Mae Hearns Mitchell, passes away on January 18, 1984 at the age of eighty-one.  She is survived by four children (in addition to Mitchell), two sisters, nine grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.

Returns to the Kennedy Center, Washington D.C., February 14-19, 1984.  The company’s new production of Fall River Legend (Agnes de Mille) dominates the programming, overshadowing the premiere of Michael Smuin’s Songs of Mahler.  Shapes of Evening (Carlos Carvajal), Le Corsaire Pas de Deux (Karel Shook), Swan Lake, Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), and Firebird (John Taras) complete the offerings.

Appears at the Toronto International Festival, June 19-23, 1984.

Gives three-week season, highlighted by the world premiere of Giselle, at the London Coliseum, July 9-28, 1984.  The repertory also includes works by George Balanchine (The Four Temperaments, Serenade, and Square Dance), Valerie Bettis (A Streetcar Named Desire), John Butler (Othello), Agnes de Mille (Fall River Legend), Frederic Franklin (Pas de Dix  and Sylvia Pas de Deux), Geoffrey Holder (Banda),  Loyce Houlton (Wingborne), Michael Smuin (Songs of Mahler), and John Taras (Firebird).

Takes part in the Olympic Arts Festival, performing at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, Pasadena, California, August 7-11.  Represents the United States in the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, August 12, 1984, dancing the finale of Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes.

Returns to City Center, New York City, for a three-week season, September 25-October 14, 1984.  The season is, highlighted by the U.S. premiere of Giselle and the company premiere of Glen Tetley’s Voluntaries.  The repertory also includes works by George Balanchine (Agon, Concerto Barocco, Square Dance), Agnes de Mille (Fall River Legend), Frederic Franklin (Sylvia Pas de Deux), Geoffrey Holder (Banda, Dougla),  Loyce Houlton (Wingborne), Mitchell (Manifestations), Michael Smuin (Songs of Mahler), John Taras (Firebird), and Billy Wilson (Mirage).

Performs at the Wang Center, Boston, as part of its Celebrity Series, November 1-4, 1984.  The repertory includes Troy Game (Robert North), Giselle, Serenade (Balanchine), Voluntaries (Glen Tetley), and Firebird (John Taras).

Receives the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding New Dance Production of the Year for Giselle, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London, December 9, 1984.

1985

The Dance Theatre of Harlem Workshop Ensemble appears in the Metropolitan Opera’s premiere of Porgy and Bess, February 6, 1985.  The production, which is choreographed by Arthur Mitchell, receives sixteen performances during the season.

DTH begins its first season at the Metropolitan Opera, New York City, on 17 June 1985, with a gala performance attended by First Lady Nancy Reagan, the evening’s honorary chairman, and Mayor Ed Koch, who announces a $142,000 teaching grant to the company from the city.  Highlights of the two-week season include Giselle, the world premiere of David Gordon’s Piano Movers (supported in part by a grant from the National Choreography Project) and the company premiere of Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes.  The repertory also includes Balanchine’s Serenade, Valerie Bettis’ A Streetcar Named Desire, Agnes de Mille’s Fall River Legend, Geoffrey Holder’s Dougla, Robert North’s Troy Game, John Taras’ Firebird, and  Glen Tetley’s Voluntaries.

Karel Shook dies after a long illness on July 25, 1985.

Memorial service for Karel Shook at St. John the Divine, New York City, on 29 August 1985.  The speakers include Arthur Mitchell, Billy Wilson, Kathy Grant, and Louise Roberts.

The British Government, with the Greater London Council, finances a scholarship and apprentice program for minority students from London to train at DTH in New York.

DTH returns to Pasadena, opening an eleven-performance engagement sponsored by the Ambassadors Foundation with the Los Angeles premiere of Giselle, Pasadena Civic Auditorium, May 9, 1985.  The season’s other premieres are Jerome Robbins’ Fancy Free, Glen Tetley’s Voluntaries, and Domy Reiter-Soffer’s La Mer, with Swan Lake, Square Dance (Balanchine), Troy Game (Robert North), and Firebird (John Taras) completing the repertory.

The company embarks on a European tour that takes them to Nervi, Santander, Madrid, Barcelona, Oslo, and Frankfurt.  In addition, they perform at the Tivoli Koncertsal, Copenhagen, September 10-15, and at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Paris, November 4-17, 1985.

1986

Arthur Mitchell presents a Mayor’s Award of Honor for Arts and Culture to Charles (Honi) Coles at a ceremony at Gracie Mansion, New York City, January 6, 1986.

DTH gives a special Open House performance honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Karel Shook at Aaron Davis Hall, City College, January 12, 1986.  Excerpts from the DTH repertory are performed, including Shook’s Le Corsaire (Pas de Deux).

Returns to the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., February 4-16, 1986.  The new works include the world premiere of John McFall’s Toccata e Due Canzoni, the company premiere of Billy Wilson’s Concerto in F, and the Washington premiere of Jerome Robbins’ Fancy Free.  Giselle, Stars and Stripes (Balanchine), Troy Game (Robert North), Streetcar Named Desire (Valerie Bettis), La Mer (Domy Reiter-Soffer), and Voluntaries (Glen Tetley) complete the repertory.

DTH’s A Streetcar Named Desire is aired in the “Great Performances Dance in America” series, PBS, February 21, 1986.

Performs at West Palm Beach Auditorium, Florida, March 15-16, 1986.  The repertory includes Caravanserai (Talley Beatty), Voluntaries (Glen Tetley), Firebird (John Taras), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), La Mer (Domy Reiter-Soffer), and Concerto in F (Billy Wilson).

Returns to Aaron Davis Hall, City College, for its first “Harlem Homecoming” season, March 25-April 6, 1986.  In addition to the New York premiere of John McFall’s Toccata e due Canzoni, the local company premiere of Billy Wilson’s Concerto in F, and Istvan Rabovsky’s restaging of Saffron Knot, the repertory for the sold-out two-week engagement includes Stars and Stripes and Square Dance (Balanchine), Voluntaries (Glen Tetley), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), Firebird (John Taras), Swan Lake, Pas de Dix (Frederic Franklin), Piano Movers (David Gordon), Fall River Legend (Agnes de Mille), Streetcar Named Desire (Valerie Bettis), Caravansarai (Talley Beatty), and La Mer (Domy Reiter-Soffer).  The opening performance is followed by a gala supper dance and revue starring Maxine Sullivan, Chris Calloway, the Keith Ingram Band, and the Williams Brothers, who tap in the style of the Nicholas Brothers.  “For one night only,” Arthur Mitchell tells the New York Times, “we are re-creating the electric energy of steppin’ out in Harlem dressed to the ‘nines’ in ermine and pearls” (3/21/1986).

Ed Bradlee profiles Arthur Mitchell and the Dance Theatre of Harlem in a segment of the CBS news magazine “60 Minutes,” April 6, 1986.  The segment is repeated on September 7, 1986.

Arthur Mitchell takes part in a panel on health care for performing artists, St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center, June 5, 1986.  The other panelists include Mitchell’s former partner Violette Verdy, William Charles, co-star of the Broadway production of La Cage aux Folles, and doctors from the hospital’s Kathryn and Gilbert Miller Health Care Institute for Performing Artists.

The Parents Support Group sponsors the annual DTH Street Fair, Saturday, June 7, 1986.  In addition to performances by DTH students, the attractions include a Double Dutch demonstration, a tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Jazz Cultural Band.

Arthur Mitchell receives an honorary degree of Doctor of Fine Arts, Princeton University, June 10, 1986.  He is cited for being “the first black principal dancer of a major company” and for his choreography, which “celebrates the creative spirit.”

DTH embarks on another European tour with performances in Florence, Lausanne, Turin, London, Carcassone, Athens, Arles, and Verona.  In Florence the company premieres Garth Fagan’s Footprints Dressed in Red, with costumes designed by Giovanna Ferragamo, June 18, 1986.  The repertory includes Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), Voluntaries (Glen Tetley), Firebird (John Taras), The Four Temperaments (Balanchine), Troy Game (Robert North), Concerto in F (Billy Wilson), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), Voluntaries (Glen Tetley), and Firebird (John Taras).

The Dance Theater of Harlem Workshop Ensemble shares the stage with Forces of Nature in a program presented by the Thelma Hill Performing Arts Center, Kilgord Auditorium, Brooklyn, October 10,1986.

Opens the season with a performance at the Lehman Center for the Performing Arts, the Bronx, October 25-26, 1986.  The repertory includes Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), Voluntaries (Glen Tetley), Firebird (John Taras), Allegro Brillante (Balanchine), Concerto in F (Billy Wilson), Saffron Knot (Istvan Rabovsky), and Toccata e Due Canzoni (John McFall).

Gives two performances at Bushnell Hall, Hartford, Connecticut, November 6-7, 1986.

Returns to Boston’s Wang Center as part of its Celebrity Series, November 21-23, 1986.

1987

Performs at the McCarter Theatre, Princeton, New Jersey, January 11, 1987.

Appears at the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, C. W. Post College, Brookville, New York, January 31, 1987.  Performs Concerto in F (Billy Wilson), Voluntaries (Glen Tetley), Troy Game (Robert North.

Returns to the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., February 17-22, 1987.  The local premieres are Garth Fagan’s Footsteps Dressed in Red, John Butler’s Othello, Mitchell’s Manifestations, and Istvan Robovsky’s Saffron Knot, with The Four Temperaments (Balanchine), Toccata e Due Canzoni (John McFall),  Concerto in F (Billy Wilson), Troy Game (Robert North), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), and Firebird completing the repertory.

Mitchell gives a lecture-demonstration with the main DTH company, Aaron Davis Hall, City College, February 28, 1987.

DTH gives a four-week Harlem Homecoming season at Aaron Davis Hall, City College, March 10-April 5, 1987.  The repertory includes the world premiere of Phoenix Rising, a work in progress by Mitchell and Billy Wilson, the New York premiere of Garth Fagan’s Footprints Dressed in Red, and the New York company premiere of Jerome Robbins’ Fancy Free.

Firebird (John Taras), Giselle, Troy Game (Robert North), Le Corsaire (Karel Shook), Concerto in F and Mirage (Billy Wilson), Manifestations (Arthur Mitchell), Wingborne (Loyce Hulton), Saffron Knot (Istvan Rabovsky), Othello (John Butler), Toccata e Due Canzoni (John McFall), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), and several works by George Balanchine (Bugaku, Concerto Barocco, Agon, Concerto Barocco, Allegro Brillante, Serenade, and The Four Temperaments) complete the offerings.

Takes part in the Third International Festival of Dance, Teatro Municipal, Rio de Janeiro, April 29-May 1, 1987.  The repertory includes Stars and Stripes (Balanchine), Firebird (John Taras), Footprints Dressed in Red (Garth Fagan), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), Concerto in F (Billy Wilson), and Voluntaries (Glen Tetley).  The opening performance is attended by the Secretary of Culture Eduardo Patella and Dalal Achcar, a leading Brazilian ballet figure.  On this first South American tour, the company also performs in Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Caracas.

Works by members of Bessie Schomberg’s Choreography Workshop are presented at the Dance Theatre of Harlem’s final open house for the 1986-87 season, New York City, May 31, 1987.

Arthur Mitchell heads international panel of judges, New York International Ballet Competition, June 23-29, 1987.

Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble Company appears with Katherine Healey and Leonid Kozlov, and Ron Brown’s Evidence Dance Company, Prospect Park Bandshell, Brooklyn, July 17, 1987.

Returns to Europe for a tour that includes the Salzburg Festival (where Footprints Painted in Red is performed) and Aarhus, Denmark (where Giselle is recorded), August-September 1987.

Joins major New York City dance companies in “Dancing for Life,” a gala fundraising performance for AIDS, at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, October 5, 1987.

Giselle, with Virginia Johnson in the title role, airs on NBC on December 27.  The telecast is fully sponsored by AT&T.  “[This] will bring our art to the masses,” Arthur Mitchell tells the Los Angeles Times, “and I hope it will open the doors for more cultural programming of  this type” (11/10/1987).

1988

DTH begins its 1988 touring season with three performances danced by the Ensemble Company, a contingent of twenty of DTH’s principal dancers, at the McCarter Theatre, Princeton, New Jersey, January 8-10, 1988.    The repertory includes Concerto in F and Mirage (Billy Wilson), Concerto Barocco (Balanchine), Le Corsaire (Karel Shook), Manifestations (Mitchell), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), and Voluntaries (Glen Tetley).

Gives a special performance honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, C. W. Post College, Brookville, New York, January 17, 1988.  The company dances Allegro Brillante (Balanchine), Adagietto No. 5 (Royston Maldoon), Othello (John Butler), and Forces of Rhythm (Louis Johnson).

Returns to Southern California for a tour that begins at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, February 1, 1988.  In addition to local premieres of Garth Fagan’s Footprints Danced in Red and John McFall’s Toccata e due Canzoni, the repertory includes works by Balanchine, contemporary works, and Americana ballets—Fall River Legend (Agnes de Mille) and Fancy Free (Jerome Robbins).

Arthur Mitchell adds his footprints to the Los Angeles Dance Gallery’s Concrete Circle at the Dance Gallery Guild Annual Membership Luncheon, Beverly Hills Hotel, February 7, 1988.

Returns for a season at the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., March 15-20, 1988. The repertory includes the local premiere of Phoenix Rising, a collaboration of Mitchell and Billie Wilson, in addition to Serenade, Allegro Brillante, and Bugaku (Balanchine), Footprints Dressed in Red (Garth Fagan), Voluntaries (Glen Tetley), Concerto in F (Billy Wilson), Firebird (John Taras), and Othello (John Butler).

Gives a three-weekend Community Concert Series at Aaron Davis Hall, City College, New York city, April 3-17, 1988.  The repertory includes Forces of Rhythm (Louis Johnson), Concerto Barocco (Balanchine), Saffron Knot (Istvan Rabovsky), Dougla and Banda (Geoffrey Holder), Troy Game (Robert North), and Concerto in F (Billy Wilson).

DTH, the only American ballet company selected to represent the United States under President Reagan’s exchange initiative, makes a historic tour of the Soviet Union, May 13-June 11.  The tour begins in Moscow at the Kremlin Palace of Congresses, with First Lady Nancy Reagan as honorary chairwoman of the opening night performance, which is also attended by her counterpart Raisa Gorbachev and ends with a state dinner at Spasso House, the American Ambassador’s residence.  The tour goes on to Tbilisi, where DTH dancers visit members of Balanchine’s Georgian family, and ends in Leningrad, where the company performs at the fabled Kirov Theater and visits the equally fabled Vaganova Academy. Despite the official character of the tour, the U.S. government declines to support it financially (although ultimately it contributes a paltry $20,000), deeming such support an “unfair” burden on taxpayers.  The Soviet Government contributes $680,000 in expenses, plus $240,000 in performance fees, while Mitchell leads a multi-pronged campaign to raise $610,000 from a combination of private, corporate, and foundation sources.  With a repertory of works including Firebird (John Taras), Voluntaries (Glen Tetley), and Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), all new to Soviet audiences, the company enjoys tremendous success.

Performs at the First New York International Festival of the Arts, City Center, New York City, June 28-July 3, 1988.  The season opens with Mitchell’s John Henry, commissioned by the Festival, and includes Billy the Kid (Eugene Loring), Serenade (Balanchine), Polovetsian Dances (Michel Fokine), A Streetcar Named Desire (Valerie Bettis), and Firebird (John Taras).

The Dance Theatre of Harlem Gala, with the theme “Welcome Home from Russia, with Love!,” takes place in New York City, June 29, 1988.

DTH Returns to the London Coliseum, August 1-13, 1988.  The repertory includes five British premieres—Billy the Kid (Eugene Loring),  Footprints Dressed in Red (Garth Fagan), Phoenix Rising (Arthur Mitchell/Billy Wilson), Prince Igor (Frederick Franklin/Michel Fokine), and Toccata e Due Canzoni (John McFall). Concerto Barocco, The Four Temperaments, and Serenade (all by Balanchine), Banda and Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), Concerto in F (Billy Wilson), Le Corsaire (Karel Shook), Fancy Free (Jerome Robbins), and Firebird (John Taras) complete the offerings.

DTH performs John Henry, with Leon Bibb, in “A Celebration of Paul Robeson,” presented by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, in cooperation with the New York Shakespeare Festival and the Paul Robeson Archives, Shubert Theatre, October 30, 1988.

Mitchell was one of the narrators, along with Estelle Parsons, Sidney Poitier, Ossie Davis, Paul Robeson, Jr., and Lena Horne.

1989

Hosts an Open House, “What’s New,” with performances by the Alvin Ailey Special Performance Group and the Brooklyn Philharmonia Chorus, January 8, 1989.

Arthur Mitchell is one of three African Americans honored at the Third Annual Black History Makers Awards Presentation sponsored by the Associated Black Charities, Carnegie Hall, New York City, February 1, 1989.  The others are Franklin Thomas, president of the Ford Foundation, and Rachel Robinson, chair of the Jackie Robinson Foundation.

Opens a two-week season at the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., March 14-26, 1989.

The repertory includes the Washington premieres of Mitchell’s John Henry, Eugene Loring’s Billy the Kid, and Michel Fokine’s Polovetsian Dances (now called Prince Igor).  The company also performs Serenade, Concerto Barocco, and The Four Temperaments (Balanchine), Giselle, Firebird (John Taras), Troy Game (Robert North), Concerto in F (Billy Wilson), Le Corsaire (Karel Shook), The Cape (Gail Kachadurian), and A Streetcar Named Desire (Valerie Bettis).

DTH takes part in the Spring Festival of Dance, Civic Opera House, Chicago, May 11-13, 1989.  With a repertory including The Four Temperaments (Balanchine), John Henry (Arthur Mitchell), Firebird (John Taras), the May 12 performance is a benefit for the financially beleaguered Du Sable Museum of African American History.  This is the company’s first visit to Chicago in seven years.

The company hosts its final open house of the season at Aaron Davis Hall, City College, on May 14, 1989.  This Mother’s Day event includes performances by students of the DTH School, the Keith Young Dance Company, and Women of the Calabash.

Returns to the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, Pasadena, California, May 27-June 4, 1989.  The repertory includes the local premiere of Mitchell’s John Henry and the local company premiere of Eugene Loring’s Billy the Kid.

Celebrates its twentieth anniversary at City Center, New York City, June 21-July 2, 1989.  The premieres include revivals of Bronislava Nijinska’s Les Noces and Rondo Capriccioso, performed with Les Biches on an all-Nijinska program, and Gail Kachadurian’s The Cape.  The repertory also includes Giselle, which opens the season, Allegro Brillante (Balanchine), Footprints Dressed in Red (Garth Fagan), Firebird (John Taras), Holberg Suite and John Henry (Mitchell), Sylvia Pas de Deux (Frederick Franklin), and Voluntaries (Glen Tetley).  At the opening night performance Arthur Mitchell is honored with testimonials by Geoffrey Holder, Carmen de Lavallade, Kitty Carlisle Hart (chair of the New York State Council on the Arts), and Dr. Mary Schmidt Campbell (Commissioner of Cultural Affairs), while Jessye Norman sings “Happy Birthday” and Mayor Edward I. Koch declares Mitchell a New York City Treasure.

Dance Theatre of Harlem Workshop Ensemble performs in the Pan Am Building lobby, New York City, July 23, 1989.

“Stars of the Dance Theatre of Harlem” perform at Wolf Trap, Vienna, Virginia, July 31, 1989.

Presents a two-week Community Concert Series at Aaron Davis Hall, City College, October 20-November 4, 1989.  The repertory includes Swan Lake (with new sets and costumes), Othello (John Butler), Concerto in F and Mirage (Billy Wilson), The Beloved (Lester Horton), Rondo Capriccioso (Bronislava Nijinska), and Fête Noire (Arthur Mitchell).

1990

Begins a month-long California tour that includes engagements in Los Angeles, Fresno, and Pasadena, January 8, 1990.  In Berkeley the company presents Art Exposure lecture-demonstrations to more than 20,000 youngsters over a two-week period.  However, a week’s engagement in San Diego in mid-January is canceled without prior notice, undermining the company’s finances.

Gives a two-week season, Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., March 13-25, 1990.  There are six Washington premieres: Les Noces and Rondo Capriccioso, both by Bronislava Nijinska; Mitchell’s Fête Noire, Royston Maldoom’s Doina; excerpts from August Bournonville’s Flower Festival in Genzano, and Frederic Franklin’s version of the Sylvia pas de deux.  Other works included in the repertory are Firebird (John Taras), The Four Temperaments (Balanchine), Swan Lake, John Henry (Mitchell), Adagietto No. 5 (Maldoom), Toccata e Due Canzoni (John McFall), and Dougla (Geoffrey Holder).

The New York season, scheduled for May 15-June 3, and a summer tour of Italy, Spain, and England are canceled when sponsors fail to come through with funding.  To avoid a projected $1.7 million deficit the company suspends operations for six months.

When operations resume, the company agrees to limit expensive undertakings, such as its all-Nijinska evening, program fewer large-scale productions, feature more contemporary works created for DTH, and visit the West Coast every other year rather than annually.  Although a few dancers take jobs with companies in Miami, Winnipeg, and Frankfurt, most return to DTH after the layoff.

Performs at the Wang Center, Boston, November 16-17, 1990.

Gives week-long season at the Cairo Opera House in Cairo, Egypt, November 30-December 8, 1990.  Two programs are presented:  Serenade, Othello, Doina, and Concerto in F, and Dougla, Flower Festival in Genzano, Le Corsaire, and Firebird.  This is the first time that DTH performs in Africa.

DTH principals Christina Johnson and Ronald Perry appear as guest artists with England’s Royal Ballet in The Nutcracker, London, December 21,1990.  Their appearance, asserts a Times editorial, “is a sorry reminder of the colour-coded élitism of Britain’s best dance company” (January 1, 1991).

1991

DTH and England’s Royal Ballet sign a two-year agreement launching Chance to Dance, an outreach program modeled on DTH’s Arts Exposure program.  Additionally, principals from the Harlem company are to appear with the Royal in Agon and Peter Wright’s productions of The Nutcracker and Giselle.

Gives two-week season at the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., March 26-April 7, 1991.  The season includes premieres of Glen Tetley’s Dialogues and Billy Wilson’s Ginastera along with revivals of Firebird (John Taras), Serenade (Balanchine), Dougla and Banda (Geoffrey Holder) and three works by Mitchell – John Henry, Fête Noire, and Tones.

Presents weekend programs at Aaron Davis Hall, City College, New York City, June 7-23, 1991.  The repertory includes the New York premieres of Billy Wilson’s Ginastera and Glen Tetley’s Dialogues, and revivals of Firebird (John Taras), Tones and Fête Noire (Mitchell), Serenade (Balanchine), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), Voluntaries (Tetley), Flower Festival of Genzano (August Bournonville), and Adagietto No. 5 (Royston Maldoom).

Peter Jennings Reporting: From the Heart of Harlem airs on WABC, July 25, 1991.  The hour-long program takes a wide-ranging view of the company, focusing on its comeback after the previous year’s financial crisis.

1992

Embarks on a twelve-city U.S. tour beginning in Sacramento, California, January 21, 1992.

Gives two-week season at the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., March 17-29, 1992.  The repertory includes the company premiere of Michael Smuin’s Medea, the Washington premieres of Billy Wilson’s Mirage and Michel Fokine’s Scheherazade, along with revivals of Footprints Dressed in Red (Garth Fagan), The Four Temperaments (Balanchine), Ginastera (Wilson), Firebird (John Taras), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), Dialogues (Glen Tetley), Troy Game (Robert North), John Henry (Mitchell), and Toccata e Due Canzoni (John McFall).

Gives first full-scale season in New York City since 1989 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, April 28-May 10, 1992.  The repertory includes the New York premiere of Michael Smuin’s Medea, along with revivals of Dialogues (Glen Tetley), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), Ginastera and Mirage (Billy Wilson), Firebird (John Taras), The Four Temperaments and Allegro Brillante (Balanchine), Scheherazade (Michel Fokine), Adagietto No. 5 (Royston Maldoom), John Henry (Mitchell), Footprints Dressed in Red (Garth Fagan), Medea (Michael Smuin), and Toccata e Due Canzoni (John McFall).  All performances are accompanied by live orchestra.

Begins a $6 million dollar expansion and renovation of DTH headquarters in Harlem, more than doubling the existing space.  The project is supported by grants from New York’s Department of Cultural Affairs, the office of the Manhattan Borough President, the Everett Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Jr. Charitable Trust, the Booth Ferris Foundation, the Bernard F. And Alva B. Gimbel Foundation, and the New York State Council on the Arts.

DTH gives its first performances in South Africa during a three-week engagement sponsored by the progressive Market Theatre, in Johannesburg, September 7-27, 1992.  In a letter to Arthur Mitchell, African National Congress President Nelson Mandela asserts that “the company’s visit will contribute to the broadening of cultural links between our people.”  In addition to performing in the refurbished, newly integrated Civic Theatre, the company conducts numerous master classes, “arts-exposure” programs, and lecture-demonstrations in the townships near Johannesburg.  Mitchell hires a film company, Global Vision, to make a documentary of the tour.

1993

In January, DTH principal dancer Eddie J. Shellman dances the title role in Balanchine’s Apollo with England’s Royal Ballet.  His Terpsichore is ballerina Darcey Bussell.

Opens a twelve-day engagement at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, March 16-28, 1993.  The repertory includes company premieres of Michael Smuin’s A Song for Dead Warriors and Alvin Ailey’s The River along with revivals of Giselle, Firebird (John Taras), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), Concerto in F and Ginastera (Billy Wilson), The Four Temperaments (Balanchine), Toccata e Due Canzoni (John McFall), Dialogues (Glen Tetley), Medea and Songs of Mahler (Smuin), and Fête Noire (Arthur Mitchell).  At the benefit gala Jessye Norman sings the music to Songs of Mahler.

Unveils the Dance Theatre of Harlem quilt on opening night at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, March 16, 1993.  Commissioned by the Dance Theatre of Harlem, the quilt is created by the new York Chapter of Women of Color Quilters and features six of the company’s ballets.

The company immediately leaves for a two-week engagement at the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., March 30-April 11, 1993.  The premieres include Alvin Ailey’s The River and Michael Smuin’s A Song for Dead Warriors, with Allegro Brillante (Balanchine), Giselle, Troy Game (Robert North), Ginastera  (Billy Wilson), Songs of Mahler (Smuin), Toccata e Due Canzoni (John McFall), and Firebird (John Taras) completing the repertory.

Members of DTH and American Ballet Theatre take part in A Gala Evening of Ballet, presented by the Fifth Columbia Arts Festival, Wilde Lake High School, Columbia, Maryland, June 20, 1993.

Shares a “Dancelebration” program with the Paul Taylor and and Lar Lubovitch dance companies at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC), Saratoga Springs, New York, August 9, 1993.  The three companies team up again for a similar program at Wolf Trap, Vienna, Virginia, August 23, 1993.

Taks part in “A Demand Performance,” sponsored by the Design Industries Foundation for AIDS in collaboration with Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, October 18, 1993.

Ballerina Virginia Johnson conducts a master class at Rancho Santiago College, Santa Ana, California, October 21, 1993.

DTH returns to Southern California after a three-year absence, performing at El Camino College, Torrance, California, October 22-24, 1993.  The repertory includes Ginastera (Billy Wilson), Dialogues (Glen Tetley), Medea (Michael Smuin), Allegro Brillante (Balanchine), The River (Alvin Ailey), and Firebird (Geoffrey Holder).  In addition to performing, the company conducts outreach programs at the South Bay Center for the Arts and at three schools in South-Central Los Angeles.

Arthur Mitchell awarded New York City’s Handel Medallion, the city’s highest cultural honor, on November 22, and Kennedy Center Honors on December 5, 1993, with DTH performing at the high-profile gala.

1994

DTH opens its twenty-fifth anniversary season at New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, March 11-27, 1994.  The repertory includes the company premiere of Ron Cunningham’s Etosha, along with revivals of A Streetcar Named Desire (Valerie Bettis), John Henry (Mitchell), Ginastera (Billy Wilson), Dialogues (Glen Tetley), Footprints Danced in Red (Garth Fagan), Firebird (John Taras), and A Song for Dead Warriors (Michael Smuin).  Bach Passacaglia, a curtain raiser by Arthur Mitchell and Rachel Sekyi for the company and students in the DTH school, is performed on opening night.

Returns to the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., for a two-week season, April 19-May 1, 1994.  In addition to the Washington premiere of Ron Cunningham’s Etosha and Mitchell’s Bach Passacaglia (co-choreographed with Rachel Sekyi), the company performs A Streetcar Named Desire (Valerie Bettis), Concerto in F (Billy Wilson), The River (Alvin Ailey), Fête Noire (Mitchell), A Song for Dead Warriors (Michael Smuin), Dialogues (Glen Tetley), Footprints Dressed in Red (Garth Fagan), and Equus (Domy Reiter-Soffer), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), and Firebird (John Taras).  In Bach Passacaglia  the DTH dancers are joined by students from the recently instituted DTH-Kennedy center residency program, in addition to students from the DTH school in New York and others from Washington’s Jones-Haywpood School of Dance.  The opening-night gala, a celebration of the company’s twenty-fifth anniversary, starts off with an onstage tribute by Tipper Gore, followed by a ten-minute film homage to Mitchell and DTH.

Arthur Mitchell awarded the Barnard College Medal of Distinction, May 18, 1994.

Arthur Mitchell named a MacArthur Fellow, June 13, 1994.

DTH is one of six American companies among the twenty groups participating in the two-week celebration of black dance called “Mama Africa, From Africa to Harlem,” at the Lyons Dance Biennial, Lyons, France, September 1994.  “Our eclecticism is our strength, not a weakness,” Arthur Mitchell states at a festival news conference (New York Times, 9/21/1994).

The company’s renovated home on 152^nd Street, New York City, formally reopens in October 1994.  The building is renamed the Everett Center after Henry and Edith Everett, philanthropists whose gift of $1 million spurred the city to contribute $3.6 in matching funds..

1995

Arthur Mitchell receives a lifetime achievement award from the School of American Ballet at the school’s annual “Backstage with S.A.B.” awards dinner at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, February 6, 1995.

Presents a two-week season at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York City, March 10-26, 1995.  In addition to the premieres of Robert Garland’s The Joplin Dances and Alonzo King’s Signs and Wonders, the company premiere of The Prodigal Son (Balanchine), the repertory includes Dialogues and Voluntaries (Glen Tetley), A Song for Dead Warriors (Michael Smuin), Etosha (Ron Cunningham), Ginastera (Billy Wilson), Toccata e Due Canzoni (John McFall), Design with Strings and Firebird (John Taras), Othello (John Butler), and The River (Alvin Ailey).

Returns to the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., for a two-week season, April 11-23, 1995.  The repertory includes The Prodigal Son, Voluntaries (Glen Tetley), The River (Alvin Ailey), Designs for Strings and Firebird (John Taras), The Joplin Dances (Robert Garland), Signs and Wonders (Alonzo King), Medea and A Song for Dead Warriors (Michael Smuin), Etosha (Ron Cunningham), Mirage (Billy Wilson), Adagietto No. 5 and Doina (Royston Maldoom), and Othello (John Butler).

Performs Etosha (Ron Cunningham),  Voluntaries (Glen Tetley), and Firebird (John Taras) at the 9^th Annual Spoleto Festival USA, Charleston, South Carolina, May-June 1995.

Arthur Mitchell receives the National Medal of Arts at the White House, October 5, 1995.

With the loss than more than half its public funding, DTH reduces size of company from 52 to 36, cuts its administrative staff, and cancels its 1996 New York season.

1996

Announces creation of a new program, Dancing Through Barriers, designed to take ballet to children in the five boroughs of New York City.

Performs at Aaron Davis Hall, City College, New York City, March 8, 1996.

Takes part in a gala benefit performance for Housing Works, Kaye Playhouse, New York City, March 18, 1996.  The other companies involved are American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, and Urban Bush Women.

Spring benefit with performances by company members and students from the DTH school takes place at the New York Marriott Marquis, April 18, 1996.

Dances Billy Wilson’s Concerto in F at the Kennedy Center’s 25^th Anniversary Gala, April 27, 1996.

Gives a two-week season at the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., April 30-May 12, 1996.  In addition to the premieres of Robert Garland’s Acid Dreams and Nightmares and Alonzo King’s Ground, and the company premiere of Kenneth MacMillan’s Las Hermanas, the repertory includes Fall River Legend (Agnes de Mille), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), Concerto Barocco, The Prodigal Son, and Serenade (Balanchine), Pas de Dix (from Raymonda) (Petipa-Balanchine), Firebird (John Taras), The Joplin Dances (Garland), and Wingborne (Loyce Houlton).

Celebrates “Dancing Through Barriers” with a street festival and performances by the Nanette Bearden Contemporary Dance Company, the Carlota Santana Spanish Dance Company, and members of DTH, Saturday, August 17, 1996.

Takes part in “Dances from the Heart,” a program sponsored by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids, The Yard, Martha’s Vineyard, August 25, 1996.  Dancers from nine dance companies, including DTH, the Paul Taylor Dance Company, Cortez and Company, and DTH, take part.

Performs an excerpt from Billy Wilson’s Ginastera  in “Bequeathed,” a program of dances by choreographers lost to AIDS at the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., October 12, 1996.  Dancers from American Ballet Theatre, the Joffrey Ballet, the New York City Ballet, the Paul Taylor Dance Company, and the Washington Ballet share the program.

DTH soloists perform with dancers from the Joffrey Ballet, and the Alvin Ailey and Lar Lubovitch companies in the Suffolk Y-Jewish Community Center’s “Dance Extravaganza,” Commack, Long Island, New York, December 1, 1996.

“Dancing Through Barriers” open-house performance, DTH Studios, December 15, 1996.

1997

DTH, Alvin Ailey American Dance Company, Ballet Hispanico, and the School of American Ballet are saluted at a party at Tiffany’s, January 7, 1997.  Tai Jimenez and Ronald Perry perform an excerpt from Firebird.

DTH dancers vote unanimously to go on strike to protest the use of apprentices and “floaters” (dancers who are neither apprentices nor union members), increased working hours, and a reduction in overtime pay, January 22, 1997.  An agreement is reached on February 8.  The new contract raises wages and guarantees forty weeks of work in the first year and thirty in the second.

The company honors its commitment to perform at Music America, an annual event honoring the ideas of Dr. Matin Luther King Jr., by replacing the striking dancers with a student ensemble, Performing Arts Center of Purchase College, January 25, 1997.

Performs locally at the World Financial Center, March 5, and and Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College in “A Celebration of Dance: Stars of Dance Theatre of Harlem, Alvin Ailey, and the Joffrey Ballet,” April 19-20, 1997.

Opens season at the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., April 8-13, 1997.  In addition to premieres of Robert Garland’s Crossing Over and Vincent Sekwati Mantsoe’s Sasanka, the company premiere of José Limón’s The Moor’s Pavane, and the Washington premiere of John Alleyne’s Adrian (Angel on Earth), the repertory includes Firebird (John Taras) and Dougla (Geoffrey Holder).

DTH’s School Ensemble dances the first performances of Dalabar, at the New Victory Theater, New York City, May 16-18, 1997.

Appears at the Festival of Two Worlds, Spoleto, Italy, during its fortieth anniversary season.  This is the company’s fifth appearance at the festival.

Performs at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Lee, Massachusetts, August 5-9, 1997.

Advanced DTH students perform with their counterparts at the Alvin Ailey, Merce Cunningham, and Martha Graham Schools to raise money for the Emergency Fund for Student Dancers, Cunningham Dance Studio, New York City, August 7-9, 1997.  The eleven DTH students performed Vincent Sekwati Mantsoe’s Dalabar.

After a two-year absence DTH has its first season in New York at Aaron Davis Hall, City College of New York, September 7-21, 1997.  In addition to the New York premieres of John Alleyne’s Adrian, Robert Garland’s Crossing Over, and Vincent Sekwati Mantsoe’s Sasanka, the repertory includes Serenade, Prodigal Son, The Four Temperaments, and Concerto Barocco (Balanchine), Dialogues (Glen Tetley), Signs and Wonders (Alonzo King), The Moor’s Pavane (José Limón), and Firebird (John Taras).  Critics hail the gifted new generation of dancers.  Virginia Johnson, a charter DTH member, dances her farewell performance on September 21.

The company dances at a gala benefit for the Children’s Defense Fund, Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, New York City, October 20, 1997.  The other performers include Glenn Close, Davis Gaines, Joy Behar, Bebe Newirth, and Hillary Rodham Clinton reading from her book It Takes A Village.

To make up for a February 16 performance canceled by the dancers’ strike, DTH performs Sasanka (Vincent Sekwati Mantsoe), Adrian (John Alleyne), and Dougla (Geoffrey Holder) at Queens College, November 16, 1997.

1998

Studio performance with Arthur Mitchell as host features Kellye A. Saunders and Donald Williams in choreography by Alonzo King, Alicia Graf and Duncan Cooper in the pas de deux from Balanchine’s Prodigal Son, and Andrea Long and Ronald Perry in a pas de deux from John Taras’ Firebird, in addition to promising youngsters from the Dancing Through Barriers Ensemble, Everett Center for the Performing Arts, January 11, 1998.

The company gives ten-day season at the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., April 24-May 3, 1998.  In addition to the premieres of South African Suite, choreographed by Arthur Mitchell, with Augustus Van Heerden and Laveen Naidu, and Louis Johnson’s Soul on Pointe, the repertory includes Concerto in F (Billy Wilson), Troy Game (Robert North), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), and The Four Temperaments, Concerto Barocco, and The Prodigal Son (Balanchine).

1999

Holds the first of a series of Open Houses at Everett Performing Arts Center, January 20, 1999.  Hosted by Arthur Mitchell and tap dance legend Marion Coles, the event was a tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr.

Opens thirtieth anniversary year with performances at Morehouse and Spelman Colleges in Atlanta, the start of an eight-city tour focusing on Historically black colleges and universities, February 1999.

Twenty-four students from the DTH School perform and study in Hong Kong in celebration of the Asian New Year at the invitation of the Hong Tourist Board, February 1999.

Gives one-week season at the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., that begins with two performances in its “Pay What You Can” series, March 30-April 4, 1999.  In addition to an expanded version of South African Suite (Arthur Mitchell, with Augustus Van Heerden and Laveen Naidu), the repertory includes Bugaku and Allegro Brillante (Balanchine), Le Corsaire (Karel Shook), Manifestations (Mitchell), Firebird (John Taras), and Dougla (Geoffrey Holder).

Appears at New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Newark, May 8-9, 1999.  Performs South African Suite (Arthur Mitchell, with Augustus Van Heerden and Lavene Naidu), along with The Joplin Dances  (Robert Garland) and Firebird (John Taras).

Performs at the Weimar ‘98 Festival , Weimar, Germany, June 1999.

Gives its thirtieth-anniversary season at City Center, New York City, September 21-October 3, 1999.  The repertory includes premieres of Robert Garland’s Return and Dwight Rhoden’s Twist,  the New York premiere of the expanded version of South African Suite (Arthur Mitchell, with August Van Heerden and Laveen Naidu), along with revivals of Prodigal Son, Bugaku, and The Four Temperaments (Balanchine), Firebird (John Taras), Adrian (John Alleyne), Dougla and Banda (Geoffrey Holder), Ginastera (Billy Wilson), Manifestations (Mitchell), Dialogues (Glen Tetley), A Song for Dead Warriors (Michael Smuin), and Sansanka (Vincent Sekwati Matsoe).

Returns to the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., for a one-week pre-Christmas season, December 14-19, 1999.  The repertory includes the Washington premieres of Dwight Rhoden’s Twist and Robert Garland’s Return along with revivals of Ginastera (Billy Wilson), Firebird (John Taras), A Song for Dead Warriors (Michael Smuin), and South African Suite (Arthur Mitchell, with Augustus Van Heerden and Laveen Naidu).

2000

Arthur Mitchell and Virginia Johnson attend the “American Creators” New Year’s Eve celebration at the White House, January 1, 2000.

Members of DTH appear in the first performance of Tributary, choreographed by Robert La Fosse and Robert Garland for the New York City Ballet’s Diamond Project, New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, May 25, 2000.  The ballet, which calls for twenty-six dancers, is performed by equal numbers of dancers from NYCB and DTH.  Also on the program are Agon and Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, ballets closely associated with Arthur Mitchell.

Arthur Mitchell receives an honorary gold medal for lifetime achievement at a ceremony concluding the Sixth New York International Ballet Competition, June 25, 2000.

DTH returns to City Center, New York City, for a two-week season, September 6-17, 2000.  In addition to the premiere of Augustus Van Heerden’s Memento Mori (To Remember Death), the repertory includes Giselle (Act II), Return (Robert Garland), South African Suite (Arthur Mitchell, with Van Heerden and Laveen Naidu), The Four Temperaments and Serenade  (Balanchine), Firebird (John Taras), Twist (Dwight Rhoden), A Song for Dead Warriors and Medea (Michael Smuin), Romeo and Juliet (Gabriella Taub-Darvash), and Dougla (Geoffrey Holder).

Tours the People’s Republic of China, offering outreach programs and master classes, and performing Giselle, Firebird (John Taras), The Four Temperaments (Balanchine), and Dougla (Geoffrey Holder) in Beijing and at the Shanghai International Arts Festival, November 15-27, 2000.

2001

Gives a short season at the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., May 22-27, 2001. The repertory includes Giselle, Adrian (John Alleyne), Return (Robert Garland), and Firebird (John Taras).

Makes first appearance at the Apollo Theatre, New York City, June 8-10, 2001.  The repertory includes Return (Robert Garland), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), and South African Suite (Arthur Mitchell, August van Heerden, and Laveen Naidu).

Seventh annual Dance Theatre of Harlem Street Festival, featuring performances by the company; salsa, lindy, and jazz dance lessons, and clowns unicyclists, magicians, stiltwalkers, and rodeo riders, 152^nd Street from Amsterdam to St. Nicholas Avenue, August 11, 2001.

DTH is chosen to participate in the “Visa Presents Evening Stars” series sponsored by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council at the World Trade Center Plaza.  Most of the series is canceled because of the events of 9/11.

Returns to City Center, New York City, for a two-week season, September 25-October 7, 2001.  In addition to premieres of Laveen Naidu’s Viraa, Robert Garland’s New Bach, Lowell Smith’s A Pas de Deux for Phrygia and Spartacus, and Augustus van Heerden’s Passion of the Blood, the company premiere of Glen Tetley’s Sphinx, the repertory includes Equus (Domy Reiter-Soffer), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), Return (Garland), South African Suite (Arthur Mitchell, van Heerden, Naidu), Concerto in F (Billy Wilson), and Firebird (John Taras).

Returns to the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., for a pre-Christmas season, December 11-16, 2001.  In addition to three local premiere – Robert Garland’s New Bach, Lowell Smith’s A Pas de Deux for Phrygia and Spartacus, and Glen Tetley’s Sphinx – the repertory includes South African Suite (Arthur Mitchell, August van Heerden, Laveen Naidu), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder),  Return (Robert Garland), and Concerto in F (Billy Wilson).

2002

Celebrates its thirty-third anniversary with two Open House Series Performances, February 10, 2002.  The guests include jazz singer Allan Harris, soprano Monique McDonald, The Williams Brothers, and the Inspirational Ensemble of Convent Avenue Baptist Church.

Presents two Open House Series Performances, March 10, 2002.  The performances include the Boys Choir of Harlem, Tarumi Violinists, Natyam dancers Shanti Pillai and Jaan R. Freedom, and students from the Dance Theatre of Harlem School, Dancing Through Barriers Ensembles, and The Ailey School.

Presents two Open House Series Performances, April 14, 2002.  The performers include Dikki Ellis (“The Clown Prince of Slackwire” from the Big Apple Circus), piano virtuoso Major Scurlock, West Village String Quartet, members of the Dance Theatre of Harlem and Dancing Through Barriers Ensembles, and students from the Dance Theatre of Harlem School.

Returns to Apollo Theatre, New York City, for two weekends, May 10-12, 17-19, 2002.  The repertory includes Forces of Rhythm (Louis Johnson), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), Le Corsaire (Karel Shook), Doina (Royston Maldoom), Othello (John Butler), and the  Ribbon in the Sky pas de deux, originally choreographed by Arthur Mitchell for Motown’s thirtieth-anniversary television special in 1990).

Hosts 2002 Street Festival, August 10, 2002.  Includes performances by company members, Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana, Allan Harris, and members of the cast of Harlem Song.

Gives the New York premiere of Michael Smuin’s Stabat Mater in the Evening Stars Music and Dance Series at Battery Park, one of many arts events commemorating the first anniversary of 9/11, September 14, 2002.  Dougla (Geoffrey Holder) and South African Suite (Arthur Mitchell, Augustus van Heerden, and Laveen Naidu) is also performed.

Returns to the United Kingdom after an absence of fourteen years, performing at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London (November 4-9), and in Manchester (November 12-13) in addition to giving Dancing Through Barrier lecture-demonstrations.  The repertory includes The Four Temperaments (Balanchine), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder),  Return and New Bach (Robert Garland), South African Suite (Arthur Mitchell, Augustus van Heerden, Laveen Naidu), and Twist (Dwight Rhoden).

2003

Gives the Founders’ Day Concert, celebrating the 136^th anniversary of Morehouse College, Atlanta, February 14, 2003.

Presents two Open House Series Performances, March 9, 2003.  The performers include Students from the Dance Theatre of Harlem School, Dancers Through Barriers Ensembles, Red Hawk Native American Singers and Dancers, percussionist Edwina Lee Tyler, and the Girls Choir of Harlem.

DTH celebrates its thirty-fourth birthday and the sixty-ninth birthday of its founder Arthur Mitchell, with a fundraising dinner and dance at the Plaza Hotel, New York City, March 27, 2003.

Presents two Open House Series Performances, May 18, 2003.  The performers include the memers of the Dance Theatre of Harlem; the Dancing Through Barriers Ensembles; students from the Dance Theatre of Harlem School; Dance for Joy Ministries; AJ Jazz Ensemble, and 2002 Sphinx Competition, Junior Division Laureate violinist Gareth Johnson.

Performs at the Lincoln Center Festival, New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, July 8-13, 2003.  The repertory includes the company premieres of Michael Smuin’s St. Louis Woman: A Blues Ballet and Frederick Ashton’s Thais, along with revivals of Serenade and The Four Temperaments (Balanchine), Fancy Free (Jerome Robbins), and New Bach (Robert Garland).

2004

Opens a West Coast tour with Serenade (Balanchine) and St. Louis Woman: A Blues Ballet (Michael Smuin) at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles January 3-4, 2004.

Performs the uncut version of Apollo at Wall to Wall George Balanchine, Symphony Space, New York City, March 20, 2004.

Seven-week tour of United Kingdom, beginning in London at the Sadler’s Wells Theatre and continuing to Plymouth, Belfast, Salford, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Glasgow, and Birmingham,

March 30-May 15, 2004.  The repertory included Agon, Apollo, The Prodigal Son, and Serenade (Balanchine), Return (Robert Garland), Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), A Song for Dead Warriors (Michael Smuin), Thaïs (Frederick Ashton), and Firebird (John Taras).

Returns for a short season at the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., June 8-13, 2004.  Its repertory includes an all-Balanchine program (Apollo, Prodigal Son, Agon) and a program featuring Balanchine’s Four Temperaments and Michael Smuin’s St. Louis Woman: A Blues Ballet.

Performs Apollo in a Central Park SummerStage centennial tribute to Balanchine, New York City, July 28, 2004.  Dancers from the New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theatre also take part in the performance.

Facing financial setbacks including the loss of federal and state arts funding, and with $2.4 million in debt, DTH goes on hiatus, laying off the dancers and most of the staff, and canceling its January 2005 Kennedy Center season.  The company’s last performance is Agon at City Center’s first Fall for Dance Festival, September 28, 2004.

The DTH school closes its doors for the first time, October 16, 2004.

Thanks to $1.6 million in newly raised donations, including a $500,000 gift from New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, the DTH school reopens, with Laveen Naidu as the new executive director.