Living Up To a Legacy. (2024)

Fifty years after its founding, Dance Theatre of Harlem celebratesits history and reimagines what could come next.

As Dance Theatre of Harlem turns 50, Arthur Mitchell's companyhas proven to be just as tenacious and resilient as he was. At times itlooked like it wouldn't make it. But with the spirit of the phoenixit rises again.

Yet, as the company moves forward after Mitchell's passing, itbattles with the expectations of what DTH should be, what it should looklike and what stories it should tell. In effect, who does today'sDTH belong to, and who does it serve? If ballet companies truly improvediversity, what would DTH's relevance be?

"I feel like we are still trying to live up to the legacy ofthe old company," says Da'Von Doane, who first joined in 2008as a member of the DTH Ensemble. "We are trying to find ourselvesas artists, and establish our own level of artistic excellence, butit's difficult to feel the weight of history. It's anincredible responsibility as black classical artists to forge a newidentity for this company."

Mitchell began DTH--along with co-founder Karel Shook--as aresponse to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. He wanted tocontinue King's work for equality in his way: through the arts. Notonly would DTH show the world black elegance and artistic proficiency,it would be a lighthouse to the children of Harlem (and beyond),showcasing a world of possibilities beyond the stigmatization of theirblackness. DTH served as an oasis of opportunity, for decades employingdancers other organizations would not entertain and training thousandswho might not otherwise have had access.

Then, in 2004, the company was forced into hiatus due to a $2.3million debt. Mitchell beseeched his former prima ballerina VirginiaJohnson to reboot DTH five years later. "I never wanted to be anartistic director. But when Mr. Mitchell calls you and says he wants youto do it..." says Johnson with a chuckle.

The burning question was, What would the new iteration look like?What could it look like given the financial constraints? DTH had builtit* brand on signature full-length ballets like Dougla, Firebird andCreole Giselle. But Johnson and then-executive director Laveen Naidudetermined that the company could only hire 18 dancers. "Wecouldn't be 50 dancers with two trucks' worth of scenery andcostumes," says Johnson. "That world didn't existanymore." To generate new rep, Johnson created Harlem Dance Works2.0, a choreographic incubator which commissioned artists like RobertGarland, Darrell Grand Moultrie and Helen Pickett.

Johnson respects DTH's profound history--she helped write it,after all, having been a founding member and becoming its star until sheretired in 1997. But for her, DTH is larger than its history. "Iwant to think about this art form of classical ballet. I love it.It's powerful and beautiful. But it's not fairies andprincesses; it needs to talk to people now about the lives that they areliving now. It needs to give them contemporary inspiration, not antiqueinspiration." Yet one of the company's biggest recent hits wasreviving Geoffrey Holder's Dougla from 1974--one of DTH's mostculturally rooted works, rich with pageantry and mystic. This resonatedwith Johnson. "What I came to understand was that people wanted themore familiar kinds of ballets."

Today, DTH is once again a standardbearer both as a diverse balletcompany and as a leader in the diversity conversation. In partnershipwith the International Association of Blacks in Dance and Dance/USA, thecompany recently launched The Equity Project: Increasing the Presence ofBlacks in Ballet, a threeyear program to support the advancement ofracial equity in professional ballet companies.

Still, even now that so many companies are working to increasediversity, dancer Amanda Smith says it feels very different to performwith DTH. "I love not feeling like a prize or a trophy in a companyto show that they have diversity," says Smith, who auditioned forDTH five times before she landed a contract last season. "Sometimesyou feel like a circus animal--'We have a black dancer.' WhenI came to DTH it was just like, 'I am just a dancer.' "

Former DTH dancer Theresa Ruth Howard is a contributing writer forDance Magazine.

Catch the Company

DTH is celebrating its 50th anniversary in style, touring 39 citiesover 18 months. The company will present commissioned works by RobertGarland, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Pam Tanowitz and Claudia Schreier. Theopening night celebration at New York City Center this month willhighlight excerpts from some of the works that set DTH apart in itsearly days: Forces of Rhythm (Louis Johnson), Firebird (John Taras),Creole Giselle (Frederic Franklin after Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot)and Dougla (Geoffrey Holder), plus excerpts from new favorite Return(Robert Garland) and classics like Petipa's Le Corsaire and thework that put Mitchell on the map: George Balanchine's Agon. TonesII, a reimagining of a work Mitchell created in 1970_which he set ontoday's DTH dancers just prior to his passing last September--willalso be performed during the City Center season.

Caption: DTH rehearsing a new work by Claudia Schreier

Caption: Clockwise from top left: Kellye Saunders, ChristopherMcDaniei, Stephanie Rae Williams, Alexandra Hutchinson, Dustin James,Amanda Smith, Derek Brockington, Virginia Johnson, Yinet Fernandez,Choong Hoon Lee, Da'Von Doane, Daphne Lee, Dylan Santos, CrystalSerrano, Anthony Santos, Lindsey Croop