Dance Theater of Harlem

Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) is an American professional ballet company and school based in Harlem, New York City. It was founded in 1969 under the co-directorship of Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook. served as the company's music director from 1981 to 1992. The DTH is renowned for being both "the first Black classical ballet company", and "the first major ballet company to prioritize Black dancers".

Arthur Mitchell, the first African-American principal dancer in a major ballet company (New York City Ballet), was sent to Brazil by the United States government to start up the National Ballet of Brazil. While on his way to the airport, he was shocked to hear news of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. In conjunction with the civil rights movement, Dr. King's death inspired Mitchell to forgo his plans in Brazil. Instead, he would found a classical ballet school for the children of Harlem, the poor and predominantly black New York neighborhood where he was raised. Luckily, Karel Shook, the first ballet teacher and a former ballet master at Dutch National Ballet, agreed to join him in founding the school. At the time, Shook was the best and only teacher of European descent willing to train African Americans in classical technique.

In the beginning, space at Church of the Master was used to hold classes. Soon afterwards, Mitchell would make a down payment on a disused garage at 466 West 152nd Street and convert it into the headquarters that still house the company today. Initially founded only as a school, Dance Theatre of Harlem as a company of African American ballet dancers was born out a necessity to match funds that had been contributed towards the school's existence. The only way to accomplish this was by earning revenue through performances. Following the original blueprints set forth by his mentor George Balanchine, Mitchell groomed the school's top talent as a group of performers. Though officially incorporated in 1969, Dance Theatre of Harlem would make its official debut with a public performance on January 8, 1971 at New York Guggenheim Museum, with three chamber ballets choreographed by Mitchell. During that opening season, the company's repertory was supplemented with several ballets by Balanchine and Jerome Robbins; in support of Mitchell's vision and company's future, Balanchine had given Mitchell access to all of his ballets.

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