Dance Theatre 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, who had been the first teacher and ballet master of the Dutch National Ballet. 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 male dancer in a major ballet company (New York City Ballet), was on his way to Brazil when he heard the news of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. After hearing the news of Dr. King's death Mitchell decided to start a dance company in Harlem to give back to the community in which he grew up. Following in George Balanchine's footsteps, Mitchell first started a school to train young dancers in the classical technique. Using space at Church of the Master to hold classes, he soon converted a garage into the building that still houses the Dance Theatre of Harlem today.

Founded in 1969, the Dance Theatre of Harlem made its official debut with a public performance on January 8, 1971, at the New York Guggenheim Museum, with three chamber ballets by Mitchell. Balanchine gave Mitchell access to all of his ballets in order to start his company in Harlem, and during the same season the company's repertory was supplemented with several ballets by Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. The company produced its first full season in 1974. Its European debut was at the Spoleto Festival. In 1981 the Dance Theatre of Harlem became the first black company to appear at Covent Garden. In 1984, Dance Theatre of Harlem premiered its most famous work, Creole Giselle (restaged by Frederic Franklin), which was set in the 1840s Louisiana Bayou. In 1992, the company toured to South Africa in the "Dancing Through Barriers" tour that gave birth to the outreach program of the same name that still continues to operate. South African Suite, a collaboration with the Soweto String Quartet, was created after the company's visit to South Africa and became a staple in the repertoire of the company for years to come.

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