Arthur Mitchell (dancer)

Arthur Mitchell (March 27, 1934 – September 19, 2018)Jennifer Dunning

''The New York Times'' was an American ballet dancer, choreographer, and founder and director of ballet companies. In 1955, he was the first African-American dancer with the New York City Ballet, where he was promoted to principal dancer the following year and danced in major roles until 1966. He then founded ballet companies in Spoleto, Washington, D.C., and Brazil. In 1969, he founded a training school and the first African-American classical ballet company, Dance Theatre of Harlem. Among other awards, Mitchell was recognized as a MacArthur Fellow, inducted into the National Museum of Dance's Mr. & Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Hall of Fame, and received the United States National Medal of Arts and a Fletcher Foundation fellowship.

Early life

Mitchell was one of four siblings, the son of a building superintendent, and grew up in the streets of Harlem, New York. Forced at the age of 12 to assume financial responsibility for his family in the wake of his father's incarceration, Mitchell worked numerous jobs, including shoe-shining, mopping floors, newspaper delivery, and work in a meat shop. Despite his duties, Mitchell became involved with street gangs, though this did not ultimately deter him from finding success.

As a teenager, Mitchell was encouraged by a guidance counselor to apply for admission to the High School of Performing Arts. Upon being accepted he decided to work towards having a career in classical ballet. Following his graduation in the early 1950s, he won a dance award and scholarship to study at the School of American Ballet, the school affiliated with the New York City Ballet. In 1954, following his 1952 Broadway debut in the opera ''Four Saints in Three Acts'', Mitchell would return to Broadway to perform in the Harold Arlen musical '' House of Flowers'', alongside Diahann Carroll, Geoffrey Holder, Alvin Ailey, Carmen de Lavallade, and Pearl Bailey.

New York City Ballet

In 1955 Mitchell made his debut as the first African American with the New York City Ballet (NYCB), performing in ''Western Symphony''. Rising to the position of principal dancer with the company in 1956, he performed in all the major ballets in its repertoire, including ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', ''The Nutcracker'', ''Bugaku'', ''Agon'', and ''Arcade''.

Choreographer and director of the NYCB George Balanchine created the pas de deux in ''Agon'', especially for Mitchell and the white Southern ballerina Diana Adams. Audience members initially complained about partnering Mitchell with a white woman, but Balanchine refused to change the pairing. Although Mitchell danced this role with white partners throughout the world, he could not perform it on commercial television in the United States until 1968, when the performance aired on Johnny Carson's ''The Tonight Show''.Arthur Mitchell
the-ballet.com; accessed March 27, 2016.

Mitchell left the New York City Ballet in 1966 to appear in several Broadway shows, and helped found ballet companies in Spoleto, Washington, D.C., and Brazil, where he directed a dance company. The company he founded in Brazil was the National Ballet Company of Brazil.

Dance Theatre of Harlem

After the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968, Mitchell returned to Harlem, where he was determined to provide opportunities in dance for the children in that community. A year later, he and his teacher, Karel Shook, inaugurated a classical ballet school.Arthur Mitchell, trailblazing US ballet dancer, dies at 84
The Guardian September 20, 2018 Mitchell had $25,000 of his own money to start the school. About a year later he received $315,000 in a matching funds grant from the Ford Foundation. The Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) was born in 1969 with 30 children in a church basement in a community where resources of talent and creative energy were virtually untapped. Two months later, Mitchell had attracted 400 youngsters to attend classes. Two years later they presented their first productions as a professional company. Mitchell used his personal savings to convert a garage into the company's home.

In Harlem, DTH created an explosion of professional opportunity in dance, music, and other related theater activities. The school has an outstanding number of former students who have been successfully engaged in careers as dancers and musicians, as technicians in production, stagecraft, and wardrobe, and in instruction and arts administration. With this success, DTH challenged the classical dance world to review its stereotypes and revise its boundaries.

Legacy

The Arthur Mitchell Collection is held at the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University. Arthur Mitchell: Harlem's Ballet Trailblazer, an exhibition celebrating his life and career, opened at the Wallach Art Gallery at Columbia on January 12, 2018. The exhibition Web site contains numerous images and documents from the collection, as well as a timeline of Mitchell's career, a repertory list for the Dance Theatre of Harlem, and original essays.

Death

He died on September 19, 2018, from renal failure.

Honors

Mitchell received numerous awards in recognition of his groundbreaking work and achievements, including:
* 1989 – Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.
* 1993 – Kennedy Center Honors, one of the youngest persons recognized.
* 1994 – Named as a MacArthur Fellow.
* 1995 – United States National Medal of Arts, presented by the President
* 1999 – Inducted into the National Museum of Dance C.V. Whitney Hall of Fame, Saratoga Springs, New York.
* 2001 – The 7th Annual Heinz Award in the Arts and Humanities.
* 2005 – Awarded a Fletcher Foundation fellowship in its inaugural year, in recognition of his contributions to African-American culture.
* 2006 – Mitchell and the Dance Theatre of Harlem were honored with a dinner at the White House by President George W. Bush.

In addition, Mitchell received honorary doctorates from numerous leading universities, including University of North Carolina School of the Arts (1985), Juilliard School (1990), Hamilton College, Brown University (1996), City College of New York, Harvard University,Remembering Arthur Mitchell, First Black Dancer to Join New York City Ballet
blackexcellence.com The New School for Social Research, Williams College, Yale University (2001), Southern Methodist University (2009) and Columbia University (2016).Arthur Mitchell to receive honorary degree from Columbia University
danceinforma.us 2016 He also received awards from the City of New York and community organizations.

See also

* List of African-American firsts
* List of African-American ballerinas

References

Further reading

* Miles, J. H., J. J. Davis, S. E. Ferguson-Roberts, and R. G. Giles (2001). ''Almanac of African American Heritage''. Paramus, NJ: Prentice Hall Press.
* Potter, J. (2002). ''African American Firsts''. New York, NY: Kensington Publishing Corp.
* Levine, Debra
"Talking with Dance Theatre of Harlem's co-founder Arthur Mitchell"
''Los Angeles Times'', July 6, 2010

External links

Dance Theatre of HarlemArthur Mitchell's oral history video excerpts
at The National Visionary Leadership Project
The John F. Kennedy Center for The Performing Arts (2007)Finding Aid to the Arthur Mitchell Collection at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript LibraryArthur Mitchell: Harlem's Ballet Trailblazer (2018)
an exhibition at Columbia University
*
Arthur Mitchell / New York City Ballet-Principal / Dance Theatre of Harlem- Co-founder Artistic Director Emerita
mobballet.org
*Taliah Mancini
Dance Theatre of Harlem at The Broad Stage: A Review
ladancechronicle.com 26 April 2018

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Arthur
1934 births
2018 deaths
African-American male ballet dancers
American ballet choreographers
Dance Theatre of Harlem
Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni
MacArthur Fellows
Kennedy Center honorees
Artists from New York City
New York City Ballet principal dancers
United States National Medal of Arts recipients
School of American Ballet alumni
20th-century American ballet dancers