Michael D. Harris, Aspirations + Inspiration, 1985. Limited Edition Print, 30 x 22 inches. Courtesy the artist, Collection Arthur Mitchell Archive, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University.
Arthur Mitchell as Puck in "A Midsummer Night’s Dream", New York City Ballet, 1962. Unknown photographer. Collection Arthur Mitchell Archive, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University.
Arthur Mitchell rehearsing early Dance Theatre of Harlem company dancers as children look on, early 1970s. Unknown photographer. Collection Arthur Mitchell Archive, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University.
Dance Theatre of Harlem ballerina Lydia Abarca, 1970s. Unknown photographer. Collection Arthur Mitchell Archive, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University.
Arthur Mitchell and Allegra Kent in the “Agon” pas de deux, 1962. Photo by Fritz Peyer. Collection Arthur Mitchell Archive, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University.
Arthur Mitchell in class. Photo by Milton Oleaga. Collection Arthur Mitchell Archive, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University.
Portrait of Arthur Mitchell. Unknown photographer. Collection Arthur Mitchell Archive, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University.
Dance Theatre of Harlem Company in front of Church of the Master. Unknown photographer. Courtesy Dance Theatre of Harlem.
The first major exhibition devoted to Arthur Mitchell, this project celebrates the life and accomplishments of the New York City Ballet’s first African American star, and the founder and longtime director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem. Featuring rarities from Mitchell’s personal archive, which he donated to Columbia University’s Rare Book & Manuscript Library in 2014, the presentation will include photographs, drawings, posters, memorabilia, and video footage.
Harlem’s Ballet Trailblazer will feature objects from Mitchell’s archive, including the telegram from Lincoln Kirstein to Mitchell inviting him to join the New York City Ballet, an Al Hirschfeld drawing of Suzanne Farrell and Mitchell in Balanchine's Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, Mitchell’s 1952 Four Saints in Three Acts souvenir program and posters from the 1961 Spoleto Festival, where Mitchell both choreographed and performed. Other highlights are photographs of Mitchell and fellow dancers by Anthony Crickmay, Peter Basch, Martha Swope and Antony Armstrong-Jones (Lord Snowdon), and an eight-foot-long Dance Theatre of Harlem puzzle, created by Frank Bara in 1991, that chronicles the first two decades of the company’s history with illustrative detail of its artists, heroes and friends. Dancer Charmaine Hunter’s costume and headpiece designed by Geoffrey Holder for Firebird (1982), one of Dance Theatre of Harlem’s signature works, will be on view, as well as performance footage from the New York Public Library's Jerome Robbins Dance Division and elsewhere.
“I am a political activist through dance,” said Mitchell, who received a Doctorate of Humane Letters from Columbia in May of 2016. “I believe that dance, and the arts more broadly, can be used as a catalyst for social change—this is why I started the Dance Theatre of Harlem. With my archive at Columbia, artifacts of American dance history and African American history are accessible to young scholars, academics and the general public. The exhibition at the Wallach Gallery will further this push for change.”
Arthur Mitchell: Harlem's Ballet Trailblazer is presented in collaboration with the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University.
Presented with support from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.
Arthur Mitchell: Harlem's Ballet Trailblazer is presented in collaboration with the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University.
Exhibition Dates
JANUARY 13–MARCH 11, 2018
“I believe that dance, and the arts more broadly, can be used as a catalyst for social change—this is why I started the Dance Theatre of Harlem.”
January 12, 2018
Opening Reception for Arthur Mitchell: Harlem's Ballet Trailblazer
The Wallach Art Gallery invites you to join us as we present Arthur Mitchell: Harlem's Ballet Trailblazer, curated by Lynn Garafola, Professor Emerita of Dance, Barnard College, and presented in collaboration with the Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University. The first major exhibition devoted to Arthur Mitchell, this project celebrates the life and accomplishments of the New York City Ballet's first African American star, and the founder and longtime director of the Dance Theater of Harlem. This event will take place on Friday, January 12, from 6-8 pm in the spacious new Wallach Art Gallery at the Lenfest Center for the Arts.
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