On Saturday, May 2, Popejoy Hall invites the internationally-renowned Dance Theatre of Harlem to take the stage for a dynamic classical ballet performance.
The program features “Donizetti Variations” by George Balanchine, Robert Garland’s “Higher Ground” — set to the music of Stevie Wonder — and “New Bach,” a fusion of neoclassical and modern styles, the Popejoy press release reads.
DTH Artistic Director Robert Garland keeps the program running, serving as the company’s third artistic director.
“(When it was founded), it was believed that black people could not excel at the classical art forms. That's ballet, music, sculpture, painting, anything from a Western European tradition,” Garland said.
Arthur Mitchell was the company’s first artistic director and founded the company in 1969 after being the first black principal dancer in the New York City Ballet company.
“So here we are, talking 58 years later after that amazing decision,” Garland said.
Garland said the company fulfills its mission of access and opportunity to serious ballet study from around the country and even around the world.
“We are an institution that uplifts our children of color and black children, giving them a really great environment to work in where they see not just one, not just two, but many of their own counterparts that look like themselves,” Garland said.
The company not only performs through tours, but is also a leading studio school, organizing educational and community outreach programs with the youth.
“There's lighting people, there's costume people, there are stage managers, all these people come together to create this thing called the theater,” Garland said. “Sometimes, being involved has nothing to do with being a performer, per se, but just being a part of the theater environment”.
Garland said he was a dancer for the company himself from the 1980s until the early 2000s.
“I think that we have been very successful in changing the mindset of the ballet world,” Garland said. “In most companies now, you'll have at least one or two black dancers, which is just astounding.”
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Leila Chapa is the social media and photo editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at socialmedia@dailylobo.com or on X @lchapa06
Leila Chapa is the photo editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at socialmedia@dailylobo.com or on X @lchapa06
