Moving forward

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What do think when you think about a place called Harlem? Not its namesake in the Netherlands, but uptown Manhattan. What assumptions do you make about a dance company that calls itself Dance Theatre of Harlem?

If you’re not familiar with this remarkable artistic collective, then you might be interested to know that above all Dance Theatre of Harlem is a ballet company, and proud of it. It was established in 1969 to change not only the lives of dancers through discipline and hard work, but also the lives of all who would see those dancers perform.

The company returns to Kenan Auditorium at the University of North Carolina Wilmington on Saturday, Feb. 23. The program will celebrate DTH's ballet heritage as well as its role in an artistic response to the Civil Rights movement that took place when the company was founded 50 years ago this month. 

Kristen Brogdon, director of the Office of the Arts at the UNCW, said Dance Theatre of Harlem has an incredibly important role in American dance history.

“It was founded 50 years ago by Arthur Mitchell, who was the first African-American principal dancer in the New York City Ballet and one of the first African-American dancers in the public consciousness in America,” Brogdon said.

The company’s artistic director, Virginia Johnson, said the main thing about being a classical ballet company in the 21st century is that it’s always operating amid some kind of political turmoil.

“We're always in some kind of difficulty, socially,” Johnson said by phone from New York. “It's part of the human condition to always be moving toward something socially and politically that may not be well settled. To me, the purpose that Arthur Mitchell had with creating Dance Theatre of Harlem was to show that art is the thing that can guide you forward. Art can answer questions for you. It can give you a sense of order when it all seems chaos.”

Johnson went on to say that Mitchell’s dream, his guiding idea, was that the art that Dance Theatre of Harlem created would bring people together outside the realm of politics, outside the realm of social change.

“It brought together people with a sense of a common humanity, a sense of unity, a sense of aspiration,” she said.

The company will bring to Wilmington a diverse program that Johnson said shows how ballet can be many things. Music inspires movement by the company’s resident choreographer Robert Garland in Bach’s "A Minor Violin Concerto." Contemporary music, traditional spirituals and jazz stir the creative juices in dances by Christopher Wheeldon, Dianne McIntyre and Darrell Grand Moultrie.

“It shows something that's familiar, and something that is very surprising, something that is definitely emotive, and that's something that is representative of who we are as people of color in this country,” Johnson said.

“That's really the purpose of what Dance Theatre of Harlem has been about for all of these 50 years," she added. "Yes, there are things going on in the world that are very disturbing and disrupting. But at the center, our work is to bring people together and to understand that we are human beings with a higher purpose.”

Contact StarNews arts and entertainment at 910-343-2343.

Want to go?

Who: Dance Theater of Harlem, presented by Countywide Community Development Corporation and UNCW Presents

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23

Where: Kenan Auditorium, UNCW campus

Info: Tickets are $35-$55, $100 for the VIP reception

Details: 910-962-3500 or UNCW.edu/arts/presents