For fifty years, Dance Theatre of Harlem has provided access to ballet for all. Comprised of an international touring company, a training school, and a celebrated arts education and community engagement program, Dance Theatre of Harlem demonstrates the power of art to transform lives.

The program will include Return (1999), the signature work of the company’s longtime resident choreographer Robert Garland, which is set to funk and soul music; Passage (2019), a ballet inspired by the 400^th anniversary of the arrival of the first African slaves in Virginia, choreographed by Claudia Schreier, and performed to music by Catalyst Quartet violinist and composer Jessie Montgomery; and other works.

Compelled to make a positive impact following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., the legendary dancer Arthur Mitchell started a school with his teacher, Karel Shook. Mitchell’s idea was to offer children in the Harlem neighborhood, in which he grew up, the opportunity to change their futures by challenging themselves against the rigors of a classical art form. In 1971, only two years after its founding, The New York Times called Dance Theatre of Harlem “one of ballet’s most exciting undertakings.”

Celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this season, the company has an extraordinary legacy based on thrilling performances and artistic excellence predicated on providing opportunity where none had existed. Through performance, training, and education, the impact of Dance Theatre of Harlem continues to be felt across the globe.