FOUNDERS
Arthur Mitchell Karel Shook
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Virginia Johnson
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Anna Glass
RESIDENT CHOREOGRAPHER
Robert Garland
INTERIM GENERAL MANAGER
Melinda Bloom
DANCE ARTISTS
Lindsey Donnell Yinet Fernandez Alexandra Hutchinson
Daphne Lee Kamala Saara Crystal Serrano Ingrid Silva
Amanda Smith Delaney Washington Stephanie Rae Williams
Derek Brockington Micah Bullard Kouadio Davis
Keenan English Christopher McDaniel
Sanford Placide Anthony Santos Dylan Santos David Wright
Park City Institute Artist Liaison
JENNY KNAAK
Park City Institute Technical Director
HAYDEN CHIPLEY
Theater
The Eccles Center is the largest theater in Park City, Utah with 1,240 seats. It is home to Park City Institute's Main Stage Season from October through May each year, presenting a broad range of world-class performing arts from international dance companies to Broadway icons to beloved author/humorists to virtuosos in a host of musical styles from Chamber Music to rock'n'roll.
Health and Safety
The Park City Institute and the Park City School District have taken measures to assure the health and safety of our patrons, staff, and performers. We are constantly adjusting our COVID protocols based on the recommendations of the CDC, and directives of local and state health departments. Permanent changes include, updated HVAC, touch-less restrooms faucets, electronic ticketing, electronic programs, enhanced cleaning, and all volunteers and staff to be fully vaccinated. Based on guidance, we adjust the capacity of the theater and reserve empty seats between ticketed groups.
Currently, we are limiting attendance to our main stage series to 50% of the house and recognize that being fully vaccinated and wearing a mask are the best ways to prevent the spread of the virus. If you don’t feel well, or have a cough or a fever we ask that you remain home.
Park City Institute
Presents
Dance Theatre of Harlem
OVER FIFTY YEARS OF DANCE THEATRE OF HARLEM
The fifty-three-year history of Dance Theatre of Harlem is a landscape of peaks and valleys inhabited by a race of dreamers, achievers, and yes, history makers. DTH co-founder Arthur Mitchell was all the above as well as premier danseur, choreographer, and teacher. We used to call him “our fearless leader” because he marched forward never thinking that what he sought to do would have been impossible for anyone else. His passing in 2018 left us bereft but determined that the institution he and Karel Shook incorporated on February 11, 1969, will endure and thrive.
Arthur Mitchell believed in the power of art to change lives and open minds. The DTH Company, School, and our arts education program, “Dancing Through Barriers,” became the manifestation of that idea. While the School and DTB served the Harlem community, with the Company, Arthur Mitchell was able to take his vision across the globe. The DTH Company, a mix of African Americans, Hispanics, Asians and Caucasians, was a vivid demonstration of the premise that the art form of classical ballet belongs to us all.
The social impact of Dance Theatre of Harlem’s national and international touring for more than 50 years is often noted, but as significant is the depth and breadth of the company’s artistic prowess. With a repertoire that ranges from Mitchell’s own neoclassical works (he learned his craft at George Balanchine’s knee, after all), historic Ballet Russes, classics such as Scheherazade and Les Noces, to great American narrative works such as Billy The Kid, Fall River Legend, and the groundbreaking productions of Creole Giselle and Firebird that linger in the collective consciousness, throughout its history Dance Theatre of Harlem has expanded the notion of what ballet can be.
Virginia Johnson
Artistic Director
Program
ORANGE
Choreography: Stanton Welch
Music: Antonio Vivaldi
Costume Design: Holly Hynes
Lighting Design: Andrew DG Hunt
Staging: Sean Kelly
Costumes by arrangement with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre
AMANDA SMITH CHRISTOPHER CHARLES McDANIEL
LINDSEY DONNELL DEREK BROCKINGTON
ALEXANDRA HUTCHINSON DYLAN SANTOS
Pause
THIS BITTER EARTH ©
(World Premiere: August 6, 2012, DTH Premiere March 10, 2018)
Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon
Music: Clyde Otis
Costumes: Katy Freeman
Lighting: Will Cotton
YINET FERNANDEZ KOUADIO DAVIS
“Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon’s sublime pas de deux, This Bitter Earth is set to a mashup of Max Richter’s minimalist “On the Nature of Daylight” and Dinah Washington’s soulful rendition of the 1960s Rhythm and Blues hit, “This Bitter Earth.” The resulting brief encounter between a man and a woman leads one to believe that “…this bitter earth may not be so bitter after all.”
Music performed by Max Richter & Dinah Washington
Permission by special arrangement with Mute Song Ltd. and Third Side Music Inc.
Intermission
PASSAGE
(World Premiere May 3, 2019)
Choreography by Claudia Schreier
Music by Jessie Montgomery
Costume Design by Martha Chamberlain
Lighting Design by Nicole Pearce
DYLAN SANTOS DEREK BROCKINGTON
Amanda Smith Ingrid Silva Crystal Serrano Kamala Saara
Yinet Fernandez Delaney Washington
Micah Bullard Kouadio Davis Keenan English David Wright
Passage was commissioned by the Virginia Arts Festival in partnership with American Evolution for the 50th Anniversary of Dance Theatre of Harlem and the 2019 Commemoration, recognizing the 400th anniversary of a series of pivotal events in America's history — including the first documented arrival of enslaved Africans. The ballet reflects, in abstract, the fortitude of the human spirit and an enduring will to prevail.
Support for Passage was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Additional commissioning funds provided by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation through Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Women Who Move Us initiative, O’Donnell-Green Music and Dance Foundation and the Princess Grace Foundation-USA, the City of Norfolk, Virginia, the Friedrich Ludwig Diehn Fund of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Funding for live musical accompaniment for Passage was provided in part by The Aaron Copland Fund for Music.
The Virginia Arts Festival production residency for Passage was funded by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, with funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Intermission
RETURN
(World Premiere September 21, 1999)
Choreography: Robert Garland
Music: James Brown, Alfred Ellis, Aretha Franklin, Carolyn Franklin
Costume Design and Execution: Pamela Allen-Cummings
Lighting: Roma Flowers
“Mother Popcorn”
INGRID SILVA
Yinet Fernandez Crystal Serrano Kamala Saara Daphne Lee Delaney Washington
CHRISTOPHER CHARLES MCDANIEL
Derek Brockington Dylan Santos David Wright Sanford Placide Kouadio Davis
"Baby, Baby, Baby"
ALEXANDRA HUTCHINSON KEENAN ENGLISH
Delaney Washington Kouadio Davis Crystal Serrano Dylan Santos
“I Got The Feelin’”
INGRID SILVA DAVID WRIGHT KOUADIO DAVIS
Daphne Lee Sanford Placide Delaney Washington
“Call Me”
CRYSTAL SERRANO DYLAN SANTOS
The Company
"Superbad"
CHRISTOPHER CHARLES MCDANIEL
The Company
Return was choreographed for Dance Theatre of Harlem's 30th anniversary. Choreographer Robert Garland calls the ballet's style "post-modern urban neoclassicism - an attempt to fuse an urban physical sensibility and a neoclassical one." Staged for 12 dancers to songs performed by James Brown and Aretha Franklin, Return is "... a witty fusion of ballet technique and street gait whose irony toward rhythm-and- blues had the audience in stitches." (The New York Times)
"Mother Popcorn " and “Superbad” performed by James Brown
"Baby, Baby, Baby" performed by Aretha Franklin
By arrangement with Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
“Call Me” performed by Aretha Franklin
Courtesy of Pronto Music and Fourteenth Hour Music, Inc.
"I Got the Feelin’" performed by James Brown
By arrangement with Round Hill, Inc.
Return was commissioned by Arthur Mitchell and Dance Theatre of Harlem.
Commissioned by New York City Center for the Fall For Dance Festival, the development of Balamouk was supported through 50th anniversary commissioning support provided by the Seattle Theater Group and by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation through Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Women Who Move Us Initiative. Support for new dance works at City Center is provided by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation and Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
THE DANCE THEATRE OF HARLEM COMPANY
DEREK BROCKINGTON
Born: Chicago, IL and raised in Holland, MI. Training: Grand Rapids Ballet School, Interlochen Arts Academy, Ballet West and Pennsylvania Ballet Summer Intensives. Professional Experience: Dance Theatre of Harlem (fourth season), Cincinnati Ballet, Grand Rapids Ballet. Repertoire includes works by Claudia Schreier, Robert Garland, Stanton Welch, George Balanchine, Anabelle Lopez Ochoa, and Darrell Grand Moultrie. Along with DTH’s Alexandra Hutchinson, he coordinates DTH social media.
MICAH BULLARD
Born: Houston, TX. Training: The Dance Center of Baytown, University of Oklahoma School of Dance (BFA 2019), Jacob’s Pillow Contemporary Ballet Program, Dance Theatre of Harlem Summer Intensive, Texas Ballet Theater Summer Intensive. Professional Experience: Oklahoma City Ballet, Hartel Dance Group, and Dance Theatre of Harlem (first season). Repertoire includes original works by Amy Hall Garner, Trey McIntyre, Colin Connor, as well as Alejandro Cerrudo’s “Lickety Split,” Merce Cunningham’s “How to Pass, Kick, Fall and Run” and Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake.
KOUADIO DAVIS
Born: Oneonta, NY. Training: Holbrook-Wade School of Dance, Fokine Ballet, New York State Summer School of the Arts with Daniel Ulbricht, NYCB. Carolyn Adams. Alvin Ailey, Nutmeg Ballet, Charlotte Ballet, Alonzo King Lines, French Academie of Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Springboard Danse Montreal. 2019 Graduate of Ellison Ballet. Awards: Youth America Grand Prix in 2017 and 2018, where he and his partner won second and then first place in the contemporary Pas de Deux category. Professional Experience: Dance Theatre of Harlem (third season).
LINDSEY DONNELL
Born: Midland, TX. Training: A Petite Dance Studio, Midland Festival Ballet under Susan Clark. Education: cum laude graduate of Butler University, degree in Dance Arts Administration and Journalism. Professional Experience: Dance Theatre of Harlem (tenth season), Nashville Ballet (trainee). Repertoire includes works by Robert Garland, Nacho Duato, Ulysses Dove, George Balanchine, Donald Byrd, Elena Kunikova and Dianne McIntyre.
KEENAN ENGLISH
Born: Randallstown, MD. Training: Baltimore School for the Arts, Boston Ballet, and School of American Ballet. Professional Experience: Boston Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Carolina Ballet, and Dance Theatre of Harlem (second season). Repertoire includes ballets by Nacho Duato, George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Ulysses Dove, Helen Pickett, Robert Garland, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Val Caniparoli, Alvin Ailey, Septime Webre, Nicolo Fonte, Francesca Harper, Lynn Taylor Corbett.
YINET FERNANDEZ
Born: Mariano’ La Habana, Cuba. Training: Provincial School of the Arts, National School of Ballet, Ballet Nacional de Cuba. Professional experience: Dance Theatre of Harlem (fifth season), Connecticut Ballet, Ballet Nacional de Cuba. Repertoire includes Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Giselle, Coppélia, La Fille mal gardée, Don Quixote and works by George Balanchine, Robert Garland, Christopher Wheeldon, Darrell Grand Moultrie and Dianne McIntyre.
ALEXANDRA HUTCHINSON
Born: Wilmington, DE. Training: The Washington School of Ballet, Wilmington Academy of Dance, and summer intensives with Alvin Ailey, Alonzo King, Carolina Ballet, Ballet Chicago, and Nashville Ballet 2. Education: Bachelor of Science in Ballet, Indiana University, Jacobs School of Music. Professional Experience: Dance Theatre of Harlem (fourth season), Nashville Ballet. Repertoire includes Orange by Stanton Welch; Return and New Bach by Robert Garland; Balamouk by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa; Harlem on My Mind and Vessels by Darrell Grand Moultrie; George Balanchine’s Valse Fantasie, Western Symphony, Swan Lake, Concerto Barocco, Divertimento No. 15, Emeralds, Rubies, and Giselle; Paul Vasterling’s Sleeping Beauty; Septime Webre's and Michael Vernon's The Nutcracker. Alexandra is the recipient of The Pierians Foundation Incorporated 2018 Emerging Young Artist Award, Virginia Johnson Scholar, Washington School of Ballet Professional Training Program tuition stipend, 2010, 2011, and 2012. Along with DTH’s Derek Brockington, she shares the position of DTH Social Media coordinator.
DAPHNE MARCELLE LEE
Rahway, NJ. Training: Rahway Dance Theatre by her late mother Jay Skeete-Lee, and the Dance Theatre of Harlem School. Education: BFA in Dance, Ailey/Fordham University, and MFA from Hollins University. . Professional Experience: Dance Theatre of Harlem (third season), Collage Dance Collective, Oakland Ballet, Alvin Ailey II, Black Iris Project. Repertoire includes works by Jessica Lang, Benoit Swan-Pouffer, Nicolo Fonte, Dwight Rhoden, Jennifer Archibald, George Balanchine, Amy Seiwart, Joyce Trisler, and Darrell Moultrie.
CHRISTOPHER CHARLES MCDANIEL
Born: East Harlem, NY. Training: Dance Theatre of Harlem School, LaGuardia School of Performing Arts, Ballet Academy East, Boston Ballet, Jacob’s Pillow. Professional Experience: Dance Theatre of Harlem (fifth season), Ballet San Antonio, Los Angeles Ballet. Repertoire includes works by Robert Garland, Ulysses Dove, Darryl Grand Moultrie, Colleen Neary, Thordal Christensen, George Balanchine, Jiri Kylian, Gerald Arpino, Christopher Stowell and Kitty McNamee. Christopher is an accomplished ballet teacher and DTH Social Media Manager.
SANFORD PLACIDE
Born: Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Training: Ballet Etudes of South Florida, Manhattan Youth Ballet, The French Académie of Ballet, Nadege Hottier, American Ballet Theatre, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Ballet Austin, Ballet Hispanico, Lines Ballet, and Miami City Ballet. Professional Experience: Dance Theatre of Harlem (third season), Alberta Ballet in Canada, Ballet West, Charlotte Ballet (formerly NCDT), Ballet Etudes of South Florida, Vorhees Ballet Theatre, Ballet Des Amériques, Fjkdance, Collage Dance Collective, Black Iris Dance Project, Boca Ballet Theatre, Ballet Northwest, Traverse City Dance Project, and Accent Dance. Special Honors: In commemoration of Haitian Flag Day 2018, Sanford partnered with the Consulate General of Haiti in New York to organize and produce UNI, an art collective where he premiered the riveting ballet MAGA. In 2019, Sanford produced Sans-Souci, the second staging in the UNI series and was honored by the Consulate General of Haiti in New York for his work in preserving Haitian culture. Repertoire includes works by George Balanchine, Nacho Duato, Glenn Tetley, Desmond Richardson, Robert Garland, Mark Diamond, Yukicchi Hattori, Wen Wei Wang, Aszure
KAMALA SAARA
Born: Los Angeles, CA. Training: Yuri Grigoriev School of Ballet, School of American Ballet. Professional Experience: Dance Theatre of Harlem (first season). Kamala is a recipient of the Grow Annenberg Fellowship and a full scholarship for the School of American Ballet. She received the 1st place Award Training/Performance Scholarship at the 2018 Bolshoi Ballet Academy and placed 2nd in the classical category at the 2016 Youth American Grand Prix Paris, France.
ANTHONY SANTOS
Born: New York, NY. Training: Rosie’s Theatre Kids, North Carolina School of the Arts, Jacobs Pillow, Alonzo King LINES, Joffrey Ballet. Professional experience: Dance Theatre of Harlem (fifth season), Kaatsbaan, Zest Collective, La Spezia Jazz Festival and Caitlin Trainor Dance. Repertoire includes Susan Jaffe's Polivestian, Doug Varone's Democracy, Christopher Wheldon's This Bitter Earth, Lucinda Child's Concerto, Ulyesses Dove's Dancing on the Front Porch of Heaven, Robert Garland's Return, New Bach and Braham’s Variation, Darrell Grand Moultrie's Vessels, Harlem on my Mind, Geoffrey Holder's Dougla, Paul Taylor's Esplanade, Merce Cunningham's Sounddance Annabelle Lopez Ochoa's Balamouk, Stanton Welch's Orange, and Sasha Jane's Lascia la Spina.
DYLAN SANTOS
Born: São Paulo, Brazil. Training: Centro de Artes Pavilhao D under Ricardo Scheir and Harid Conservatory. Professional experience: Dance Theatre of Harlem (eighth season), Houston Ballet trainee, Orlando Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Ballet Chicago, and Paris Opera Ballet. Repertoire includes works by George Balanchine, Nacho Duato, Robert Garland, and Ulysses Dove, and Marius Petipa.
CRYSTAL SERRANO
Born: Denver, CO. Training: Pacific Northwest Ballet, School of American Ballet, nd Olympic Ballet Theatre. Professional experience: Dance Theatre of Harlem (fifth season), Ballet San Antonio, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Sacramento Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet. Repertoire includes Don Quixote, The Nutcracker, Peter Pan, Firebird, Donizetti Variations, Cinderella, The Four Temperaments, Allegro Brillante, The Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Serenade, and Swan Lake and works by Robert Garland, Christopher Wheeldon and Darrell Grand Moultrie.
INGRID SILVA
Born: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Training: Projeto Dan-cando Para Nao Dancar, Escola de Danca Maria Olenewa, and Centro de Movimento Debora Colker. Education: Universidade da Cidade. Professional experience: Dance Theatre of Harlem (tenth season), Grupo Corpo (apprentice), Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble, Dançando Para Não Dançar, Armitage Gone! Dance, and the Francesca Harper Project. Repertoire includes works by Arthur Mitchell, Donald Byrd, George Balanchine, Dianne McIntyre, John Alleyne, Darrel Grand Moultrie, Francesca Harper, Robert Garland, David Fernandez, Carol Armitage, Deborah Colker, Rodrigo Pederneiras ans Annabelle Lopez-Ocha. In 2017 Silva was the first African Brazilian to be on the cover of Pointe Magazine and appeared on the cover of Vogue Brasil November 2020. She is the Founder of EmpowHerNY & Co Founder of Blacks in Ballet.
AMANDA SMITH
Born: Orange County, CA. Training: Charlotte Ballet, SUNY Purchase, Joffrey Ballet School, Anaheim Ballet, Pointe of Grace, Ballet Pacifica. Professional Experience: Dance Theatre of Harlem (fifth season), Charlotte Ballet, New York Theatre Ballet, Black Iris Project. Repertoire includes works by George Balanchine, Mark Diamond, Sasha James, Dwight Rhoden, Alonzo King, Jiri Killian, Dianne McIntyre and Helen Pickett.
DELANEY WASHINGTON
Born: San Francisco Bay area. Training: Lise la Cour's LaCademy, The Ailey School/Fordham University, and Jacob's Pillow Summer Program 2021 under the direction of Helen Pickett and Milton Myers. Professional Experience: Palm Beach Dance Festival, Dance Theatre of Harlem (first season). Repertoire includes works by Dwight Rhoden, Helen Simoneau, Yusha Marie-Sorzano, Maurya Kerr, Pedro Ruiz, and Andre Zachery. Delaney is the recipient of the Alvin Ailey Artistic Scholarship.
STEPHANIE RAE WILLIAMS
Born: Salt Lake City, Utah. Training: Dallas Dance Academy with Lyndette Galen and Fiona Fairrie, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Springboard Danse Montreal, The Juilliard School, Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet, and Houston Ballet Academy. Professional experience: Dance Theatre of Harlem (12th season), The Francesca Harper Project, ARC Dance Seattle, Complexions Contemporary Dance Company, Ballet Black, and Texas Ballet Theatre. Repertoire includes works by Pam Tanowitz, Nacho Duato, Jose Limon, Helen Pickett, Arthur Mitchell, Donald Byrd, George Balanchine, John Alleyne, Dianne McIntyre, Darrel Grand Moultrie, Francesca Harper, Liam Scarlett, Robert Garland, and David Fernandez. Stephanie is the recipient of The Dallas Dance Council’s 2017 Natalie Skelton Award, 2013 Dance Magazine “On the Rise”, 2006 National Foundation for the Arts Award, 2006 Youth America Grand Prix finalist, Oprah Winfrey Fellowship recipient at the Ailey School, 2004 Texas Commission on the Arts Young Master.
DAVID WRIGHT
Born: Ft. Polk, Louisiana. Training: Infiniti Performing Arts Center, Indiana Ballet Conservatory, Orlando Ballet School. Professional Experience: Orlando Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem (first season). Repertoire: Jorden Morris’ Moulin Rouge, Val Caniparolis’ Lamberna, Orlando Ballet’s Nutcracker, and Carmina Burana. David was Finalist at Beijing International Ballet and Choreography Competition 2019.
VIRGINIA JOHNSON (Artistic Director)
A founding member of Dance Theatre of Harlem, Virginia Johnson was one of its principal ballerinas over a career that spanned nearly 30 years. After retiring in 1997, Ms. Johnson went on to found Pointe Magazine and was editor-in chief for 10 years. A native of Washington, D.C., Ms. Johnson began her training with Therrell Smith. She studied with Mary Day at the Washington School of Ballet and graduated from the Academy of the Washington School of Ballet and went on to be a University Scholar in the School of the Arts at New York University before joining Dance Theatre of Harlem. Virginia Johnson is universally recognized as one of the great ballerinas of her generation and is perhaps best known for her performances in the ballets Giselle, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Fall River Legend. She has received such honors as a Young Achiever Award from the National Council of Women, Outstanding Young Woman of America and the Dance Magazine Award, a Pen and Brush Achievement Award, the Washington Performing Arts Society’s 2008-2009 Pola Nirenska Lifetime Achievement Award, and the 2009 Martha Hill Fund Mid-Career Award.
ARTHUR MITCHELL (Co-Founder)
Arthur Mitchell was known around the world for creating and sustaining the Dance Theatre of Harlem, the internationally acclaimed ballet company he co-founded with Karel Shook in 1969. Following a brilliant career as a principal artist with the New York City Ballet, Mr. Mitchell dedicated his life to changing perceptions and advancing the art form of ballet through the first permanently established African American and racially diverse ballet company.
Born in New York City in 1934, Mr. Mitchell began his dance training at New York City's High School of the Performing Arts, where he won the coveted annual dance award and subsequently a full scholarship to the School of American Ballet. In 1955, he became the first male African American to become a permanent member of a major ballet company when he joined New York City Ballet. Mr. Mitchell rose quickly to the rank of Principal Dancer during his fifteen-year career with New York City Ballet and electrified audiences with his performances in a broad spectrum of roles. Upon learning of the death of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and with financial assistance from Mrs. Alva B. Gimbel, the Ford Foundation and his own savings, Mr. Mitchell founded Dance Theatre of Harlem with his mentor and ballet instructor Karel Shook.
With an illustrious career that has spanned over fifty years, Mr. Mitchell is the recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors, a National Medal of the Arts, a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, the New York Living Landmark Award, the Handel Medallion, the NAACP Image Award, and more than a dozen honorary degrees.
Karel Shook (Co-Founder) played a key role as teacher and mentor to African American dance artists in New York in the 1950s. In addition to cofounding Dance Theatre of Harlem with Arthur Mitchell in 1969, he also was a ballet master, choreographer, and author. Born in 1920, Mr. Shook was a native of Renton, Washington. Encouraged to study ballet, at age 13 he was a protégé of Nellie Cornish and received a scholarship to the Cornish School of Allied Arts in Seattle. While his performance career was brief, he appeared on Broadway and danced with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and New York City Ballet. Mr. Shook’s brief performance career led to teaching and choreographing, mainly in Europe but also in New York. In the early 50s he opened Studio Arts, one of the few dance studios in the city where African Americans could study ballet. Among his students were Carmen de Lavallade, Pearl Primus, Geoffrey Holder, Louis Johnson, Alvin Ailey, and Arthur Mitchell, who first came to him at age 17. Mr. Shook left New York in 1959 to become the ballet master of the Dutch National Ballet, where he was when his former student, Arthur Mitchell, asked him to return to New York to help create the Dance Theatre of Harlem. Mr. Shook was an advocate of the universality of classical ballet. His book, Elements of Classical Ballet explores the development of classical ballet in such countries across the globe as China, Turkey, Iran, Japan, Cuba, and Mexico. In 1980 he was awarded the United States Presidential Award for “Excellence and Dedication in Education.”
ROBERT GARLAND (Resident Choreographer)
"Robert Garland was a member of the Dance Theatre of Harlem Company achieving the rank of principal dancer. After creating a work for the DTH School Ensemble, Arthur Mitchell invited Robert Garland to create a work for The Dance Theatre of Harlem Company and appointed him the organization’s first Resident Choreographer. He is Director of the DTH school.
In addition to choreographing several ballets for DTH, Mr. Garland has also created works for New York City Ballet, Britain's Royal Ballet, Oakland Ballet and many others. His commercial work has included music videos, commercials and short films, including the children’s television show Sesame Street, a Nike commercial featuring New York Yankee Derek Jeter, the NAACP Image Awards, a short film for designer Donna Karan, and the “Charmin Cha-Cha” for Proctor and Gamble. Mr. Garland holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the Juilliard School in New York City.
ANNA GLASS (Executive Director)
Anna has been involved in the performing arts as both an artist and arts administrator for over twenty years. She produced Carmen de Lavallade’s solo show, As I Remember It, an intimate portrait of this legendary artist. Anna previously served as the Managing Director of 651 ARTS, a presenting/producing arts organization dedicated to celebrating contemporary performing arts of the African Diaspora. While at 651 ARTS, she co-produced numerous projects, including the highly regarded national tour of FLY: Five First Ladies of Dance.
Anna has served as a consultant providing strategic planning and fundraising guidance to various non-profit arts organizations, including Urban Bush Women and the Weeksville Heritage Center. She currently serves on the board of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters. She has served as a Hub Site for the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project grant program. After receiving her Juris Doctor from the University of Dayton School of Law, Anna became the Artist Representative for the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, a company she performed with for three years (DCDC2). She is a licensed attorney in the State of New York and lives in Harlem with her husband and daughter.
DTH Company is proud to be supported by: Anonymous, Alphadyne Foundation, Bank of America, Bloomberg LP, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Con Edison, Cornell Family Foundation, Dance/NYC, Davis/Dauray Family Fund, The Jarvis and Constance Doctorow Family Foundation, Dora Donner Ide Core Trust, Downtown Music Holdings, Elephant Rock Foundation, Ford Foundation, Gibson, Dunn, & Crutcher Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, The DuBose & Dorothy Heyward Memorial Fund, The William Talbot Hillman Foundation, The Jockey Hollow Foundation, The Klein Family Foundation, The Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation, John L. McHugh Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Margaret T. Morris Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts with support of the Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with City Council, Paulson Family Foundation, Tatiana Piankova Foundation, Charles H. Revson Foundation, Jerome Robbins Foundation, Shutterfly, The Shubert Foundation, The Thompson Family Foundation, Venable Foundation
Dance Theatre of Harlem, Inc.
Everett Center for the Performing Arts
466 West 152nd Street, New York, NY 10031-1814
(212) 690-2800, (212) 690-8736 fax
www.dancetheatreofharlem.org
Board of Directors
Ackneil M. Muldrow III, Chairman
Leslie Wims Morris, Vice-Chairman
Zandra Perry Ogbomo, Treasurer
Martino R. Moore, Secretary
Nancy Pforzheimer Aronson
Kendrick F. Ashton Jr.
Reverend Dr. Calvin O. Butts III
Kevin M. Cofsky
Richard E. Constable III
Isabel Kallman
Erika Munro
Tangela Richter
Scott Simpson
Don M. Tellock, Esq
China White
Dance Theatre of Harlem, National Advisory Board
Dr. Ruby Herd
Leontyne Price
Alex Radin
Morleen Rouse
Jackie Rush
Kerry E. Schaeffner
Edward I. Tishelman, Esq.
Ben Vereen
Lena Horne *
Jessye Norman*
Judith Peabody
Cicely Tyson*
*IN MEMORIUM
Administrative Staff
Virginia Johnson, Artistic Director
Anna Glass, Executive Director
Jordan Oldham, Assistant to the Executive Directors
Ebonie C. Pittman, Sr. Director of Development
Sharon Duncan, Director of Individual Giving
David Levine, Director of Institutional Giving
Jessica Frazier, Development Associate
Keyana K. Patterson, Marketing Manager
Billy Zavelson, General Press Representative
Alexandra Hutchinson & Dereck Brockington, Social Media Coordinators
Mark Rowan, Staff Accountant
Hero Doucas, Human Resources Manager
Kenneth Thomas, Building Operations Manager
Alberto Recinos, Marco Recinos, Maintenance
Company Staff
Guest Rehearsal Director Charmaine Hunter
Resident Choreographer Robert Garland
Company & Interim General Manager Melinda Bloom
Production Stage Manager Alexandra Tenenbaum
Lighting Supervisors William E. Cotton, Shane Cassidy
Wardrobe Supervisor Katy Freeman
Booking Manager Derrick McBride
Physical Therapy & Wellness Alison Deleget & Joshua Honrado, Harkness Center for Dance Injuries
Dance Theatre of Harlem School & Community Programs
Director Robert Garland
Associate Director Lower/Upper School Augustus van Heerden
Associate Director, Tendu Program Rachel Sekyi
Student Affairs Officer Karen Farnum-Williams
Najeree Wallace, Accountant
