Introduction

I’ve grown up and identified as an Iranian-American woman my entire life. My parents made it fairly easy for me to grow up in a world where I didn’t experience much racism or discrimination. Always telling me I could do anything I dreamed of. But that didn’t come without the generational pain of what my parents experienced when they immigrated to the United States as it’s not a new understanding that people of color experience systematic discrimination in the U.S. My parents fought to give me a life and a foundation where I believed in myself, and I believe that ballet dancer Arthur Mitchell believed in the same foundations of allowing anyone with a dream to achieve the things they desire and believe in.

(Arthur Mitchell, 1960. Peter Basch, New York)

I found American ballet dancer and choreographer Arthur Mitchell, to be an incredibly inspiring person. He was the first black dancer with New York City Ballet where he took on the role of principal dancer. To be the first I imagine is to feel the greatest in your time and I find great solace in the stories and lives of strong, radical figures. Especially because historically, radical figures in history are people of color. And I really believe that what Arthur Mitchell did in creating the Dance Theatre of Harlem, was an act of great defiance. The world of ballet is historically created for white aristocrats and the idea of a person saying 'I understand that my body has never had a place in this art but I will create it for myself', is really beautiful. Arthur Mitchell understood the need for inclusivity and and created safe and prosperous spaces for dancers to express themselves regardless of socio-economics, race, or identity. 

Early Life & The Beginning of Arthur's Life with Art

 Arthur Micthell, born March 27th 1934 in the neighborhood of Harlem, New York. The oldest son of five to parents Arthur Adams Mitchell Sr. and Willie Mae Hearns Micthell.  Mitchell was forced to assume financial responsibility for his family at 12 years old due to his father’s incarceration. Due to these unfortunate circumstances, Mitchell had to work a number of jobs including ‘shoe-shining, mopping floors, and newspaper delivery, and working in a meat shop’ (Kiddle). In his childhood, he was still given opportunity for community action. At age ten, his mother enrolled him in tap and glee club at the Police Athletic League, as well as choir in the Convent Avenue Baptist Church (Holmes). But, it’s mentioned that as a child, Mitchell was not unlike other young people at the time that were part of gangs, but through my research, it is only ever a brief mention to the sea of success and good fortune he was able to bring to himself and his community through his dedication to the arts. 

As a Middle Schooler, Mitchell was encouraged by a guidance counselor to pursue dance and pushed for he to audition for the New York City High School of Performing Arts. He was accepted in 1949 and was able to attend with a focus on ‘jazz and modern dance, with a minimal emphasis on ballet’ (Holmes). Mitchell said in an interview with the National Endowment for the Arts, that “when I auditioned, I prepared a tap dance routine to Fred Astaire’s ‘Steppin’ Out with My Baby’, but when I got to the audition, I saw all these trained dancers in modern dance and ballet. I thought, “I’ll never get in.” But they needed male dancers, as usual, and I got in” (Hutter) (But looking into Columbia University’s Library, it’s noted that his audition was ‘staged by Tom Nip, a black vaudevillian, Broadway dancer, and choreographer’, adding to the rich history of black culture to a young Arthur Mitchell’s homage) (Garafola). Mitchell eventually earned a scholarship in his senior year of high school to the School of American Ballet from Lincoln Kirstein, who was the cofounder of New York City Ballet. Mitchell was also offered a modern dance scholarship from Bennington College to attend their school in Vermont but because was there a consistent idea during this time that ‘blacks couldn’t perform ballet because their bodies were deemed ‘unfit for graceful movements,’ Mitchell chose to attend School of American Ballet’ (Holmes). 

Mitchell's Strong Career

While Mitchell was studying at the School of American Ballet, he still continued to perform as a modern dancer with the Donald Mckayle Company and the New Dance Group. Additionally he was a dancer with the dance companies of Sophie Maslow and Anna Soklow. He went on to perform on Broadway in the Arlen Capote musical House of Flowers in 1954 and in July of 1955, he joined the John Butler Company for their European Tour until he receives a telegram from Lincoln Kirstein inviting him to join New York City Ballet on August 24, 1955 (Garafola). It was there that he met his mentor George Balanchine. 

(New York City Ballet rehearsal of “The Four Temperaments” with George Balanchine and Arthur Mitchell, choreography by George Balanchine by Martha Swope, 1963, via The New York Public Library)

It’s well known that Balanchine and Micthell had a close relationship in their works of dance. Balanchie was quoted to be greatly inspired by Mitchell and went on to choreograph many roles for Mitchell while he was a principal dancer at NYCB. These dances included that of the role of Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the notorious role in a interracial pas de deux in Agon.

(Diana Adams and Arthur Mitchell in a 1960 TV broadcast of this groundbreaking 1957 ballet by George Balanchine)

Mitchell’s role as a black dancer brought even more racism to light during his career, but he said in an interview that, ‘At New York City Ballet, everybody was on my side, whatever we did. There were a couple of instances where we would do a television program and the producers said, “Well you can’t do that piece with the black guy.” [New York City Ballet artistic director and choreographer George] Balanchine said, “If Mitchell doesn’t dance, New York City Ballet doesn’t dance.” There were parents of some of the girls in the company who were upset about my dancing with their daughters, and Balanchine said, “Then take them out of the company’ (Hutter). 

(Arthur Mitchell and Diana Adams in Agon. 1957)

Balachine’s decisions to pair a black man with a white woman for Agon was deliberate in that Mitchell saw it as part of the choreography. It didn’t feel the same without the distinction of touch and look and feel between these two dancers, especially during the Civil Right Movement across America. After his time with the New York City Ballet and his time in Brazil working with the National Ballet Company of Brazil, Mitchell decided to return to Harlem where he found himself wanting to give back to his community after the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968. With dancer and friend Karel Shook, they founded the Dance Theatre of Harlem in 1969. The Dance Theater of Harlem was not the first ever ballet company for black dancers but it was a designated stage for ballet trained black dancers to perform in a place where they had been systematically excluded from, “There were always black classical dancers in America—they just never got on stage!” (Maynard).

(Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook. Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook, 1970s. Photograph by Kenny Grossman, New York. Mitchell Collection, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University)

Interesting Facts

 One of the most interesting things I learned about Arthur Mitchell was about the program he started in 1992 called Dancing Through Barriers. They had this program occurring through major cities of America and the clean was to work with local schools and colleges to give demonstrations on dance, costumes, lights, sceneries and to teach classes and hold workshops for further study at the Dance Theater of Harlem. Mitchell added on to this program with international reach when Nelson Mandela reached out two years before his election during the apartheid in South Africa and invited Mitchell to bring opportunities to students. Mitchell took great care not to teach but to share information and build community. It was said that the DTH staff would help with things from ‘how to do a pas de deux to how to apply for a visa’. Mitchell didn’t want to spend his time working politically but for his work to make waves psychologically and to push past social barriers as well. 

(Written by Valerie Gladstone; in Dance Magazine, Vol. 71, no. 3, March, 1997)

His dedication to young people seems to come from his own ideas of self motivation and the dedication he had for his love of art and movement. He says in an interview with Darryl Wood that dance is extremely natural to people because it comes from movement. We move in the womb before birth, we move our limbs and bodies to make gestures in efforts to people to people without a translator. He found movement to be a natural way to express oneself and especially for young kids of color, it’s a way to find confidence in their lives (Gladstone). 

Mitchell mentions in an interview that he could choose to be angry about the systematic racism he experienced growing up and throughout his career. That he could choose violence and angry as an attempt to get what he wanted. But he didn’t feel like that was the role he wanted in his life. He believed in working hard to get what he needed. This being during the time of the Civil Right Movement, I can’t help but wonder if these ideas he expressed were also in political reference to movements like the Black Panters and the separation one had to create to be seen as a ‘respectable’ and ‘hardworking’ person of color. Even though most of his efforts for building education centers like DTH are in direct response to the movements and social sphere at the time (American Black Journal)

(Creole Giselle, September 1987. Dance Theater of Harlem London, England. Reconceived by Arthur Mitchell and staged by Frederic Franklin, based on the original by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot)

Lasting Legacy

 Although George Balanchine was a mentor to Arthur, I wonder what his experience would gave been like in 2024 as a black dancer. Balanchie was quoted as saying that he had to work and be better than everyone else. This just put a lot in perspective for me and reminded me of my parents and their experience raising me in Oklahoma as Middle Eastern immigrants owning a restaurant during the War on the Middle East. Having to work harder and literally pave ways for people to prove that they exist and deserve to hold up space. 

Arthur Mitchell continued most of his work later with the DTH, which is still a running theater for young dancers and artists today. He died on September 19th, 2018 in New York City due to renal failure. Mitchell’s honors include ‘1971 Capezio Award, the 1975 Dance Magazine Award and, in 1993, a Kennedy Center Honor and a Handel Medallion from New York City’ (Holmes). I dream of a place where I can make similar strides for children that grew up like me. Unsure of the space they are allowed to take up. Arthur Mitchell made spaces of accessibility for many people in the future of art, dance, and life. 

(Arthur Mitchell Tribute, 2019. Dance Theatre of Harlem, New York City Center)

Works Cited

 “Arthur Mitchell (Dancer) Facts for Kids.” Arthur Mitchell (Dancer) Facts for Kids, Kiddle, kids.kiddle.co/Arthur_Mitchell_(dancer)#Early_life. Accessed 10 May 2024.

“Arthur Mitchell.” Detroit Public Television’s American Black Journal, 1994, abj.matrix.msu.edu/videofull.php/id=198-733-127/.

“Arthur Mitchell: Harlem’s Ballet Trailblazer.” Columbia University Libraries Online Exhibitions | Arthur Mitchell: Harlem’s Ballet Trailblazer, Columbia University Libraries, exhibitions.library.columbia.edu/exhibits/show/mitchell. Accessed 10 May 2024.

“Arthur Mitchell: Kennedy Center.” The Kennedy Center, www.kennedy-center.org/artists/m/ma-mn/arthur-mitchell/. Accessed 10 May 2024.

“Balanchine Foundation Video Archives: ARTHUR MITCHELL Coaching the Pas de Deux from Agon.” George Balanchine Foundation, 2006. Academic Video Online: Premium Database, Accessed 11 May 2024.

Ferguson, Hope. “Classicism Has No Color, Arthur Mitchell.” University of Utah School of Dance, University of Utah School of Dance, 30 Nov. 2023, www.dance.utah.edu/news/classicism-has-no-color-arthur-mitchell.

Gladstone, Valerie. Dance Magazine, New York, NY, 1997, pp. 70–73. Dance Online: Dance Studies Collection Database, Accessed 11 May 2024.

Gladstone, Valerie. Dance Magazine, New York, NY, 1999, pp. 68–73. Dance Online: Dance Studies Collection Database, Accessed 11 May 2024.

Grimm, Thomas, director. Creole Giselle. Kultur Video, 1987.

Hutter, Victoria. “Arthur Mitchell.” Arthur Mitchell: Giving Back to the Community, National Endowment for the Arts, 2016, www.arts.gov/stories/magazine/2016/1/telling-all-our-stories-arts-and-diversity/arthur-mitchell.

Joel, Lydia. Dance Magazine, New York, NY, 1968, pp. 30–35. Dance Online: Dance Studies Collection Database, Accessed 11 May 2024.

Johnson, Djassi  DaCosta. “Our History: Raising the Barre since 1969.” Dance Theatre of Harlem, www.dancetheatreofharlem.org/our-history/. Accessed 10 May 2024.