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)