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Mo'colour, mo'ballet >> The emotional commitment and pure talent of Dance Theatre of Harlem by TOBY BLAKEY
Founded in 1968 by Arthur Mitchell following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., the Dance Theatre of Harlem has become not just an actively working dance troupe but also a symbolic institution. Mitchell, who was the first black male dancer to become a permanent member of a major ballet company when he joined the New York City Ballet in 1955, saw it as his duty to provide the community of Harlem with the same opportunities he had been offered. Over the years, the company has grown into successful touring business and today Dance Theatre's commitment toward the community is as strong as it was nearly 30 years ago. This commitment is most obvious from their Dancing Through Barriers programme, which enables the Dance Theatre to reach out to kids from poor areas who think that ballet is all nuts and swans. The company visits mixed schools and poor environments to teach dance and the importance of self-esteem. The kids make a link between ballet movements and the dance moves they try out in the street and instantly ballet becomes acceptably cool. Dance Theatre also taps into the changing character of dance audiences. Touring the world, Thomas has noticed this change. "Our goal is to involve everybody. Every summer in New York, every street has its own festival and on our street [152nd] we have a free performance, not only dance theatre, but Spanish dance and music. There are vendors on the street, it's part of the community." When I asked Thomas to explain the three performances the company intend for its Montreal premiere of Dougla, he lost no time making his pitch. "To see Dougla is to experience Geoffrey Holder, who was not only choreographer and composer, but he created the costumes too. He's also a painter--everything's balanced, it looks like a painting." Dougla was written specifically for the Dance Theatre of Harlem in 1974, and celebrates the wedding of a Dougla couple of mixed African and Indian origin. Firebird, the second piece, was written by Michel Fokine in the early 20th-century but has been revamped by the Dance Theatre, resetting it in an imaginary tropical jungle. Finally, Adrian (Angel on Earth) was choreographed by John Alleyne, an African-Canadian who used to dance with the National Ballet and who is now artistic director with the DC Ballet. "Just to see what he can create on us," Thomas ventures, "is to see what happens when Canada and the U.S. meet." At Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Place des Arts, Friday, Oct. 24, 8pm, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2pm and 8pm. 842-2112
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"We're not just on stage to dance or to appear as something pretty. We're a company that has something to say through our dancing--we're dancers of colour redefining classical ballet," explains Kevin Thomas, a leading soloist with the Dance Theatre of Harlem, from his home base New York.