A00117 - Arthur Mitchell, Director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem

Arthur Mitchell,  (b. March 27, 1934, New York, New York), American dancer, choreographer, and director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem. 

Mitchell attended the High School for the Performing Arts in New York City and began performing in Broadway musicals and with the companies of Donald McKayle and John Butler. In 1956 Mitchell became the only black dancer in the New York City Ballet. He soon became a principal with the company, and George Balanchine created several roles for him, notably those in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1962) and Agon (1967).

Mitchell was sensitive to the prejudice against African Americans in the world of ballet and determined to form an all-black ballet company. In 1968 he and Karel Shook founded an integrated school, whose associated company made its debut in 1971 in New York City and at the Spoleto Festival in Italy. Mitchell choreographed a number of ballets for the Dance Theatre of Harlem.