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Arthur
Mitchell was born on March 27, 1934, New York, NY. He was an US American dancer, choreographer, and director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem.
Arthur Mitchell is known around the world as an accomplished artistic director, educator,
choreographer and dancer. He has been a pivotal figure in the dance world for more than five decades.
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.
History was made in 1955 when Arthur Mitchell became the first African-American male dancer to become
a permanent member of a major ballet company.
In 1956 he 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 blacks 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.
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