- Born
- Died
- Birth nameArthur Adams Mitchell Jr.
- Arthur Mitchell was born on March 27, 1934 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for Dance Theatre of Harlem: Fall River Legend (1989), Playhouse 90 (1956) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (1967). He died on September 19, 2018 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.
- He founded (along with the late Karel Shook) the Dance Theatre of Harlem in 1969.
- He is a dancer and choreographer.
- He was awarded the American National Medal of the Arts in 1995 by the National Endowment of the Arts in Washington D.C.
- When he was hired by choreographer George Balanchine in 1955 to join the New York City Ballet, he was one of the first black dancers in a major American ballet company. He made his debut with the company in 1955 in "Western Symphony"; two years later he was the lead male dancer in "Agon".
- He was the oldest of five siblings; their father was a janitor. When he was a teenager, a school guidance counselor saw him do the jitterbug and encouraged him to apply to New York's prestigious High School of Performing Arts. He auditioned with a Fred Astaire-inspired tap routine and was accepted. After he graduated, he turned down a scholarship to Bennington College's respected modern-dance program, and attended the School of American Ballet.
- I could wait for others to change things for black Americans. Here I am running around the world doing all these things - why not do them at home? I believe in helping people the best way you can; my way is through art.
- I said I would [join the New York City Ballet] with one condition: that there be no publicity that a negro - at that time we used the word 'negro' - was breaking any kind of racial barrier. I wanted to get in the company on my own merits.
- When Dance Theatre of Harlem started, there was still a fallacy that black people could not do classical ballet. People said to me, "Arthur, you're the exception." "No," I said, "I had the opportunity."
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