Main content
Harlem's Legendary Ballet Dancer
Arthur Mitchell started the Dance Theatre of Harlem to train black ballet dancers.
Arthur Mitchell is the pioneering African-American ballet dancer who grew up in poverty in New York City, then danced his way onto the most prestigious stages in the world. After the assassination of Martin Luther King in 1968, he returned to his roots to found the Dance Theatre of Harlem and train a new generation of black dancers.
Image: Arthur Mitchell at the White House in 2006 with some of his dancers from the Dance Theatre of Harlem
Credit: Ron Sachs-POOL/Getty Images
Podcast
-
![]()
The Outlook Podcast Archive
True stories of ordinary people and the extraordinary events that have shaped their lives
