Telling the Story of DTH: Arthur Mitchell’s Love Letter
Abstract:
This panel discussion about Arthur Mitchell’s Love Letter is also the title of an anthology being completed by a group of Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) alumni. This text begins a significant scholarly conversation about this groundbreaking Black ballet company. Currently, there are some scholarly articles, picture books, and memoirs, but no comprehensive academic texts about Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) that address the ongoing marginalization of Black presence in ballet throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. This discussion highlights how social and cultural values and representations in American ballet have evolved, especially as each company dancer adopts the mantra of “representing something much larger than yourself,” a principle established by co-founder Arthur Mitchell (1934-2018). By performing a repertoire ranging from ballet’s romantic period to West African and African-derived dances to contemporary choreography, DTH often revises and updates ballet’s cultural narratives, helping to expand the art form beyond its traditionally elitist identity. Through international performances, this ballet company continues the legacy, a path begun by Arthur Mitchell as the first Black male principal dancer at the New York City Ballet in 1955. This panel will explore how these achievements were and continue to be realized today, and how they challenge the ballet world, including academia, to prioritize excellence and commitment over bias.
Presented with contributions from Dr. Adesola Akinleye (Associate Professor of Dance, Texas Woman’s University)
Panelists: Joselli Deans, Associate Professor, University of Utah; Anjali Austin, Professor (Retired), Florida State University; Christina Pierangeli, Adjunct Faculty, Coppin State University; Keith Saunders, Associate Professor, Texas Christian University
Biographies:
Joselli Audain Deans is originally from Brooklyn, NY, and is a first-generation Haitian American. She joined the Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) after receiving most of her training at the company’s school. A scholar and an artist, she holds a Doctorate in Dance Education from Temple University. Her research primarily focuses on Black Dance, with a particular emphasis on Black dancers in American ballet. She also explores the intersection of worship and dance.
She has taught dance technique at professional training schools and academic institutions. She has taught or presented work at the International Association of Blacks in Dance, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, Corps de Ballet International, the University of Georgia, Temple University, the University of Utah, NDEO, Women in Dance, and the Collegium for African Diaspora Dance (CADD). She has served as a consultant for several institutions and projects, including DTH, American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, the School of American Ballet, the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program, San Francisco Ballet, Charlotte Ballet, the Dance Oral History Project for NYPL, and the documentary Black Ballerina. She was also a design and facilitation team member for the Equity Project: Increasing the Presence of Blacks in ballet, which concluded in 2020. She begins her tenure this month as the Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Utah School of Dance, where she is an Associate Professor.
Ms. Austin (Former Professor and Chair, School of Dance, Florida State University; Specialized Master Trainer, GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM®; Independent Artist, Performer, Scholar) served as Professor and Chair in the School of Dance at Florida State University where she taught ballet, pointe, choreographed, and mentored undergraduate and graduate dance majors. She holds an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts from Goddard College, conducts lectures on the history and legacy of Black classical ballet dancers, teaches master classes in ballet, and the Gyrotonic and Gyrokinesis Methods, and is revitalizing her creative prowess as an independent artist.
A thirteen-year member of Dance Theatre of Harlem, Austin has performed nationally and internationally, and worked with iconic teachers and choreographers Valerie Bettis, Alexandra Danilova, Agnes de Mille, Frederick Franklin, Geoffrey Holder, Louis Johnson, Glen Tetley,we as well as other significant artists of that genre. Ballets she has performed include Billy the Kid, Swan Lake (Act II), Serenade, Flower Festival, Dougla, Concerto Barocco, Prince Igor, Paquita, and Frankie and Johnny – in which she held a vocal role. Also to her credits are PBS television specials Fall River Legend, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Creole Giselle.
Austin has over 40 years of experience and training in Pilates, Gyrokinesis and Gyrotonic systems of exercise. She has worked under legendary teachers Kathleen S. Grant, Hilary Cartwright, and Juliu Horvath – under whom she trained and completed her Gyrotonic studies. Ms. Austin was among the first group of teachers certified as a Specialized Gyrotonic Master Trainer, and remains active in the field conducting pre-trainings and teacher trainings within the system.
As artist and performer, Ms. Austin remains active in her creative practices and has developed a solo performative work, Live Oak, based on thirty-three quilts designed and created by her maternal grandmother — Mrs. Gussie Beatrice Arnold Hill. Her most recent venture was a curated exhibition of twenty-two of these quilts with personal memorabilia titled, The Quilts of Mrs. Gussie Beatrice Arnold Hill, which was on display at Florida State University’s Museum of Fine Arts (MoFA) June 13, 2024 – February 8, 2025.
Alongside the above activities Ms. Austin continues to perform, is working on a new choreographic piece titled Aeolian, has had her article, Classical Perspectives: Performance, Pedagogy, and (Changing) Cultures published in the anthology Antiracism in Ballet Teaching, and is completing a second article recounting Dance Theatre of Harlem’s 1988 Soviet Union tour.