Dance Theatre of Harlem Review

On their 50th Anniversary tour, Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) performed at the Granada Theatre in November as part of the UCSB Arts & Lectures Dance Series, with Montecito sponsors Irma and Morrie Jurkowitz, Margo Cohen-Feinberg and Bob Feinberg, Annette and Dr. Richard Caleel, Barbara Stupay, Sheila Wald, and Jody and John Arnhold.

The 15 dancers, under the direction of the company’s founding member and current Artistic Director Virginia Johnson, performed with grace, athleticism, unparalleled technique, timing and cueing, and top notes to their beyond human mid-air suspensions, fluidity, and synchronized formations. Costuming and staging were minimalist and complementary in color. The dancers at this performance were Derek Brockington, Kouadio Davis, Lindsey Donnell, Yinet Fernandez, Dustin James, Alicia Mae Holloway, Alexandra Hutchinson, Choong Hoon Lee, Daphne Lee, Stephanie Rae Williams, Dylan Santos, Anthony Santos, Crystal Serrano, Ingrid Silva, and Amanda Smith.The dances performed were “Orange” with choreo by Stanton Welch to music by Antonio Vivaldi; “This Bitter Earth,” choreo by Christopher Wheeldon and music by Clyde Otis; “Passage,” choreo by Claudia Schreier and music by Jessie Montgomery; and “Balamouk,” choreo by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, and music by Les Yeux Noirs, Lisa Gerrand, and Rene Aubry.

An intimate Q&A with Ms Johnson followed, herself a principal ballerina for 30 years, who later founded Pointe Magazine. With her on panel were: DTH dancers Stephanie Rae Williams, Alicia Mae Holloway and Choong Hoon Lee. Moderator was Monique Meunier, former principal dancer with NY Ballet and American Ballet Theater, now teaching at UCSB. Former Los Angeles ballerina Wendy Jackson, a friend of Johnson, shared that educating children of all backgrounds, cultures, and races on ballet was the mission of DTH’s co-founder Arthur Mitchell, whose childhood dream to be a ballet dancer evolved to principal dancer at ABT NYC, and later his own company-school. The dancers shared stories of their work, the rigorous discipline of dancing under Johnson, and more deeply, what the “inner dialog” of a dancer is while performing: “plié, plié, check my form, smile, and to live and dance in the moment. The purpose of this art form is to make ballet inclusive to how you live your life.”

411: www.dancetheatreofharlem.org