DANCE THEATRE OF HARLEM - Dance Portrait (PAL)

(Dance portrait)

Running Time : 120 min
Recording Date: 1989
Menu languages: D,GB,F,SP
Subtitle languages: D, F, SP
Region Code: 2,5
Picture Format: 4:3
Sound Format: PCM Stereo
Sel. No. 100 174 PAL

The Dance Theatre of Harlem's birthplace was in a disused garage in Harlem, a black district of New York. Arthur Mitchell, the founder who still acts as its artistic director, set up the ballet school with the aim of giving black dancers the opportunity of sound training, as their skin color meant that they often encountered difficulties finding employment with existing companies which consisted mainly of white dancers. Since its humble beginnings in 1969 - it was founded shortly after the murder of Martin Luther King - the Dance Theatre of Harlem has attained worldwide status. Today the repertoire is performing a representative cross section from the history of artistic dancing. Alongside classics of the Russian school such as Swan Lake and Sheherazade are shown the successful neoclassical dance routines from the years following the First World War as well as works by contemporary choreographers.