Theatre Of Harlem

Arthur Mitchell is the sort of man they make films about. In 1955, at a time when segregation, and worse, blighted American life, he became the first black ballet dancer at New York City Ballet, wowing the crowds and working alongside Balanchine and Stravinsky, those two geniuses who fled Russia and transformed music and dance making in the West.

Mitchell then formed his own troupe, the Dance Theatre Of Harlem, fighting what he calls, 'the fallacy that black kids couldn't do classical ballet'. They can, of course, he says, and 'brilliantly'.

That was in 1968, since when the troupe has flourished, performing the classics with flair as well as giving them an African-American slant. For instance, Firebird gives Stravinsky's Russian fairytale a tropical
twist, while its Creole Giselle flips the Germanic story into an American morality tale.
If all that weren't enough, Mitchell also looks fantastic, with a vitalty that belies his 68 years. 'What I learnt is that I had to be as good as the next man,' he smiles.

Mitchell's troupe (including Donald Williams and Kellye A. Saunders, right) arrives at the Wells with two stylish mixed bills. The first (Mon 4-Thurs 7 Nov) includes Balanchine's 'The Four Temperaments', Dwight Rhoden's 'Twist' and Robert Garland's 'New Bach'.

The second programme (Fri 8 & Sat 9 Nov) includes Robert Garland's 'Return', a tribute to the music of James Brown and Aretha Franklin which normally sends the audience into raptures.