Gil Ashby
Memory in Mr Mitchells world
The image is part of a series of published personal paintings and mixed media images documenting the Dance Theater of Harlem. For one fantastic season, circa 85, from the wings in theaters from Harlem to Paris, I was mesmerized by the beauty and power of the company founded and shepherded by the legendary Arthur Mitchell. Mr. Mitchell, as the troops called him, was the first African American Principal Male Dancer of the world-renowned New York City Ballet in 1955. He founded the company in reaction to the civil unrest shaping the country during the 1960s in response to the societal struggles for equal rights.