Program: Dance Theatre of Harlem

Welcome to Northrop for what promises to be an extraordinary season of dance and music! We are thrilled to have you join us as we embark on a series of performances that celebrate the beauty and vitality of these dynamic art forms. Each show you experience this season has been selected to showcase a depth and breadth of artists across the country who are creating innovative new work, bringing masterpieces to life, and reflecting our commitment to presenting performances that both inspire and entertain.  We are especially excited to welcome Greg Zelek as the newly appointed Northrop Organist and know that you will enjoy his enthusiasm and virtuosity!

The performances that you see onstage are just one facet of each artist’s engagement with Northrop. In support of our mission to cultivate intersections between arts and education, there are a plethora of opportunities to dive more deeply into the artists and their work. Community roundtables, performance previews, workshops, classes, Q&A’s, and more offer insight into artists’ histories and processes, and give context surrounding the works you will see. Make sure to visit the “Learn More” section on each company’s event page on Northrop’s website to find interdisciplinary thematic connections, discover resources that provide more information on the performers, artforms, and artistic processes, and explore questions that will help engage you in conversations and reflections. Each of these elements are intended to complement and add new depth and dimension to the way you see the performances. I encourage you to visit the website now and often, as new engagements and resources are added throughout the year. While you’re there, explore the many other events happening at Northrop including concerts, lectures, comedy, and more!

We extend our deepest gratitude to our generous donors, subscribers, and supporters. Your unwavering commitment plays a crucial role in our ability to present a diverse range of performances and support the talented artists who grace our stage. As we dive into this vibrant season, we invite you to consider further involvement. Whether through a financial donation, becoming a subscriber, or simply sharing your enthusiasm with others, your support is instrumental in helping to ensure that we can continue bringing the best in dance and music to the Twin Cities community. 

Thank you for being an essential part of Northrop. We look forward to sharing this season of dance and music with you and hope to see you often throughout the year.
 

Gratefully,
Kari Schloner
Executive Director

Greetings and welcome to Northrop,

We are thrilled, honored, and grateful that you are joining us for this performance. Northrop presents some of the greatest dance and music performers from all around the world and has been doing so for almost 100 years!  We are happy that you are a part of our community who supports this amazing work and helps us achieve our belief that the arts are essential to the human experience.  We are committed to cultivating intersections between performing arts and education for the benefit of all participants now and for generations to come.  

Northrop has been an integral center for the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota arts community for close to a century and we need your help to continue to do so.  We hope you can be a champion and advocate for Northrop by sharing your experiences at Northrop with your friends, family and community at large as well as supporting our work financially when you can.  You can learn more about how to support Northrop here.

As Chair of the Northop Advisory Board, we are delighted to share that we are growing in our work to increase the impact of Northrop on the stage, in the schools, and in the community. If you are interested in learning more about being part of the Northrop Advisory Board, learn more here or contact Cynthia Betz, Director of Development, at betzx011@umn.edu.

Thanks again for joining us and don’t forget to say “Hi” and introduce yourself when you are attending a performance. I can’t wait to meet you!

Jeff Bieganek
Northrop Advisory Board Chair

Founders: Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook
Artistic Director: Robert Garland 
Executive Director: Anna Glass
Rehearsal Director: Juan Carlos Peñuela
Dance Artists: Ariana Dickerson, Lindsey Donnell, Carly Greene, Alexandra Hutchinson, Alexandra Rene Jones, Michaela Martin-Mason, Kira Robinson, Kamala Saara, Ingrid Silva, Delaney Washington, Stephanie Rae Williams, Derek Brockington, Micah Bullard, Kouadio Davis, Keenan English, Elias Re, Luis Fernando Rego, Joshuan Vazquez, David Wright

Purchase Dance Theatre of Harlem merchandise.

Robert Garland was a member of the Dance Theatre of Harlem Company, achieving the rank of principal dancer. After creating a work for the DTH School Ensemble, Arthur Mitchell invited Garland to create a work for the Dance Theatre of Harlem Company and appointed him the organization’s first resident choreographer. Prior to becoming DTH artistic director he served as director of the DTH school.

In addition to choreographing several ballets for DTH, Garland has also created works for New York City Ballet, Britain's Royal Ballet, Oakland Ballet, and most recently San Francisco Ballet. His commercial work has included music videos, commercials, and short films, including the children’s television show Sesame Street, a Nike commercial featuring New York Yankee Derek Jeter, the NAACP Image Awards, a short film for designer Donna Karan, and the “Charmin Cha-Cha” for Proctor and Gamble. Garland holds a bachelor of fine arts degree from the Juilliard School in New York City.

Arthur Mitchell is known around the world for creating and sustaining Dance Theatre of Harlem, the internationally acclaimed ballet company he co-founded with Karel Shook in 1969. Following a brilliant career as a principal artist with the New York City Ballet, Mitchell dedicated his life to changing perceptions and advancing the art form of ballet through the first permanently established African American and racially diverse ballet company. 

Born in New York City in 1934, Mitchell began his dance training at New York City's High School of the Performing Arts where he won the coveted annual dance award and subsequently a full scholarship to the School of American Ballet. In 1955 he became the first male African American to become a permanent member of a major ballet company when he joined New York City Ballet. Mitchell rose quickly to the rank of Principal Dancer during his 15-year career with New York City Ballet and electrified audiences with his performances in a broad spectrum of roles. Upon learning of the death of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and with financial assistance from Alva B. Gimbel, The Ford Foundation, and his own savings, Mitchell founded Dance Theatre of Harlem with his mentor and ballet instructor Karel Shook.

With an illustrious career that spanned over 50 years, Mitchell was the recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors, a National Medal of the Arts, a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, the New York Living Landmark Award, the Handel Medallion, the NAACP Image Award, and more than a dozen honorary degrees.

Karel Shook played a key role as teacher and mentor to African American dance artists in New York in the 1950s. In addition to co-founding Dance Theatre of Harlem with Arthur Mitchell in 1969, he was a ballet master choreographer and author. Born in 1920, Shook was a native of Renton, WA. Encouraged to study ballet at age 13, he was a protégé of Nellie Cornish and received a scholarship to the Cornish School of Allied Arts in Seattle. While his performance career was brief, he appeared on Broadway and danced with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and New York City Ballet. Shook’s brief performance career led to teaching and choreographing mainly in Europe, but also in New York. In the early 50s, he opened Studio Arts, one of the few dance studios in the city where African Americans could study ballet. Among his students were Carmen de Lavallade, Pearl Primus, Geoffrey Holder, Louis Johnson, Alvin Ailey, and Arthur Mitchell who first came to him at age 17. Shook left New York in 1959 to become the ballet master of the Dutch National Ballet, where he was when his former student Mitchell asked him to return to New York to help create the Dance Theatre of Harlem. Shook was an advocate of the universality of classical ballet. His book Elements of Classical Ballet explores the development of classical ballet in such countries across the globe as China, Turkey, Iran, Japan, Cuba, and Mexico. In 1980, he was awarded the United States Presidential Award for “Excellence and Dedication in Education.”

A native of Cali Colombia, Juan Carlos Peñuela began dancing at the age of 12 with Incolballet, a ballet-centered secondary school. After graduation, Peñuela was invited by Artistic Director Gloria Castro to join Ballet de Cali Colombia's National Company as a soloist where he performed in a variety of leading roles in contemporary works as well as classical pieces. Peñuela has danced with Ballet Arizona, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Pennsylvania Ballet, Maximum Dance, Ballet Gamonet, Chamber Dance Project, and Ballet NY.

Peñuela has served as guest ballet master and repetiteur with Compania Colombiana de Ballet - Incolballet in Colombia, Chamber Dance Project, Lexington Ballet, The Ajkun Ballet Theatre in New York City, Alvin Ailey’s American Dance Theatre, Ena Ballet Company in Japan, & Earl Mosley's Institute of the Arts International Summer Intensive in Kent, CT. In 2011 he was invited to Malaysia where he taught at their international festival, restaged Don Quixote, and coached artists from all over the world for their International Gala of the Stars.

From 2014 to 2018, Peñuela held the position of Ballet Master with Ballet Hispanico in New York City as well as senior ballet teacher for their School of Dance. He has served as a faculty member at Joffrey Ballet School, Marymount Manhattan College Ballet, Academy East in New York City, Alvin Ailey, and as a guest teacher at The Juilliard School and Dance Theatre of Harlem’s professional company.

Peñuela holds a Romana’s Pilates certification and teaches Pilates designed for dancers. In 2011, he became certified in The American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum. During the summer of 2013, he was invited to teach in Italy as a faculty member of Alvin Ailey School. Since 2017 he has taught at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet summer program. In 2014 and 2017 he attended the CPYB teacher’s workshop and in 2017 was featured in the Aug edition of Dance Teacher Magazine. For the last 7 years, he has been invited to Panama City as a guest teacher and as an adjudicator to the Danza Activa Competition and the Ecuador Danza Ciad competition.

Anna Glass has been involved in the performing arts as both an artist and arts administrator for over 20 years. She produced Carmen de Lavallade’s solo show As I Remember It, an intimate portrait of this legendary artist. Glass previously served as the Managing Director of 651 ARTS a presenting/producing arts organization dedicated to celebrating contemporary performing arts of the African Diaspora. While at 651 ARTS, she co-produced numerous projects including the highly regarded national tour of FLY: Five First Ladies of Dance.

Glass has served as a consultant providing strategic planning and fundraising guidance to various non-profit arts organizations including Urban Bush Women and the Weeksville Heritage Center. She currently serves on the board of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters. She has served as a Hub Site for the New England Foundation for the Arts National Dance Project grant program. After receiving her Juris Doctor from the University of Dayton School of Law Glass became the Artist Representative for the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company where she also performed for three years (DCDC2). She is a licensed attorney in the State of New York and lives in Harlem with her husband and daughter.

Dance Theatre of Harlem Inc.
Everett Center for the Performing Arts
466 West 152nd Street New York NY 10031-1814
(212) 690-2800 (212) 690-8736 fax. www.dancetheatreofharlem.org

All photos by Theik Smith.

Generous support for Dance Theatre of Harlem is provided by Alphadyne Foundation; Arnhold Foundation; Bloomberg LP; Bloomberg Philanthropies; Con Edison; COFRA Foundation; Copland Fund for Music; Cornell Family Foundation; Dance/NYC; Davis/Dauray Family Fund; Jarvis and Constance Doctorow Family Foundation; Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; Ford Foundation; Howard Gilman Foundation; Amy P. Goldman Foundation; Google; The Harkness Foundation for Dance; The DuBose & Dorothy Heyward Memorial Fund; Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation; Hyde and Watson Foundation, The Jockey Hollow Foundation; JPMorgan Chase; Klein Family Foundation; Lenat Foundation; The Reginald F. Lewis Foundation; MAC Cosmetics; Madison Square Garden; Masters Capital Management, LLC; The Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation; Mellon Foundation; Meta; Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation; Margaret T. Morris Foundation; Henry and Lucy Moses Fund; New England Foundation for the Arts; Nike; Tatiana Piankova Foundation; Jerome Robbins Foundation; The Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation; Thomas & Birdie C. Smith Arts Foundation; The Shubert Foundation; The Thompson Family Foundation; Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation; Venable Foundation; Warner Music Group / Blavatnik Family Foundation Social Justice Fund; Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP; Wells Fargo; and one anonymous donor. 

Dance Theatre of Harlem is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

The Northrop Advisory Board

The Northrop Advisory Board is committed to the growth and awareness of Northrop’s mission, vision, and the continued future of presenting world-class dance and music in our community. If you would like more information about the advisory board and its work, please contact Cynthia Betz, Director of Development, at 612-626-7554 or betzx011@umn.edu.

Thank you for supporting Northrop!

Making Legendary Performances Possible!

At Northrop, we believe in connecting great artists and ideas with our community and to a new generation of audiences. Your gift helps make memorable arts experiences possible by supporting extraordinary performances and new arts commissions, and helping ensure accessibility to everyone through live-streamed programming, outreach to diverse communities and subsidized student tickets. Our Friends are at the center of Northrop’s biggest ideas and brightest moments on stage.

Become a Friend of Northrop today! 
Donate online at northrop.umn.edu/support-northrop

Ways to Give:

• Annual Giving, a yearly gift amount of your choice.
• Monthly Giving, choose a recurring gift amount that works for you.
• Stock Gifts, Northrop accepts charitable gifts of stock.
• Planned Giving, consider a legacy gift by including Northrop in your will or trust, or by designating Northrop as a beneficiary of a retirement plan or life insurance policy.
• Matching Gifts, double your gift through your company’s matching gift program.

To learn more about supporting Northrop please contact:
Cynthia Betz
betzx011@umn.edu or 612-626-7554 

Friends of Northrop

A special thank you to our patrons whose generous support makes Northrop's transformative arts experiences possible. Make your mark on Northrop's future by becoming a Friend today, learn more by visiting northrop.umn.edu/support-northrop.

We gratefully acknowledge the support from the Anna M Heilmaier Foundation, Curtis L Carlson Family Foundation, Minnesota State Arts Board, hospitality partner the Graduate Hotel Minneapolis, and event sponsors PNC Bank and RBC Wealth Management. 

This season’s listing is current as of 9/12/24

Please contact Trisha Taylor at taylort@umn.edu if you have any corrections or questions.

Northrop's Aeolian-Skinner Organ

Thank you to the generous donors who continue to support programming for Northrop’s beloved Aeolian-Skinner Organ. It is because of you that this magnificent instrument’s voice will be enjoyed by many for years to come.

The Heritage Society Members

The Heritage Society honors and celebrates donors who have made estate and other planned gifts for Northrop at the University of Minnesota. 

• Nancy Allen*
• Jerry Artz
• John Follows*
• Stephen Gordon and Pat Gavan-Gordon
• Gail and Stuart Hanson
• Charlie Johnson
• Peter Lund
• Darlene M. Sholtis

*Deceased