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Arthur Mitchell (dancer)
Arthur Mitchell (March 27, 1934 – September 19, 2018)Jennifer Dunning''The New York Times'' was an American ballet dancer, choreographer, and founder and director of ballet companies. In 1955, he was the first African-American dancer with the New York City Ballet, where he was promoted to principal dancer the following year and danced in major roles until 1966. He then founded ballet companies in Spoleto, Washington, D.C., and Brazil. In 1969, he founded a training school and the first African-American classical ballet company, Dance Theatre of Harlem. Among other awards, Mitchell was recognized as a MacArthur Fellow, inducted into the National Museum of Dance's Mr. & Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Hall of Fame, and received the United States National Medal of Arts and a Fletcher Foundation fellowship. Early life Mitchell was one of four siblings, the son of a building superintendent, and grew up in the streets of Harlem, New York. Forced at the age of 12 to assume f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harlem, New York
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), Central Park North on the south. The greater Harlem area encompasses several other neighborhoods and extends west and north to 155th Street, east to the East River, and south to Martin Luther King, Jr., Boulevard (Manhattan), Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Central Park, and 96th Street (Manhattan), East 96th Street. Originally a Netherlands, Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands. Harlem's history has been defined by a series of economic boom-and-bust cycles, with significant population shifts accompanying each cycle. Harlem was predominantly occupied by Jewish American, Jewish and Italian American, Italian Americans in the 19th century, but African-American residents began to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bugaku (ballet)
''Bugaku'' is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and ballet master George Balanchine to eponymous music by Toshiro Mayuzumi, commissioned by City Ballet in 1962. The premiere took place on 30 March 1963 at City Center of Music and Drama, New York, with scenery by David Hays, costumes by Karinska, and lighting by Ronald Bates. NYCB had toured Japan in 1958 and the Gagaku Company of the Imperial Household toured the US the following year. Bugaku is the dance component of gagaku. Original cast *Allegra Kent *Edward Villella References *''Playbill'', New York City Ballet, Saturday, May 10, 2008 *''Repertory Week'', New York City Ballet, Spring Season, 2008 repertory, week 2 Reviews NY Times reviewby Allen Hughes, August 30, 1963NY Times reviewby Clive Barnes, November 20, 1976NY Times review by Anna Kisselgoff, April 29, 1984 [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Nutcracker
''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Op. 71). The libretto is adapted from E. T. A. Hoffmann's 1816 short story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". Although the original production was not a success, the 20-minute suite that Tchaikovsky extracted from the ballet was. The complete ''Nutcracker'' has enjoyed enormous popularity since the late 1960s and is now performed by countless ballet companies, primarily during the Christmas season, especially in North America. Major American ballet companies generate around 40% of their annual ticket revenues from performances of ''The Nutcracker''. The ballet's score has been used in several film adaptations of Hoffmann's story. Tchaikovsky's score has become one of his most famous compositions. Among other things, the score is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Midsummer Night's Dream (ballet)
''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a two-act ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to Felix Mendelssohn's music to Shakespeare's play of the same name. History ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', Balanchine's first completely original full-length ballet, premiered at New York City Ballet on 17 January 1962, with Edward Villella in the role of Oberon, Melissa Hayden in the role of Titania, and Arthur Mitchell in the role of Puck. They were joined by Francisco Moncion in the role of Theseus- Duke of Athens. Description In addition to the incidental music, Balanchine incorporated other Mendelssohn works into the ballet, including the Overtures to ''Athalie'', '' Son and Stranger'', and ''The Fair Melusine'', the "String Symphony No. 9 in C minor" and '' The First Walpurgis Night''. The ballet employs a large children's corps de ballet. Act I tells Shakespeare's familiar story of lovers and fairies while Act II presents a strictly classical dance wedding celebration. The ball ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Symphony
''Western Symphony'' is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and founding choreographer George Balanchine to American folk tunes arranged by Hershy Kay. It premiered on September 7, 1954 at the City Center of Music and Drama in New York. The ballet was originally presented in practice clothes without scenery. Scenery by John Boyt and costumes by Karinska were added in 1955. Lighting was originally by Jean Rosenthal and subsequently Mark Stanley. Set in the Western United States, the ballet features cowboys and dance hall girls (or saloon girls). Setting The ballet follows no plot but presents several short stories throughout the ballet (similar to ''Serenade'') outside a saloon. It is almost a satire on classical ballet with imitations of ''Giselle'' and ''Swan Lake'' (second movement). The ballet originally had four movements: Allegro The Allegro is for four cowboys, eight girls (divided into two groups of four) and a lead couple. The lengthy Allegro goes for about ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pearl Bailey
Pearl Mae Bailey (March 29, 1918 – August 17, 1990) was an American actress, singer and author. After appearing in vaudeville, she made her Broadway debut in '' St. Louis Woman'' in 1946. She received a Special Tony Award for the title role in the all-black production of '' Hello, Dolly!'' in 1968. In 1986, she won a Daytime Emmy award for her performance as a fairy godmother in the ABC Afterschool Special ''Cindy Eller: A Modern Fairy Tale''. Her rendition of " Takes Two to Tango" hit the top ten in 1952. In 1976, she became the first African-American to receive the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom on October 17, 1988. Early life Bailey was born in Newport News, Virginia to the Reverend Joseph James and Ella Mae Ricks Bailey. She was raised in the Bloodfields neighborhood of Newport News and graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in nearby Norfolk, the first city in the region to offer higher education ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alvin Ailey
Alvin Ailey Jr. (January 5, 1931 – December 1, 1989) was an American dancer, director, choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Alvin Ailey American Dance Center (later Ailey School) as havens for nurturing Black artists and expressing the universality of the African-American experience through dance. A gay man, his work fused theater, modern dance, ballet, and jazz with Black vernacular, creating hope-fueled choreography that continues to spread global awareness of Black life in America. Ailey's choreographic masterpiece '' Revelations'' is recognized as one of the most popular and most performed ballets in the world. On July 15, 2008, the United States Congress passed a resolution designating AAADT a "vital American cultural ambassador to the World." That same year, in recognition of AAADT's 50th anniversary, then Mayor Michael Bloomberg declared December 4 "Alvin Ailey Day" in New York City, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geoffrey Holder
Geoffrey Lamont Holder (August 1, 1930 – October 5, 2014) was a Trinidadian-American actor, dancer, musician, and artist. He was a principal dancer for the Metropolitan Opera Ballet before his film career began in 1957 with an appearance in ''Carib Gold''. In 1973, he played the villainous Baron Samedi in the Bond film '' Live and Let Die''. He also carried out advertising work as the pitchman for 7 Up. Early life Born in Port of Spain, Trinidad,"Geoffrey Holder, Bond villain and dancer, dies aged 84" BBC News, October 6, 2014; accessed October 8, 2014. Holder was one of four children of and Trinidadian descent. He was educated at Tr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diahann Carroll
Diahann Carroll (; born Carol Diann Johnson; July 17, 1935 – October 4, 2019) was an American actress, singer, model, and activist. She rose to prominence in some of the earliest major studio films to feature black casts, including ''Carmen Jones'' (1954) and ''Porgy and Bess'' (1959). In 1962, Carroll won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, a first for an African-American woman, for her role in the Broadway musical ''No Strings.'' In 1974 she starred in ''Claudine'' alongside James Earl Jones for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. Her title role in ''Julia'', for which she received the 1968 Golden Globe Award for Best TV Star – Female, was the first series on American television to star a black woman in a non-stereotypical role, and was a milestone both in her career and the medium. In the 1980s, she played the role of Dominique Deveraux, a mixed-race diva, in the prime time soap opera ''Dynasty''. In 1997, she had a significant r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
House Of Flowers (musical)
''House of Flowers'' is a musical by Harold Arlen (music and lyrics) and Truman Capote (lyrics and book). A short story of the same name was published in '' Breakfast at Tiffany's'' (1958). Synopsis The story concerns two neighboring bordellos that battle for business in an idealized Haitian setting. One of the sex workers, Ottilie, turns down a rich lord to marry a poor mountain boy named Royal. Her madam plots to keep her by having Royal sealed in a barrel and tossed into the ocean. Royal escapes the watery death by taking refuge on the back of a turtle. The lovers are eventually married and live happily ever after. Production history This was Capote's first musical, and was the first theatrical production outside of Trinidad and Tobago to feature the new Caribbean instrument—the steel pan. It was produced by Saint Subber who was also responsible for ''Kiss Me, Kate'' and seven plays by Neil Simon. In the early 1950s Truman Capote became further involved in the performing art ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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