Dance Theater of Harlem Awarded Its Biggest Gift Yet

Dance Theater of Harlem will receive a $4 million gift from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the organization announced on Tuesday. The company’s board of directors will also raise $1 million as part of a matching grant agreement with the Mellon Foundation, for a total infusion of $5 million.

Virginia Johnson, a founding member of Dance Theater of Harlem who was named artistic director in 2009, said the gift would go toward increasing the size of the company from 18 to 20 dancers, supplementing the organization’s lean staff and further encouraging the development of works by women and people of color.

In a statement, Elizabeth Alexander, the Mellon Foundation’s president, said “the Foundation enthusiastically offers its support to Dance Theater of Harlem’s visionary leaders as they guide the company to a bright and flourishing future.”

Dance Theater of Harlem was founded by the New York City Ballet star Arthur Mitchell in 1969 to increase opportunities for dancers of color in the ballet world. By 2004, it employed 44 dancers, but all were laid off that year when it was announced that the company was more than $2 million in debt. The bleeding was stanched, and by 2009, Laveen Naidu, the organization’s executive director at the time, reported that the debt had been reduced by more than half.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/14/arts/dance/dance-theater-of-harlem-awarded-its-biggest-gift-yet.html?emc=rss&partner=rss