By Walter Rutledge
Back in 2014 I received a phone call from Arthur Mitchell. He knew my association with the Romare Bearden Foundation, and that Romare’s archives were housed at Columbia University. He needed information about the process so he could do the same with his own legacy. “Hold on Sir”, I put him on hold and called Deidre Kelly the co-director of the Romare Bearden Foundation. Diedre gave me the contact information he requested. Continue reading
The Dog Days of August continues! The three H’s- hazy, hot and humid are in full effect. Whether you are trying to stay cool at a water festival in Brooklyn, experiencing art in Harlem, or enjoying a secret garden in the Bronx there is something for everyone. Here are a few of the many events happening in the city that never sleeps guaranteed to keep you Out and About.
Continue reading
George Balanchine’s fun romp set to the music of George Gershwin performed by Het Nationale Ballet. Continue reading
New York City is the dance capital of the world! This week we have modern masters in Manhattan, Hip- Hop Downtown, and Burlesque in Brooklyn. Here are a few events guaranteed to keep you Out and About. Continue reading
Spring Break is here! And the city is abounding with activity “24- 7- 365”. We have art celebrating popular culture in Harlem. Ballet, modern and more throughout the city. Blockbuster and Indie film share the silver screen, jazz to Motown grooves Midtown and the world’s most exotic cars hit the westside. Here are a few of the many events happening in the city that never sleeps guaranteed to keep you Out and About. Continue reading
By Walter Rutledge
The Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) begins their New York City season April 4th through 7th at New York City Center. The company will present a varied and diverse program including three New York premieres: George Balanchine’s Valse-Fantaisie, Harlem on My Mind by Darrell Grand Moultrie, and Christopher Wheeldon’s duet This Bitter Earth. The season highlight will be the much-anticipated return of Dougla by choreographer/Renaissance man Geoffrey Holder. Continue reading
Agon– the complete ballet with the original cast featuring Diana Adams, Todd Bolender, Jillana, Arthur Mitchell, Richard Rapp, Francia Russell, Roy Tobias, and Violette Verdy. Continue reading
By Walter Rutledge
Arthur Mitchell: Harlem’s Ballet Trailblazer will open at Columbia’s Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, 615 W 129th St, on Saturday January 13, 2018. The exhibit is presented in collaboration with Columbia’s Rare Book & Manuscript Library, where Mitchell donated his archive in 2015. This is the first major exhibition devoted to celebrating the life and accomplishments of New York City Ballet’s first African American principal dancer and the co-founder and longtime director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem. Curated by Lynn Garafola, Professor Emerita of Dance, Barnard College the collection will be on view through March 11, 2018
“This exhibition pays homage both to Mitchell’s creative magic and to his visionary achievements, revealing to those who never saw him dance his charismatic stage presence and the full scope of his career as an artist,” said Garafola. “At the same time, it places the Dance Theatre of Harlem, which he co-founded and directed for more than 40 years, at the crossroads of political, artistic and racial change in the United States and beyond.”
Arthur Mitchell: Harlem’s Ballet Trailblazer will feature objects from Mitchell’s archive, including the telegram from Lincoln Kirstein to Mitchell inviting him to join the New York City Ballet, an Al Hirschfeld drawing of Suzanne Farrell and Mitchell in Balanchine’s Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, Mitchell’s 1952 Four Saints in Three Acts souvenir program and posters from the 1961 Spoleto Festival, where Mitchell both choreographed and performed. 
Other highlights are photographs of Mitchell and fellow dancers by Anthony Crickmay, Peter Basch, Martha Swope and Antony Armstrong-Jones (Lord Snowdon), and an eight-foot-long Dance Theatre of Harlem puzzle, created by Frank Bara in 1991, that chronicles the first two decades of the company’s history with illustrative detail of its artists, heroes and friends. Dancer Charmaine Hunter’s costume and headpiece designed by Geoffrey Holder for Firebird (1982), one of Dance Theatre of Harlem’s signature works, will be on view, as well as performance footage from a number of sources including the New York Public Library’s Jerome Robbins Dance Division.
Dance Pioneer Arthur Mitchell
“I am a political activist through dance,” said Mitchell, who received a Doctorate of Humane Letters from Columbia in May of 2016. “I believe that dance, and the arts more broadly, can be used as a catalyst for social change—this is why I started the Dance Theatre of Harlem. With my archive at Columbia, artifacts of American dance history and African American history are accessible to young scholars, academics and the general public. The exhibition at the Wallach Gallery will further this push for change.”
The Wallach Art Gallery advances Columbia’s historical, critical and creative engagement with the visual arts. Serving as both a laboratory and a forum, the Wallach offers opportunities for curatorial practice and discourse, while bridging the diverse approaches to the arts at the University with a welcome broader public. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Friday, noon until 8pm and Saturday and Sunday, noon until 6 pm. The Wallach Art Gallery is free and open to the public.
“Our grand re-opening year at the Lenfest Center for the Arts is the perfect opportunity to celebrate Mitchell’s artistic genius, through the holdings of Columbia’s Rare Book & Manuscript Library. The Wallach is proud to collaborate on this presentation, offering a glimpse of these treasures to the public, while also appealing to those interested in the history of ballet, the history of Harlem and, more broadly, modern American race relations,” said Deborah Cullen, Director and Chief Curator of the Wallach Art Gallery.
For more information about the Wallach Art Gallery and the Arthur Mitchell: Harlem’s Ballet Trailblazer exhibition and related events including: An Afternoon with Arthur Mitchell (January 20, 2018, 1pm) and Panel Discussion with former dancers from the Dance Theatre of Harlem (February 24, 2018, 1pm) visit wallach.columbia.edu.
To watch the complete Agon featuring the original cast click below
https://outandaboutnycmag.com/1-7-18-oa-nyc-dance-agon-new-york-city-ballet-1960/
The Nutcracker, also known as George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, is a 1993 American Christmas musical film based on Peter Martin’s stage production and directed by Emile Ardolino. The film stars Darci Kistler, Damain Woetzel, Kyra Nichols, Bart Robinson Cook, Macaulay Culkin, Jessica Lynn Cohen, Wendy Whelan, Margaret Tracey, Gen Horiuchi, Tom Gold and the New York City Ballet. Continue reading
Diana Vishneva performs the Rubies section from George Balanchine’s Jewels. Continue reading
Ghanaian artist Paa Joe has brought some of New York City’s most iconic motifs to life. As part of Superhouse NYC’s inaugural “Celestial City” exhibition, the multidisciplinary artist served up a handful of lifesize sculptures of the city’s signature signage, including pizza boxes, taxi cabs, bagels and of course, rats. 120 Walker Street, 6RGhanaian artist Paa Joe has brought some of New York City’s most iconic motifs to life. As part of Superhouse NYC’s inaugural “Celestial City” exhibition, the multidisciplinary artist served up a handful of lifesize sculptures of the city’s signature signage, including pizza boxes, taxi cabs, bagels and of course, rats. 120 Walker Street, 6RGhanaian artist Paa Joe has brought some of New York City’s most iconic motifs to life. As part of Superhouse NYC’s inaugural “Celestial City” exhibition, the multidisciplinary artist served up a handful of lifesize sculptures of the city’s signature signage, including pizza boxes, taxi cabs, bagels and of course, rats. 120 Walker Street, 6R
The Dance of the Village Elders are back ! This time we exercise, dance and just have fun through the zoom platform or in-person at R.A.I.N. Nereid Ghanaian artist Paa Joe has brought some of New York City’s most iconic motifs to life. As part of Superhouse NYC’s inaugural “Celestial City” exhibition, the multidisciplinary artist served up a handful of lifesize sculptures of the city’s signature signage, including pizza boxes, taxi cabs, bagels and of course, rats. 120 Walker Street, 6RGhanaian artist Paa Joe has brought some of New York City’s most iconic motifs to life. As part of Superhouse NYC’s inaugural “Celestial City” exhibition, the multidisciplinary artist served up a handful of lifesize sculptures of the city’s signature signage, including pizza boxes, taxi cabs, bagels and of course, rats. 120 Walker Street, 6RGhanaian artist Paa Joe has brought some of New York City’s most iconic motifs to life. As part of Superhouse NYC’s inaugural “Celestial City” exhibition, the multidisciplinary artist served up a handful of lifesize sculptures of the city’s signature signage, including pizza boxes, taxi cabs, bagels and of course, rats. 120 Walker Street, 6RGhanaian artist Paa Joe has brought some of New York City’s most iconic motifs to life. As part of Superhouse NYC’s inaugural “Celestial City” exhibition, the multidisciplinary artist served up a handful of lifesize sculptures of the city’s signature signage, including pizza boxes, taxi cabs, bagels and of course, rats. 120 Walker Street, 6R
The Dance of the Village Elders are back ! This time we exercise, dance and just have fun through the zoom platform or in-person at R.A.I.N. Nereid Ghanaian artist Paa Joe has brought some of New York City’s most iconic motifs to life. As part of Superhouse NYC’s inaugural “Celestial City” exhibition, the multidisciplinary artist served up a handful of lifesize sculptures of the city’s signature signage, including pizza boxes, taxi cabs, bagels and of course, rats. 120 Walker Street, 6R