On November 16 the US Embassy hosted a reception in honor of the historic first visit to Poland of the Dance Theatre of Harlem. The reception took place on the stage of the Teatr Wielki after the ensemble’s premiere in Poland where they performed two concerts in Warsaw and two in Wrocław as part of a European tour of Lithuania, Poland, and Hungary. The legendary New York-based dance ensemble was created in 1969 by the dance legend Arthur Mitchell shortly after the assassination of The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King. Mitchell was inspired to start a school that would offer children — especially those in Harlem, the community in which he was born — the opportunity to learn about dance and the allied arts. Now in its fourth decade, Dance Theatre of Harlem has grown into a multi-cultural dance institution with an extraordinary legacy of providing opportunities for creative expression and artistic excellence that continues to set standards in the performing arts. The Dance Theatre of Harlem has achieved unprecedented success, bringing innovative and bold new forms of artistic expression to audiences in the United States and around the world. In addition to performing in Poland, members of the Dance Theatre of Harlem also shared love of their art with Polish dancers during master’s classes organized by Poland’s National Ballet. While thanking the Teatr Wielki and Siemens for their assistance in helping to bring the Dance Theatre of Harlem to Poland, U.S. Chargé d’Affaires John Law also thanked members of the Dance Theater of Harlem, noting that “People-to-people relations form the foundation of our relations with Poland, and you have greatly contributed to those by sharing America, your talent and passion for dance with aspiring dancers here in Poland.”
