Dance Theatre of Harlem Comes to Wharton Center Tonight

The internationally acclaimed DANCE THEATRE OF HARLEM is celebrating over 45 years of creating vivid and ingenious forms of expression, and bringing a contemporary flair to the ballet repertoire and to diverse international audiences. DANCE THEATRE OF HARLEM, part of the Dance Series at Wharton Center and MSU's Project 60/50, will be featured tonight, November 12, 2014 in the Cobb Great Hall. Tickets are available online at whartoncenter.com, at the Auto-Owners Insurance Ticket Office, or by calling 1-800-WHARTON.

This performance will feature four pieces out of the company's dynamic repertoire. "Agon" (ancient Greek for "contest") is a piece choreographed by George Balanchine in 1957, comprised of solos, duets, trios and quartets based on 17th- century French court dances. "In The Mirror Of Her Mind" follows one woman as she reflects on the loves and losses of her lifetime, and was created by Christopher Huggins to benefit Dancers Responding to AIDS. "past-carry-forward" considers the difficulty of the Great Migration of African Americans from the South to the North in the early twentieth century, and the legacy that it has left in the culture of yesterday and today. Finally, "Return," a quintessential DANCE THEATRE OF HARLEM ballet, rousingly blends the elegance of classical dance with the soul music of Aretha Franklin and James Brown.

DANCE THEATRE OF HARLEM celebrates multiculturalism in dance, and has achieved extraordinary success with powerful messages of self-reliance, artistic relevance, and individual responsibility. Arthur Mitchell, the first African American male principal dancer in a major U.S. ballet company, and the late Karel Shook founded the company as a response to the growing need for more artistic opportunities for children, especially those living in Harlem. DANCE THEATRE OF HARLEM has always aimed to present a ballet company of African American and other racially diverse artists who perform the most demanding repertory at the highest level of quality, and this is a rare chance to see the hugely talented ensemble perform.

For high-resolution images of DANCE THEATRE OF HARLEM, visit www.whartoncentermedia.com.

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