Dance Theatre of Harlem Coming to Cobb Energy Centre, 10/22-23

Returning to Atlanta for two public performances, Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) will grace the stage at the Cobb Energy Centre on Oct. 22 at 8 p.m. and Oct. 23 at 3 p.m. Tickets go on sale to the general public Friday, July 8 at 10 a.m. Tickets will be priced from $79, $59, $49 and $29, plus applicable fees, and will be available online at www.Ticketmaster.com, by calling 800-735-3000 or at the Cobb Energy Centre Box Office. There is also a student field trip performance on Friday, October 21 at 11 a.m. Reservations for this performance can be made at ArtsBridge.org.

Guests will be transfixed by DTH's innovative programming that defines the breadth of classical ballet with performances of Return set to music by Aretha Franklin and JAmes Brown by DTH resident choreographer Robert Garland and Spelman College's Distinguished Visiting Scholar Dianne McIntyre's Change. DTH will feature three new dancers in their touring troupe, including Kristy Lee Denoven, former soloist with the West Australian Ballet Choong Hoon Lee, a powerful South Korean dancer trained at Korean National University of Arts, and joining after three seasons with Oregon Ballet Theater is Jordan Kindell.

Forty-seven years ago, Arthur Mitchell and his mentor Karel Shook founded Dance Theatre of Harlem as a beacon of hope for the youth in the underprivileged neighborhood where Mitchell grew up. An acclaimed principal dancer with George Balanchine's New York City Ballet, Mitchell took the assassination of DR. Martin Luther King, Jr. as a call to action. Drawing on his expertise and his prominence as the first African American to be a permanent member of a major U.S. ballet company, Mitchell's ground-breaking idea was to transform the lives of young people in Harlem by providing training in classical ballet. In a few short years his response to tragedy became a leading dance institution of unparalleled global acclaim.

Now, the organization's three-part mission is served through the Dance Theatre of Harlem Company which tours nationally and internationally with an eclectic ballet repertoire; the Dance Theatre of Harlem School, which trains more than 500 students per year in ballet and other dance disciplines during winter and summer sessions; and Dancing Through Barriers, an arts education and community engagement program that uses the arts to inspire and transform lives. Through these activities Dance Theatre of Harlem has reached millions and is dedicated to reaching new audiences with a powerful message of self-reliance, artistic relevance and individual responsibility, all hallmarks of an organization that plays a key role in the national cultural dialogue.

For more information regarding Dance Theatre of Harlem, please visit www.dancetheatreofharlem.org.