{"id":8961,"date":"2021-01-21T23:45:26","date_gmt":"2021-01-21T23:45:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/?p=8961"},"modified":"2025-04-21T07:16:25","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T07:16:25","slug":"frederic-franklin-and-arthur-mitchell-dance-theatre-of-harlem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/2021\/01\/21\/frederic-franklin-and-arthur-mitchell-dance-theatre-of-harlem\/","title":{"rendered":"Arthur Mitchell & Raven Wilkinson’s Orbits: Frederic Franklin and Dance Theatre of Harlem"},"content":{"rendered":"

Arthur Mitchell\/Dance Theatre of Harlem and <\/strong>Frederic Franklin<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Return back to Arthur Mitchell \/ Frederic Franklin Orbit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\"Leslie
Franklin (far right) with Arthur Mitchell and Professor Leslie Norton.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Frederic Franklin staged Dance Theatre of Harlem\u2019s Creole Giselle<\/em>, an act that earned him a Laurence Olivier Award. He based this production off of the Giselle<\/em> he performed with Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. The ballet starred Virginia Johnson and premiered at the London Coliseum in 1984. In setting the ballet, it was said that, \u201cevery step and gesture was correct but [Franklin] managed to refresh the old ballet and provide it with real dramatic focus\u201d and that \u201cFranklin\u2019s staging remained true to the choreography and plot of the original.\u201d<\/div>\n
He also staged Swan Lake<\/em> for the company. After his success in this role, Franklin became one of the company\u2019s artistic advisors in 1989.<\/div>\n
DTH\u2019s first open house of their 2007\/08 season was dedicated to Franklin. The event featured photos of Franklin\u2019s work and performed excerpts from his stagings of DTH ballets.<\/div>\n
\n
\"Dance
Dance Theatre of Harlem\u2019s Creole Giselle<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The National Washington Ballet and <\/strong>Frederic Franklin<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n

After his career in Europe and touring, Frederic Franklin returned to the United States and was named co-director of the Washington Ballet in 1958 by its founder, Mary Day. Franklin choreographed two original works\u2014Etalage<\/i> to music by Franz Liszt and Homage au Ballet<\/i> with music by Charles-Fran\u00e7ois Gounod\u2014for the Washington Ballet. In 1960, Franklin said in an interview, “We are working towards a resident company in the nation’s capital.” He resigned in April 1961 after a dispute over the future direction of the company. The National Ballet of Washington, DC was co-founded in 1962 by Jean Riddell, chairman of the board of the Washington Ballet Guild and a committed patron of the arts, and Frederic Franklin, artistic director, with financial assistance from the Ford Foundation<\/a>. Mrs. Riddell was named president of its sustaining organization, the National Ballet Society. Franklin and Riddell also created the National Ballet School with an enrollment of 250 girls and boys with class size limited to 15 students.<\/p>\n

Franklin said: “The school and the company are for America and for all the good dancers that we can find and develop. Our intention is to establish a national company in the nation’s capital based on artistic policies similar to those of the New York City Ballet and the original policy of the Sadler’s Wells Ballet.” Riddell said, “The National Ballet is the only logical name for this company\u2014it’s designed not only for Washington, but also for growth.”<\/p>\n

After three months of rehearsal, the company debuted on January 3, 1962 at the George Washington University Lisner Auditorium, with New York City Ballet co-founder and choreographer George Balanchine in the audience. The company received 13 curtain calls. (Text above via Wikipedia<\/a>).<\/sup><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

During his directorship, Franklin actively sought out Black ballet dancers and hired Llanchie Stevenson<\/a> when she was overlooked by Balanchine as a student at the School of American Ballet. Speaking of the school and the company, Franklin explained that they are \u201cfor America and for all the good dancers that we can find and develop.\u201d The company performed in 48 states in addition to Canada and Mexico.<\/div>\n
Their repertoire consisted of classics such as Giselle<\/em> and Swan Lake<\/em>, as well as Balanchine ballets like Serenade<\/em> and Four Temperaments<\/em>.<\/div>\n
The National Ballet of Washington DC folded in June 1974.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

Raven Wilkinson and Frederic Franklin<\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Return to Raven Wilkinson \/ Frederic Franklin Orbit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Frederic Franklin and Maria Tallchief in a 1955 ad<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Frederic Franklin was a member of Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo from 1938 to 1952. Franklin gave the audition for Wilkinson\u2019s Ballet Russe class and had previously worked as a faculty member at the Swoboda School. Franklin said that he pushed the company leadership of Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo to accept Wilkinson into the company.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Black Ballerinas Dancing on the Edge: An Analysis of the Cultural Politics in Delores Browne’s and Raven Wilkinson’s Careers, Joselli Deans<\/a><\/strong>
\nPhoto: Frederic Franklin, Wikipedia<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Thandi Steele<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n