MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
From its humble beginnings in a converted garage in 1969, Dance Theatre of Harlem became an international sensation while defying stereotypes about what Black dancers could do. At a time when nearly all touring dance companies were almost all white, founder Arthur Mitchell's approach was revolutionary, so inspiring that then President Nelson Mandela invited them to perform in South Africa. But artistic excellence was not enough. Crippling debt forced the company into hiatus in the mid-2000s. After years of rebuilding led by former principal dancer Virginia Johnson, she passed the torch to Robert Garland, also a former principal with the company.
ROBERT GARLAND: You have to pop it a little more. Pop, lock and drop it. Pop, lock and drop it.
MARTIN: I caught up with him during a stop on their tour in Washington, D.C. Today, they're returning to the African continent for the first time in three decades with a debut in Morocco. And the company is roaring back with a revival of their landmark production of "Firebird."
(SOUNDBITE OF MARK A NORMAN AND UNCSA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA'S PERFORMANCE OF STRAVINSKY'S "THE FIREBIRD BALLET SUITE: X. INFERNAL DANCE")
GARLAND: There's a bit of a scandal, actually, when the ballet first up.
MARTIN: Really?
GARLAND: Yes, because a woman's tutu, a ballet tutu, typically goes a full circle around the woman's hips. And Geoffrey Holder removed the front, looking much like a bird.
MARTIN: And that role really requires incredible physicality.
GARLAND: Oh, absolutely. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And also, there are 16 maidens. There are 16 monsters. It's a huge cast.
MARTIN: It was first created in 1982, toured the world. But the company hasn't performed it in more than 20 years.
GARLAND: That's right.
MARTIN: Why is that?
GARLAND: You know, getting to a moment where you're able to do something as large as "Firebird" takes some work. And on top of that, the costumes and the drops for the ballet, which were created by Geoffrey Holder needed to be completely redone.
MARTIN: How did they do that? I mean, did they just take them apart piece by piece and reconstruct them piece by piece? How did they do that?
GARLAND: Well, the costumes were remarkably packed away. So they were pretty much sustained from when I danced it. However, most of it had been dry rot. And then even the lush Caribbean drops in the back of the stage also. Mr. Holder had to go into a football field and paint them himself.
MARTIN: Really? Are you serious?
GARLAND: Yes, absolutely, absolutely. That's how it was done back in the day. It's a wonderful spectacle in that sense that he jettisoned the Russian village and took us straight into the Caribbean.
MARTIN: You danced with the company for years.
GARLAND: Yes.
MARTIN: You became a principal with the company. What attracted you to that art form?
GARLAND: You know, I was a kid in the '70s, in Philadelphia. And they came to perform in the city. And they did a dance to popular music that I knew, that my mom would play, my father would play and my family. From that point, I was sold.
MARTIN: But the company has had its ups and downs. I mean, the company has been all over the world and then kind of went into...
GARLAND: A brief hiatus.
MARTIN: The money wasn't there. It wasn't able to perform. It wasn't able to teach.
GARLAND: Yes, yes. We had a challenging moment.
MARTIN: Why did that happen?
GARLAND: Well, you know, twofold. The company's trajectory as an organization was so fast and furious that Arthur Mitchell was always playing catch-up in terms of what people wanted to see, in terms of the big ballet company spectacle piece. And so, sustaining that over time and not getting the funding that we always wanted to get was always a challenge, you know? But thanks be to God, we're back together again.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MOTHER POPCORN")
JAMES BROWN: (Singing) Yeah, yeah.
MARTIN: I wanted to ask about your touring some of your own choreography.
GARLAND: Yes, yes.
MARTIN: In "Return," you create new dances to tunes by James Brown and Aretha Franklin.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CALL ME")
ARETHA FRANKLIN: (Singing) I love you, I love you. And I love you, I love you.
MARTIN: What are you saying in this piece?
GARLAND: What had happened was I'd done a ballet that had gone over budget, you know? And even though I had a degree from Juilliard, they don't teach you how to go over budget (laughter).
MARTIN: Or to stay within budget?
GARLAND: Exactly.
MARTIN: OK.
GARLAND: And so Arthur Mitchell came to me and said, you know, the next ballet, young man, it's going to be lights and tights, lights and tights. That's all you get. So I went to him and I said, you know, Mr. Mitchell, I'm really thinking about doing something to James Brown and Aretha Franklin. It's some music I grew up with, music I'm comfortable with. The Dance Theatre of Harlem had a history, you know, of dancing to popular music. But the most wonderful part of that was that he was like, oh, OK, hold on. He picks up his phone. He dials and he says, hi, Aretha, I have a young man here that wants to use your music for a ballet. Great, thank you. And she hangs up.
(LAUGHTER)
MARTIN: What?
GARLAND: And then he dials up James Brown and is like, hi, James, it's Arthur, you know? So we were able to get the music rights. And it was my first hit, to be perfectly honest.
MARTIN: That's hilarious.
GARLAND: And it was great for me, though, because it also was a great combination, again, of my ballet side and my culture.
MARTIN: Also, excuse me, calling up Aretha Franklin and James Brown.
GARLAND: Exactly. Yes, yes. It was amazing.
MARTIN: You're like, wait what?
(LAUGHTER)
MARTIN: You were nice enough to let us sit in on a rehearsal. And you referenced Arthur Mitchell in some of the feedback that you were giving the dancers.
GARLAND: You know why it was good? You weren't trying to get it over the top of your head. You were allowing it to be - right. Mr. Mitchell always said that you have to be a little this way because we're built a little that way.
MARTIN: Kind of a subtle reference to the fact that, you know, a lot of...
GARLAND: Yes.
MARTIN: ...African Americans sometimes have...
GARLAND: Yes. Absolutely.
MARTIN: ...Different body types than traditionally featured in ballet. How much of Arthur Mitchell's understanding of how the body should move fits into your vision for the company?
GARLAND: Oh, Arthur Mitchell redesigned the archetype of the ballerina, even said that, actually, he realized that the archetype that had been in existence was something that was frail, soft, demure. And Arthur Mitchell grew up with women that were very, very powerful. And so he created a space where when you look around, you see people that look like you in an endeavor that heretofore people thought that Black people could not participate in, which was ballet.
MARTIN: And what is keeping you connected to this particular company? I mean, at this stage, you've been a principal dancer.
GARLAND: Yeah. Yeah.
MARTIN: You've been a choreographer. You've choreographed...
GARLAND: Yeah.
MARTIN: ...Works for major companies all around the world.
GARLAND: Yeah. Yeah (laughter).
MARTIN: You could be a resident choreographer anywhere. What keeps you going and committed to this?
GARLAND: What keeps me going is passing the torch, you know, the information because we're vast. We're not just a ballet organization - we're an American organization. You know, we are a Black American organization. We hold so much culture within our organization, within our dancer body. You know, they learn something I knew every day.
MARTIN: Robert Garland, the artistic director of Dance Theatre of Harlem, which is on tour now. Robert Garland, thank you so much.
GARLAND: Thank you, Michel.
(SOUNDBITE OF MARK A NORMAN AND UNCSA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA'S PERFORMANCE OF STRAVINSKY'S "THE FIREBIRD BALLET SUITE: XII. FINAL HYMN") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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