Reframing the Narrative: Dance Theatre of Harlem, Ballethnic Dance Company, and Collage Dance Collective Tickets

In the spirit of Sankofa, in order to understand our present and ensure our future, we must know our past.

Through Reframing the Narrative, a week-long celebration featuring performances on the Opera House stage, we recognize that Black ballet dancers have been pillars of the field for decades. We acknowledge that the artistry and leadership of Black ballet dancers has shaped ballet throughout the United States and across the globe. The history of Black dancers in ballet is rich—but many voices and many stories have remained untold and unheard. It’s time to reframe the narrative.

The week will feature multiple dynamic programs curated by Theresa Ruth Howard, founder of Memoirs of Blacks in Ballet, and Denise Saunders Thompson, president and CEO of The International Association of Blacks in Dance. Performances will bring together Dance Theatre of Harlem, Ballethnic Dance Company, and Collage Dance Collective along with other Black-identifying ballet dancers from across the United States to highlight the incredible work these pillar companies are doing in ballet today.

Together we will consider what ballet could look like when we gather the best of what our past has to teach us, so that we can achieve our full potential moving forward.

Program A June 14–16 Balamouk Dance Theatre of Harlem

Odalisques Variations from Le Corsaire Dance Theatre of Harlem

Sanctity Ballethnic Dance Company

Bluff City Blues Collage Dance Collective

New Work Kennedy Center Commission

Program B June 17–19

Gloria Dance Theatre of Harlem

Excerpt from The Leopard Tale Ballethnic Dance Company

New Work Kennedy Center Commission

Firebird Collage Dance Collective