Top 5 Quotes & Sayings by Arthur Mitchell

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American choreographer Arthur Mitchell.
Last updated on November 21, 2024.
Arthur Mitchell

Arthur Mitchell was an American ballet dancer, choreographer, and founder and director of ballet companies. In 1955, he was the first African-American dancer with the New York City Ballet, where he was promoted to principal dancer the following year and danced in major roles until 1966. He then founded ballet companies in Spoleto, Washington, D.C., and Brazil. In 1969, he founded a training school and the first African-American classical ballet company, Dance Theatre of Harlem. Among other awards, Mitchell was recognized as a MacArthur Fellow, inducted into the National Museum of Dance's Mr. & Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Hall of Fame, and received the United States National Medal of Arts and a Fletcher Foundation fellowship.

Guilt, remorse. It's what separates us from the animals. — © Arthur Mitchell
Guilt, remorse. It's what separates us from the animals.
Do you know what it took for Balanchine to put me, a black man, on stage with a white woman? This was 1957, before civil rights. He showed me how to take her [holding her delicately by the wrist]. He said, ‘put your hand on top.’ The skin colors were part of the choreography. He saw what was going to happen in the world and put it on stage.
If you feel someone suspicious is following you, the best thing to do is to talk on your cell phone, Even if you just act as if someone is on the other end, it will make them think twice.
What does dance give you? The freedom to be who you are and do what you want to do.
Walk into a room, knowing you are somebody, somebody special. Don't ever let them smash that or pull you down.
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