[with:] RUBIN (Joan Alleman) ed. PLAYBILL: Uris Theatre. Dance Theatre of Harlem. 8vo. Full colour, illustrated throughout. Self wrappers, stapled at spine. A few pages unopened at the top edge, one torn where this has been executed carelessly. Signed in ink on rear wrapper by two unknown performers. 40pp. New York, Arthur T. Birsh, March 1976.
A luxuriously produced and rare promotional booklet for the Dance Theatre of Harlem, produced by the cosmetics company Revlon. Arthur Mitchell, the first Black male dancer with the New York City Ballet, cofounded the theatre in 1968 with Karel Shook, his former teacher and renowned ballet master, as a space for children in their community to study dance.
They began in the basement of Harlem’s Church of the Master, before a building was purchased to house the studio on 152nd Street where it is still located today. The neoclassical company made its performance debut at the Guggenheim to great acclaim and earned a reputation both for its performances and outreach programs for senior citizens and children with special needs.
This booklet comprises large-format black and white performance and behind the scenes shots of the dancers, including prima ballerina Lydia Abarca, who became one of Revlon’s “Charlie girls” (and whose connection with the brand likely resulted in the commissioning of this publication. Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, is also featured, attending a performance.
The photographs are by Margaret Elizabeth Schnare, who went by Marbeth, and who chronicled the company’s history from the outset.
OCLC finds only one copy, at NYPL.
