Chautauqua Institution today announced a multi-week residency with Dance Theatre of Harlem ballet company that will take place on the grounds of Chautauqua Institution during the month of April and culminate with public events at the Athenaeum Hotel’s Heirloom Restaurant May 1–2.  

During the residency, the company will take part in Chautauqua Arts Education programs online with Chautauqua County schools, as well as online conversations on CHQ Assembly featuring artistic director Virginia Johnson and renowned choreographer Tiffany Rea-Fisher. Rea-Fisher’s focus in the residency is a commission in tribute to legendary jazz and classical pianist and singer Hazel Scott, in the year that would have been Scott’s 100^th birthday. The Hazel Scott Project has been commissioned by Washington Performing Arts with additional support provided by Dartmouth College Hopkins Center and Chautauqua Institution.

The May 1 dinner and May 2 brunch at Heirloom Restaurant will include exclusive screenings of two pre-recorded studio performances from Chautauqua’s Carnahan-Jackson Dance Studios, followed by a live Q-and-A with Artistic Director Virginia Johnson at Heirloom. The performances, which will each feature the same repertoire but showcase different dancers and conversation, will premiere at a later date on the CHQ Assembly Video Platform.

“Chautauqua Institution is known for its commitment to excellence in the art of dance, and we are thrilled to join forces with Dance Theatre of Harlem to advance their important work in a safe, supportive and secure environment, as we all look forward to their return to big stages the world over,” said Deborah Sunya Moore, interim senior vice president and chief program officer for Chautauqua Institution. 

“We are grateful to the Chautauqua Institution for providing Dance Theatre of Harlem this extraordinary opportunity to be in residence and for being a partner in the development of new voices and new works in ballet,” said Anna Glass, Executive Director of Dance Theatre of Harlem. “We look forward to sharing our work with the Chautauqua community and engaging in this exciting collaboration.”

Dance Theater of Harlem’s Chautauqua residency is supported by the Alphadyne Foundation.

Sales of overnight packages at the Athenaeum Hotel and dinner and brunch event-only tickets will begin March 30. Other amenities available at Chautauqua during the May 1–2 weekend include unique shopping opportunities, including the Institution’s own Chautauqua Bookstore and The Gallery Store gift shop, plus golf at the Chautauqua Golf Club, and other recreation opportunities.

Schedule of Public Events

Friday, April 16 • 12 p.m. EDT
Dance Theatre of Harlem: Conversation with Artistic Director Virginia Johnson on CHQ Assembly

Friday, April 23 • 12 p.m. EDT
Dance Theatre of Harlem: Conversation with Artistic Director Virginia Johnson and Choreographer Tiffany Rea-Fisher on CHQ Assembly

Tuesday, April 27 • 1 p.m. EDT
Dance Theatre of Harlem Live Lecture and Demonstration with Chautauqua Arts Education

Saturday, May 1 • 5:30 p.m. EDT
Dinner at Heirloom Restaurant with exclusive screening of pre-recorded studio performance* from Chautauqua’s Carnahan-Jackson Dance Studios, with live Q&A at Heirloom with Artistic Director Virginia Johnson

Sunday, May 2 • 11 a.m. EDT
Brunch at Heirloom Restaurant with exclusive screening of pre-recorded studio performance* from Chautauqua’s Carnahan-Jackson Dance Studios, with live Q&A at Heirloom with Artistic Director Virginia Johnson

*The performances will each feature the same repertoire but showcase different dancers and conversation — lovers of dance will want to attend both! The programs will premiere at a later date on the CHQ Assembly Video Platform.

ABOUT DANCE THEATRE OF HARLEM
Dance Theatre of Harlem is a leading dance institution of unparalleled global acclaim, encompassing a professional touring company, a leading studio school, and a national and international education and community outreach program. Each component of Dance Theatre of Harlem carries a solid commitment towards enriching the lives of young people and adults around the world through the arts. Founded in 1969 by Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook, Dance Theatre of Harlem is considered “one of ballet’s most exciting undertakings” (The New York Times). Shortly after the assassination of The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Mitchell was inspired to start a school that would offer children — especially those in Harlem, the community in which he was born — the opportunity to learn about dance and the allied arts. Now in its sixth decade, Dance Theatre of Harlem has grown into a multi-cultural dance institution with an extraordinary legacy of providing opportunities for creative expression and artistic excellence that continues to set standards in the performing arts. Dance Theatre of Harlem has achieved unprecedented success, bringing innovative and bold new forms of artistic expression to audiences in New York City, across the country and around the world

ABOUT CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION
Chautauqua Institution is a community on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York state that comes alive each summer — and year-round through the CHQ Assembly online platforms — with a unique mix of fine and performing arts, lectures, interfaith worship and programs, and recreational activities. As a community, we celebrate, encourage and study the arts and treat them as integral to all of learning, and we convene the critical conversations of the day to advance understanding through civil dialogue.