Mitchell is the artistic director and founder of Dance Theatre of Harlem, the country's leading African-American ballet company.

Born and raised in Harlem, Mitchell was encouraged by a guidance counselor to apply to the High School of the Performing Arts. When he graduated in the early 50s, he received a scholarship to the School of the American Ballet and made his stage debut in Truman Capote's musical House of Flowers with Alvin Ailey and Pearl Bailey. He worked his way up to principal dancer with the company in 1956, where he danced in major works like A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Nutcracker but remained the only African American person in the New York City Ballet until 1970—he was not even allowed to perform a pas de deux on national television in 1965 even though the dance was specifically choreographed for him because the South refused to air a black man dancing with a white woman. Inspired by Martin Luther King's assassination, Mitchell grew determined to give dance opportunities to children in his home neighborhood. In 1969, the Dance Theatre of Harlem was born, providing instruction to thousands of students in both dance and technical aspects of production, earning dozens of accolades over the decades. [Image via Getty, with Martha Swope and Chita Rivera]