Deborah Hayes: I am Deborah Hayes, Director of the Office of Work Force Diversity, and it gives me great pride and pleasure to welcome each of you to today's signature event in honor of African American History Month. You are in for an exceptional treat given our distinguished presenters, panelists, as well as our moderator in addition to the special performance by students from the Dance Theater of Harlem. This year's theme is centered around "Carter G. Woodson and the Origins of Multiculturalism," and what better way to celebrate African American History Month and Carter G. Woodson than today's signature event. I think it deserves an early round of applause. ^M00:00:51 [applause] ^M00:00:58 We were hopeful that the weather would not wreak havoc on today's program event, and we believe that we are successful. The room is just about full so we are ever so grateful. I would ask that the audience please rise for the presentation of colors by the Armed Forces Color Guard, U.S. Army Military District of Washington, and the singing of the National Anthem by Sandra A. Smith [Spelled Phonetically], President AFSCME Local 2477. ^M00:01:33 [low audio] ^M00:02:18 Sandra A. Smith: [singing] O! Say can you see by the dawn's early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming. Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming. ^M00:03:13 And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. ^M00:04:14 [applause] ^M00:04:20 [low audio] ^M00:04:48 Deborah Hayes: You may be seated, and please give our soloist another round of applause. ^M00:04:53 [applause] ^M00:05:01 Now it is my pleasure to bring to the podium our Chief Operating Officer, Jo Ann Jenkins. Please welcome her with a round of applause. ^M00:05:11 [applause] ^M00:05:17 Jo Ann Jenkins: Thank you Deborah, and I'd also like to add my thanks to Sandra who did that beautiful singing. Not only does she do her Library work, and she's a singer, but she's also head of our Union 2477, and this past year we were able to negotiate a new contract with 2477 in less than two months compared to the two or three years that we normally do. So we're certainly grateful to Sandra and her leadership, not only for her voice but also for less than two months compared to the two or three - ^M00:05:47 [applause] ^M00:05:51 Jo Ann Jenkins: I'm pleased this morning to participate in the Libraries annual observance of African American History Month, and I want to applaud the contributions of African Americans have made to this great nation. Specifically some of these contributions African Americans have made here at the Library of Congress include the treasures that we have acquired and identified and housed here in our diverse collections. They include for example, the Civil Rights Movement and the record of the NAACP. The largest single collection ever acquired by the Library of Congress and the most widely used collection that we have here in the institution. It also includes the records of other organizations that led the fight for Civil Rights: notably the National Urban League, the Leadership Conference of Civil Rights and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. The Library's also the steward of the personal papers of such pioneering African Americans and leaders as Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington and of course, Carter G. Woodson, who this month is being honored for. Over the years, the Libraries collections has offered these enormously valuable materials to researchers, teachers and the general public, contributing to a better understanding of the diverse history and culture of African Americans here in the U.S. As stated in the Presidential Proclamation, this year's theme "Carter G. Woodson and the Origins of Multiculturalism" honors an educator who taught his fellow citizens about the traditions and contributions of African Americans. His dedication to educating Americans about cultural diversity initiated this celebration of African America History Month even before it was just a week and just a day. We are pleased this morning to have our distinguished panel of presenters, Mr. Arthur Mitchell and Miss Carmen de Lavallade - ^M00:07:49 [applause] ^M00:07:51 Jo Ann Jenkins: --And of course our Moderator, Ms. Renee Poussaint. Renee is the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of the National Visionary Leadership Project, which is a documentary film -- she's a documentary filmmaker, award wining former television network journalist and senior fellow at the University of Maryland's Academy of Leadership. Miss Poussaint is the recipient of three national Emmy Awards. Her extensive broadcast career includes tenure as a network correspondence, and certainly we remember her for many years here in Washington. She also -- her works have also appeared on PBS, Discover, A & E and Lifetime Networks. Most recently she has joined with the forces of educator and producer Dr. Camille Cosby to create the National Visionary Leadership Project, which we are very proud to say that we are part of here at the Library of Congress because those archives come here to the Folk Life Center here at the Library. She's going to give us the pleasure of moderating the discussion here today and to introduce our other speakers. Please join me in welcoming Renee Poussaint. ^M00:09:02 [applause] ^M00:09:07 Renee Poussaint: Thank you very much. This is going to be brief because we have some of the most extraordinary artists with us today and some extraordinary young artists with us today. And I know that you all want to get to that, that's the most important thing. What I did want to say very briefly was to talk about a little bit about the National Visionary Leadership Project and our partnership with the American Folk Life Center and we are very, very pleased and proud to be affiliated. We now have, and the Library has, the National Visionary Leadership Project collection of African American Oral Histories, and all of the video interviews that we do with extraordinary African American elders, and all of the interviews that our college students do with extraordinary local elders. All of that material is now going to be archived here at the Library of Congress, and we are thrilled about that. Because that means that the stories of these elders will go on forever, and as they say, "As long as there is a Library of Congress, these stories will exist and be available." And that's what the National Visionary Leadership Project is all about. ^M00:10:32 [applause] ^M00:10:37 Renee Poussaint: Are these our visitors from J.C. Knoll [spelled phonetically]? Speakers: Yeah. Renee Poussaint: Thank you, I'm so glad you could make it. This is - J.C. Knoll Elementary School in South East D.C. is another one of the partners of the National Visionary Leadership Project, and these are 12 young people from the elementary school. They have worked with us. We have our annual summit each year here at the Library of Congress where we honor some of our visionaries in the non-performing arts, and we each year have several members of the J.C. Knoll student body who assist us, and this past year some of them actually drew portraits of our honorees that are now a part of a wonderful little exhibit. And you can see some of them on our web site. Oh, I have to say, our Website is visionaryproject.org, that's the extent of my commercial now I'm gong to go on from there. But getting to today's wonderful event. These two extraordinary people who are sitting next to me, you must know. You must know, if you have not been in isolation someplace for many decades. You must know how extraordinary they truly are. What groundbreakers they are. Not only in the area of dance but in the area of theater and the arts in general. You are looking at two renaissance human beings. And Carmen was one of our original members of our board of advisors for the National Visionary Leadership Project. She and Camille, Camille Cosby, are very, very good friends, and Carmen not only allowed herself to be interviewed as a visionary, but she also worked with us on the board of advisors to help generate and expand the project, and we are so grateful to you for doing that. ^M00:12:45 [applause] ^M00:12:48 And she does it all with extraordinary modesty. You will notice that Carmen's biography in the program is quite short, and that's because she doesn't like to talk about herself. It's not - I mean the extraordinary things that she has done could fill books, but when you ask her about herself she gets very quiet, and her art she allows to speak for itself. And in just a few moments you are going to see exactly what we're talking about. The way the day is going to go is that I am going to introduce each of our wonderful guests, and you will then see a short excerpt, video excerpt, of about three or four minutes. And the excerpt will help you to understand their background, their thoughts. The excerpts come from the interviews that they did with us for the National Visionary Leadership Project. Camille interviewed Carmen, and I had the privilege of interviewing Arthur. And what we do with all of this wonderful material that we get, the video interviews, we put excerpts on our web site, and we also create educational material for schools. Lesson plans, etcetera, etcetera. We are working on getting those into curricula all across the country so that African American History is not a one-month thing; it is something that is with us all the time -- ^M00:14:26 [applause] ^M00:14:28 -- And something that our children learn about from the very beginning of the moment that they walk into a school. That's why we're here, that's what we're trying to do, and let me begin by saying just a few words about Carmen, and then we're going to go into her video. Has been a part of the dance world for years and years and years. Part of the reason that she is so perfect today in terms of multiculturalism is that Carmen has brought so many different aspects, cultural aspects, into the dance that she does and has danced with some of the greatest dancers in the world, been partners with some of the greatest dancers in the world, and in terms of this particular occasion, she is particularly connected because of her long standing association with the Alvin Ailey Dance Company. And isn't it coincidental that the Ailey Company is performing here in Washington. But Carmen was one of the pioneers, and what I'd like to do if we can is roll Carmen's video tape, and then we'll move in, we'll learn more about Arthur. Who's rolling the video? [video clip] Carmen de Lavallade: My whole life has been around all kinds of people, and it's quite natural you know. And my dad, he never really spoke to us about race at all. And he - we didn't know what the word meant. My sisters, we were in grammar school, and they'd give you the paper and it would say "race," and we'd look at it, and we'd kind of look to see what somebody else did, and we would write what they did because we didn't know what the word meant. ^M00:16:16 [music] ^M00:16:34 I started working with dance seriously when I was about 14, and I started doing ballet and modern. You know just little classes on Highland Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard around there. And then, oh, I got a scholarship. Someone told me about Lester, and they took me to Lester's studio, and I auditioned and I got in. It was a real dance theater. Our classroom was the stage. We had no bars, no mirrors, and of course it was contemporary. And I remember one of the big pieces was Salome that Lester choreographed, and Bella Lewitzky of course was Salome. But when Bella left I became Salome, but she taught it to me. Then Lester brought more people of color in. James Truitte came in later, and we had Misaye Kawasumi, and we had Lelia Goldoni, and we had - then the company became very mixed. Now this is during the McCarthy period. So it was like this theater in this -- in the eye of a hurricane. All this stuff going around and there we were just doing our little thing. ^M00:17:47 [music] ^M00:17:50 Alvin was always in and out of things because you know; he was a very curious fellow. And we had danced together you know, there with the company. And then we came to New York together. ^M00:18:01 [music] ^M00:18:12 He formed this company, and I was part of that company, and it all kind of evolved - there were all kinds of dance companies going on there, and everybody shared people. And I don't like to stay in one kind of mold too long. And whomever I was working with, that's my work, I would, do it like I was doing the Hanukkah Festival, I was in the Jewish, you know I would go off and do my little Jewish thing you know, and it was wonderful to be asked to do that, and I had no problem hopping from one to the other. Later when I was acting at the Yale Reps -- you know the movie The Ritz? Camille Cosby: Yes. Carmen de Lavallade: --and it was done on Broadway too? Camille Cosby: Yes, Carmen de Lavallade: Well, all right, it was done at Yale first, and it was called The Tubs, and when they got to Broadway someone called me and said, "Carmen would you like to do it for a couple of weeks because Rita's not going to be - she's going to be on vacation." I said, "Oh great" because it was the least re-written of the pieces, and it was fun and what not. And then I got a call back, they said, "Oh Carmen I don't think it's going to be possible because --" I said, "Why?" Because I wasn't Puerto Rican. I'm hard to place. They'll put me more in the Hispanic sometime, and then you go to the Hispanics, and they don't want you there either. [laughs] And the beautiful thing about art is you are who you are now and you, you create who you are now, we are in different times, which means that whatever is happening now feeds you. Even your failures sometimes are really good experiences you know, humiliating but very good experiences. ^M00:19:48 [music] ^M00:19:54 When young dancers come up to me and say "Oh I learned so much from watching you" it's wonderful. The best way I can give to the world is a little bit of myself so that it makes somebody's life a little happier. It's a very little thing I think, but it makes people feel good. ^M00:20:17 [music] ^M00:20:20 [end clip] ^M00:20:23 [applause] ^M00:20:31 Renee Poussaint: [laughs] A little thing. I don't think it's such a little thing. [laughs] That just gives you a little hint of what Carmen is like, and you can see much more of her interview that she did on our Website: visionaryproject.org - I'm going to stop saying that. But you can just go to our web site and you'll be able to hear a good deal more. Just to kind of get us started with one question, and then I'm going to move to Arthur. One of the things that you talk about in the film and in that interview is how you were influenced by a number of different cultures, and I wanted to get a sense of why you feel it's important - that multiculturalism is important in terms of yourself and in terms of art. Carmen de Lavallade: I don't remember not being around other kinds of people. I was born in East L.A., and my first grammar school was Vernon City Grammar School, way over East side. And there were Hispanics, Blacks and Asians. And so I see people, you know, there just people, like I said, I didn't know what race meant. Because I was so used to other kinds of people around, and I remember I think what -- what I think is so wonderful about knowing other people. I remember during the war when the Second World War started and all the Japanese were taken to concentration camps. And I remember the Japanese children having to go, and one little girl had to leave her dolls. She couldn't take her dolls. She had quintuplet dolls, and they were left at our school. And I couldn't understand to this day why she couldn't take her dolls. But, but my dad was like that, my family was like that, we - you know what it is, is that this country is multicultural anyway, even though we used to sit in little corners. And now everything's changing because it's necessary, because the world is getting smaller. We're not, you know, over there any more; they're on your front porch now. You know, everybody's having tea together, and you have to get along. You have to - and I was so fortunate to have that - I didn't have to learn that. I was you know, born that way, and I was taught that way. And Lester was a wonderful man. He had no - here we are in Los Angeles, California, 7566 Melrose Avenue. The famous Melrose Avenue during the McCarthy period, and I - and there we were - and traveling, and I could never understand, we never had any problems except - I hate to say it - I don't think they took us very seriously because dancer's are not sometimes not thought to have any brains in their head because they don't speak. For some reason when you don't speak you're not thought that you, people don't think that you have good thoughts in your head, you know what I mean. It's very hard because when you're physical you're physical, but to speak, a singer or an actor, people listen to you but we're not used to expressing ourselves. But I want to tell you something: Once you give a dancer a chance to talk they will talk you to death. [laughter] And they're very bright because most of the young dancers who leave dance and go into the universities, come out tops. Arthur Mitchell: Yes. Carmen de Lavallade: Phi Beta Kappa's, everything. Master's Degree, because they are so disciplined. It's like being in the army. You know, but they, they're the best people in the world to work with. But anyway, but multiculture - Alvin -- Alvin? Renee Poussaint: Oh my gosh. Carmen de Lavallade: -- Popped in to my head, you see, he's here. It's - like I said, it's necessary. The country was built on that and besides which, when you're working together you can steal each other's steps. [laughter] Renee Poussaint: Words to live by. Thank you Carmen. Now of course, Arthur Mitchell who does not age. Somehow, somehow - [laughter] [applause] --is this not extraordinary? He does not age. And many people hate him for that. But he is a marvel and a force of nature, and he is one of our visionaries, and he was of course a pioneer in terms of coming out of Harlem and all of the cultural renaissance that that involves, and becoming the first black performer, dancer with the New York City Ballet. Which in those days could get you killed. ^M00:25:24 [applause] ^M00:25:30 And he stood tall and made extraordinary strides and most recently has made the stride of creating this wonderful dance theater for young people to - in Harlem - to teach them about ballet, about what that means, about the discipline, about the different cultures. And we could not think of anyone more appropriate to bring that essence of multiculturalism, the European and the African American combined in the ballet culture to share that with us today. And so again what we're going to do is have a short video to show more of Arthur Mitchell and his background. Again, it is from an interview that he did with the National Visionary Leadership Project, and you can see much more of it on the Website. Let's go to the video tube. [video clip] Arthur Mitchell: I was turned sideways in my mother's womb, and my father refused to take my mother to the hospital to get a cesarean. He got an old mid-wife, and she turned me around inside my mother's body, and I came out feet first. And she said, "This child will be a dancer." ^M00:26:55 [music] ^M00:27:06 Well number one, my dream was to go to college. I said, "Mitchell, you can do jazz, you can do modern, you can do tap, you can do ethnic. What can you do that will make you so good that people will use you regardless of your skin color?" The ballet. Whenever I dance, I dance for my mom and for my people. I always do that mantle on my shoulder. I had to go out there, and be good; I couldn't make a mistake. I joined in November, 1955, and parents called and said, "I do not want my child, my daughter to dance with that black guy." And Balanchine said, "Well, take your daughter out." He saw something in me that I did not even know. And when I joined Maria Tall [Spelled Phonetically], she said to me, "Arthur, listen to everything he says, follow him, listen to him." And I became like glue. I learned everything, I studied and when they see - when someone sees that you're that interested and you want it that badly they will help you. I was dancing Civil Rights rather than marching Civil Rights. I was going to Idlewild, and that's when they announced that Dr. King had been shot. And I said "You know Mitchell, why are you going to Brazil when there are so man problems here?" Because I could feel the frustration and the anger, and I did not want to see again the riots in Harlem that I had experienced in the '40s, so I said, "well I'm going to do something." And I came back and I went to Mr. Balanchine; I was 36 years old, and I said, "Mr. Balanchine I'm going to start this school of ballet in Harlem." He said, "What?" The rumors that went around, he's crazy, insane, nuts, black kids could not relate, even the black community. They didn't know why I was coming up here to do ballet. And they said, "Oh it's a real estate trick," "he's here as a spy," or "dope" all kinds of things. And I took $25,000, which was all the money I had, I put in a dance floor, in a bar, we had no mirrors and a tin roof. It was so hot we had to leave the sides open, and that's how I recruited kids. I started with two dancers and 30 children. ^M00:29:46 [music] ^M00:30:00 You see an empty bucket, you say, "Ah, I'll just add a few drops," but you keep putting a few drops, a few drops, that bucket gets full. Now what I'm saying maybe only 10 people will hear me. But then 10 more will hear it, then 10 more will hear, then 10 more will hear. ^M00:30:23 [music] ^M00:30:39 [end clip] ^M00:30:41 [applause] ^M00:30:43 Renee Poussaint: Extraordinary, extraordinary. Arthur would you share with us your thoughts today about why you continue to feel that it is so important that the culture of ballet and all that that means be shared with the children of Harlem. Arthur Mitchell: There are sayings that we have at Dance Theater of Harlem, "The arts ignite the mind; they give you the possibility to dream and to hope." And that's what young people need today. With the advent of technology we must feed the soul, and that's what the arts will do. And it's just being here today; -- Carmen and I dance together, in House of Flowers in 1954. I met the Chief Operating Officer of the Library of Congress. Her brother was at Dance Theater for 15 years, and that's the kind of interaction that you can have as an artist. And the thing is, I was fortunate to work with some of the greatest geniuses of the 20th century; Alvin Ailey, Mr. Balanchine, Lincoln Kirstein, and when you think at that time when we first started, you were either a modern dancer, a jazz dancer, a ballet dancer, a tap dancer. Today you have to be a good dance artist and dance all of the styles. And Carmen and I were discussing that this morning. You know to get a job - and the American dancers are the best because in order to survive you must do everything, and as mentioned in the film, when I went to the High School of Performing Arts I had not really run into racism, but in your senior year you start going to auditions. And I was not accepted, and so consequently I said, "What could I do that would make me so unique that people would use me regardless of my skin color?" And I took the scholarship to become a ballet dancer. And Mr. Balanchine and Mr. Kirstein saw something in me that I did not know, and they started working with me, and then one day I got a call, and they said "Arthur, Mr. Balanchine would like you to come and start before the company starts rehearsal." And I didn't know what it was, but it was the pas de deux from Agon, and that was done 50 years ago on December 1st, and it is still the groundbreaking pas de deux in ballet, in neo-classical ballet in the world today. And when you think how Mr. - the audacity to take an African American man, put him with a Caucasian woman, a great ballerina, Diana Adams, and put it on the stage for people to see is mind-boggling. The second part of what I believe or what we believe in Dance Theater, our theme song is from Muhammad Ali's movie, The Greatest. The words are, "I believe children are the future, teach them well and let them lead the way." And that has been what is driving me, driving Dance Theater and driving the art form. We are always pushing the barrier. We are the purveyors of society actually, and we learn from each other. And now the globe is so small, and it is through each of its cultures that we understand who and what makes the different society, and taking that to make a better world for all of us to live in. So I know I only have five minutes, but I can go on and on and on. [laughter] Carmen may be very shy, but I'm not. [laughter] ^M00:34:35 [applause] ^M00:34:43 But it's the uniqueness of being an artist and particularly a dance artist because it transcends words. You put it into the emotion, your body, your feeling, and it communicates to everyone around the world. Renee Poussaint: One question for both of you before we bring your young dancers out. You both talked about the kinds of difficulties that you went through when you were beginning in terms of being stereo-typed because of your race or lack of identifiable race. Have those obstacles been completely removed in terms of contemporary dancers, or is this still a reality, and how much progress, if any, has been made? Carmen de Lavallade: You look at the companies today like complexions and they're all mixed, they're all mixed. I have to say one thing, I had my -- the one person that was my beacon and light, of light was Janet Collins. Arthur Mitchell: Yes. Carmen de Lavallade: Janet was the first African American to grace the stage of the Metropolitan Opera, and that was what, late '40s. Arthur Mitchell: Yes. Carmen de Lavallade: And her, and she went through a lot of, I had no problems compared to Janet. She was auditioned for Ballet Russe and when she was 17, and they wanted her very badly, but she would have to change the color of her skin, and make her skin light, and she said "No." She refused at 17, and cried all the time about it. But you know, that was a very courageous thing for her to do. She eventually worked with Katherine Dunham, but this is a woman who had finally, she became a great star in the early '50s in musicals as in concert stage and extraordinary woman, and I always like to mention her because it is so easy to forget people today. Because the technology, everybody thinks now and not the past. There is a bad habit of that now. And, but that -- so as far as I'm concerned, I've had it easy to be absolutely honest with you. I mean I have no complaints, and besides, if I run into that problem, you know, like my husband Geoffrey Holder says, "That's their problem not mine." You have to keep going. That's, you know, you can't let things like that stand in your way. But I didn't have you know, what you had, so I mean.... Arthur Mitchell: Well the thing is is that unfortunately at this particular point I have to say it is not like it should be. There was a major article in the New York Times about a month or so ago "Where Are the Black Swans?" Renee Poussaint: Oh in the ballet companies here. Arthur Mitchell: Ballet companies. Renee Poussaint: Yeah, the modern companies - Arthur Mitchell: Modern as always been degraded. Renee Poussaint: Always been. Arthur Mitchell: Ms. Graham, she had dancers Mary Hinkson, Matt Turney, Broadway, but in Classical companies it still got to break those barriers down, and this is why there must be a Dance Theater of Harlem. There must be an opportunity for these young people. There must be a program like we have at Kennedy Center where these young people, which you will see later, are absolutely fantastic; they are now all over the world. I am proud to say the Royal Ballet in England has just hired their first African American soloist, and he comes out of the program from Kennedy Center. [applause] So we're still breaking down the barriers. But it's again breaking perceptions and about what people can do. And once the opportunity is provided and you hit the stage, either you make the magic or you don't make the magic. And then people forget what color your skin is because they say, "Oh that person is wonderful." So the opportunity has to be provided, but it's not being done as much as it should be. Renee Poussaint: This is a perfect transition into your introducing the young dancers who are about to perform. Arthur Mitchell: About 15 years ago Jim Wolfensohn came to me, he said, "Arthur, I'd like to start a program at Kennedy Center to bring young people in." So I started and 16 years later or 15 years later we're now feeding the field with young people. And even if they don't become a dancer, they all go to college, they all go into become doctors, lawyers, physical therapists, because what they've learned through the art of dance is discipline. That discipline and focus, and so we've asked Robert Garland, one of our master teachers and choreographers to do something to show the young people today. And seeing is better than my talking so can we have the young people come on please? ^M00:39:28 [applause] ^M00:40:05 [music] ^M00:40:13 [clip] ^M00:40:17 Male Speaker; Civil Rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot at a downtown Memphis Hotel shortly before 7 - Arthur Mitchell: I was going to the airport to catch my flight to Brazil, ^M00:40:28 and they announced that he passed away to the hospital, and I started crying, and here again it's happened. And so I just felt that in my own small way the best thing for me to do is go to whatever I can do and carry on whatever I - since I believed in what the man was about - carry on the best way I could, ^M00:40:45 Male Speaker: And what you knew was dance? Arthur Mitchell: And go back and teach it to young people and give them a sense of discipline and education in their lives. They realize in the final analysis, either you hit the high C ^M00:40:57 or you don't hit the high C regardless of your color, your class, your race, your creed. ^M00:41:06 Once we opened, Clive Barnes dubbed me a "controlled maniac," and that is true, I'm maniacal about anything I do, and I want perfection, and I do that with myself. ^M00:41:23 It's the quality of what you do that's most important. ^M00:41:26 [end clip] ^M00:41:28 [music] ^M00:44:55 [applause] ^M00:45:16 Arthur Mitchell: I'd like to thank Mr. Robert Garland and one of our ballerinas: Miss Lorraine Graves, please come and take a bow. ^M00:45:22 [applause] ^M00:45:30 But what was incredible, because I just arrived last evening, and I didn't know what Robert had choreographed, and what he did musically was absolutely incredible. The first theme that you heard was from the South African music that is part of their theme song. Then he took the Joplin rags, and before you jump you must do the simple thing of bending your knees. And that's the first step you learn in classical ballet, the demi-plie and then to do that, have the kids take that sort of little jazzy step, and see how it's transferred into the classics, the essence is still the same. Where's the rubber band? Come here. Hold this for me. Give me your leg. [laughter] ^M00:46:21 [applause] ^M00:46:31 Thank you. Now when you see talent like that, you forget what color, creed, class, it is the magic of what the dance will do, and you young people were fantastic, and I bow to you. ^M00:46:45 [applause] ^M00:46:50 And the thing is, the discipline that these young people have transcends in their every day life. Their school work gets better, they talk better, they dress better, they walk better because they are proud of themselves. And this is what the arts must do, they have to be an integral part of everyone's life, and I want to thank all you young artists for this afternoon. And Renee, thank you very much for having me and the Library of Congress. Thank you very much. ^M00:47:16 [applause] ^M00:47:36 Renee Poussaint: Weren't they extraordinary? Absolutely extraordinary! ^M00:47:42 [applause] ^M00:47:47 I don't know about you but I feel a lot more encouraged about our future from watching that. That was just wonderful, and it speaks to exactly what we've been talking about today. And the multicultural aspects of those young people was really quite something. Before we end today I understand that we are going to have a multicultural eating experience after this too. But before we get to that I, wanted to welcome to the microphone the person who I would say is probably the most responsible for pulling today together. She is and extraordinary person. She is our contact, the NVLP's contact with the Library of Congress, and she has made such a wonderful difference in terms of our partnership, and we cannot thank her enough. Deborah Murphy would you please step up here please? ^M00:48:48 [applause] ^M00:49:01 Arthur Mitchell: Always a good partner. [laughter] Deborah Murphy: Good afternoon everyone, and thank you Renee. Renee Poussaint: You're welcome. Deborah Murphy: For the second consecutive year, Library Services has served as a co-sponsor along with our partner, the Office of Work Force Diversity led by Deborah Hayes as the sponsor of all of the activities for African American History Month. And we on behalf of the Associate Librarian for Library Services, Dr. Deanna Markum -- ^M00:49:40 [applause] ^M00:49:45 --I extend to you a hearty invitation for our next event, which is also going to be next Friday, the 29th, which is going to be film clips from the Libraries collections. So you're invited to that. Today we're extraordinarily happy in Library Services because we got to showcase two of our collections. Primarily the National Visionary Leadership Project which is a part of our American Folk life Center. And there were materials used in the film clips of our Alvin Ailey Collection, which is of our Music Division. So we are extremely proud of that, and I think that the collections are here for you to enjoy, and we welcome you to observe them. Now to pull off this event it took a lot of hands and heads and hearts, and I'd like to acknowledge many of those people. First I'd like to thank our Color Guard from the U.S. Army District of Washington. I think they may be gone by now, but Sandra Smith, our very own, who gave a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem. ^M00:51:00 [applause] ^M00:51:03 Our moderator, Miss Renee Poussaint, for her engaging conversation, and also thanks for choosing the American Folk life Center as the repository for these great and magnificent stories of extraordinary African Americans. ^M00:51:18 [applause] ^M00:51:20 Our distinguished panelists, Miss de Lavallade and Mr. Mitchell, we thank you. ^M00:51:27 [applause] ^M00:51:31 And many, many thanks to those wonderful young people who gave such a wonderful performance. ^M00:51:36 [applause] ^M00:51:42 I'd also like to thank the Dance Theater of Harlem and a lot of its staff who worked behind the scenes. Also members of the Kennedy Center who worked tirelessly with me in order to bring in the logistics and the floors, this isn't a normal way that we set up the Montpelier Room. And also I'd like to thank the members of the African American History Month Committee, and they're on the back of your panel. Would you please stand up please? ^M00:52:17 [applause] ^M00:52:19 These are the people who really worked. ^M00:52:21 [applause] ^M00:52:26 Fine job. And I'd also like to thank my boss, the American Folk Life Center's Director, Peggy Bulger. And I'd like to thank Sue Vita who's the Director of the Music Division who loaned us materials to use in the film clips from our Alvin Ailey Collection. Now before I go, I'd like to ask the Chief Operating Officer to join me at the podium. ^M00:52:53 [pause] ^M00:53:03 Jo Ann Jenkins: Well we certainly can't let our guests to without a gift from the Library of Congress so we wanted to present each of you today with a copy of the African American Odyssey, which was produced here at the Library of Congress as part of our exhibition when we had this exhibition up as well as a framed copy of the advertisements that we did as part of the program that we did here at the Library of Congress. So thank you again for being here with us. ^M00:53:30 [applause] ^M00:53:35 And this concludes our program, and we're going to have a reception -- Deborah Murphy: -- and ethnic food tasting right - Jo Ann Jenkins: -- right next door in Dining Room C. And we have, we're going to sing "Lift Every Voice." Deborah, are you leading us? Deborah Murphy: Oh no. [laughter] Jo Ann Jenkins: Sandra, can you - Deborah Murphy: I won't do that to us. Sandra would you - [laughter] Jo Ann Jenkins: Sandra can you please come? [laughter] Sandra Smith: Yes. [laughter] ^M00:54:11 Everyone please stand. Please join in with me. All: [singing] Lift every voice and sing, till earth and Heaven ring, Ring with the harmonies of liberty; Let our rejoicing rise, high as the listening skies, Let it resound loud as the rolling sea. Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us, Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us; Facing the rising sun of our new day begun, ^M00:55:32 Let us march on till victory is won. ^M00:55:43 [applause] ^M00:55:48 [music] ^M00:55:53 [end of transcript] LOC - 080222lib1100 1 5/7/2010