Ballet Tennessee hosts the Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble on Feb. 26-27 in a residency featuring a public interactive performance at the Tivoli Theater; two free community movement classes for children, two master classes for intermediate and advanced dance students, and a master class for adults.

In addition to being a leading dance institution and national treasure, Dance Theatre of Harlem is known for establishing a haven for minority dancers to excel during a time when dance companies were predominately white.

The Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble residency highlights the power of dance to inspire and educate the public. DTHE’s Interactive Performance, taking place at the Tivoli Theater, reveals and demystifies the world of the dance artist and invites the audience to be actively involved.

The Interactive Performance contains a wide variety of high quality artistic content and features live piano music, a narrator to serve as a guide, and choreography by Arthur Mitchell, Robert Garland, and John Taras.

This is the third consecutive season that Ballet Tennessee has hosted a guest company.

"For two seasons we brought in Ailey II, a fabulous contemporary dance company," said Ballet Tennessee Artistic Director Anna Baker-VanCura. "What’s really exciting is the Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble will show ballet at its best. We chose them because their vision and commitment to enrich the lives of young people and adults through dance matches our objectives and goals in Chattanooga."

This residency is a National Endowment for the Arts American Masterpieces project, a designation conferred by the Southern Arts Federation in partnership with the Tennessee Arts Commission.

The project highlights Ballet Tennessee’s long history of outreach to populations who have little exposure to dance. A native Chattanoogan, Fredrick Davis, is a member of Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble and will be performing with the company in Chattanooga.

Mr. Davis got his start in dance in Ballet Tennessee’s Dance Alive Program and developed mastery through the Talent Identification Program.

"The entire city supported Fredrick’s growth and development and now that he is returning as a professional dancer, we want to celebrate the cumulative success of all the programs, organizations, and art supporters that Fredrick represents," said Ms. Baker-VanCura.

The residency is supported by NEA Touring Grant and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Grant and funded through Allied Arts of Greater Chattanooga, National Endowment for the Arts, Southern Arts Federation, and Tennessee Arts Commission.