Culture
Dance Theatre of Harlem
Firebird in the hands of Geoffrey Holder
words by Matthew Burgos
The Dance Theatre of Harlem has announced additional shows for Firebird, the ballet and orchestral work by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, after its sold-out performances in New York and its international premiere in Paris. The dance company is set to perform in Washington, D.C., in September 2026, Chicago in October 2026, and Tempe in November 2026, with more tour dates and cities to be announced soon. The production was originally the centerpiece of the company’s New York season at New York City Center, and now it is expanding to reach new audiences nationwide for its limited fall tour.
The ballet’s story remains the same: the Prince spares the life of a firebird he caught in the enchanted forest, which in return gifts him a magic feather that can save him from danger. He meets a group of princesses and falls in love with one of them, but the evil sorcerer Koschei tries to stop him and orders his monstrous helpers to chase and hurt him. In the original ballet, the Firebird casts a spell to make Koschei and his monsters fall into a deep sleep so the Prince can break the egg that contains the sorcerer’s soul and destroy them. On stage with the Dance Theatre of Harlem, the Prince uses the feather to call on the Firebird, who releases her power to make Koschei and the monsters disappear.
An element that draws the eye to the ballet is the luminous set design and radiant costumes by Geoffrey Holder, a multi-hyphenate artist from Trinidad and Tobago. His work is central to this rendition of the production, the 1910 original of which by Michel Fokine was rooted in Slavic mythology and the “cold beauty” of the Russian wilderness. In the hands of Geoffrey Holder, and under the visionary leadership of Arthur Mitchell and the choreography of John Taras, the stage comes to life with the heat and zest of the tropics as the setting now depicts a Caribbean landscape.
The enchanted forest comes into view as a tropical jungle on an unnamed island filled with passionflowers, giant orchids, and crawling vines. It reimagines the 19th-century botanical paintings of Martin Johnson Heade; as an artist himself, Holder’s work captures the sense of exoticism and the lushness of the tropics. In a way, the late artist created a living painting, where the dancers, their clothes, and the stage they’re on perform live as one.