Cheryl Wilkins-Mitchell earned a B.F.A. in ballet with a
modern dance minor from The University of Cincinnati,
College Conservatory of Music. She has danced with the Dance
Theater of Harlem, Cincinnati Contemporary Dance Theater,
Landrum Dance Theatre, Southwest Jazz Ballet, and Theater
Under The Stars in Houston. She has toured South America
with Disney on Parade Dance Company. In Syracuse, she has
performed with Syracuse Stage, Syracuse Symphony Orchestra,
Syracuse Community Choir, and the Paul Robeson Performing
Arts Company.
Wilkins-Mitchell’s teaching credits include the Dance
Theater of Harlem, Inner City Cultural Center in Los
Angeles, the Northwest Houston Dance Academy, Syracuse
University, and Le Moyne College. She is currently on the
faculty of Oswego State University, and she is the owner /
director of the Onondaga Dance Institute. She is a Teaching
Artist for dance with the Central New York Institute of
Aesthetic Education, and she serves as a dance coach for the
NAACP ACT-SO Program.
Cheryl Wilkins-Mitchell has been the recipient of the 2000
Martin Luther King, Jr. Unsung Heroes and Heroines from
Syracuse University; the 2000 Marjorie Dowdell Fortitude
Award from Delta Sigma Theta Sorority; a 2001 Honoree of the
National Council of Negro Woman, Inc.; and the Spirit of
Life Award presented by Kaleidoscope Dance Theater. Mayor
Matt Driscoll of Syracuse proclaimed May 30, 2003 Cheryl
Wilkins-Mitchell Day in the City of Syracuse.
Wilkins-Mitchell is the mother of two children.
Reflections by Cheryl Wilkins-Mitchell
I reflect on being a Teaching Artist with a smile on my face
and in my heart. God blessed me, and I have had the
perseverance to now have a successful career in dance. For
fifteen years I have worked with several arts
institutes—the Central New York Institute for Aesthetic
Education, Partners for Arts Education, the Central New York
Community Arts Council, the Southern Tier Institute—and I
have touched thousands of school children. Not only were the
children prepared to see and understand live performance,
but they experienced the expression of human spirit through
dance. I was rewarded with appreciation and intelligent
questions that reflected the children’s understanding and
knowledge of what they had experienced in follow-up visits.
Involvement as a Teaching Artist over the years has given me
the opportunity to be touched by students in a very special
way. When I have been approached by young adults—high
school age and older—with a, “Mrs. Mitchell, do you
remember me?” I look into the beautiful faces and think
where do I know this person from. The young adults continue,
“You came to my school and did . . . “ The memories
flood back, and I smile with my face and my heart.
Lately though I have been haunted by the knowledge that some
of those young people that I helped open to the world of
aesthetics are now faced with death and destruction as our
world is gripped in conflict and war. Some of these
“kids” may be soldiers in the midst of some ugly
situations. Will they remember there is good, that life can
be beautiful? As a Teaching Artist I take pride in
contributing something good, in touching people’s lives,
in helping people see the world a little differently and
knowing that I influenced them in some small way to become
productive citizens.
My smile broadens with memories. I love being a Teaching
Artist.
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