Three dance works performed by the Dance Theatre of Harlem - America's outstanding classical ballet company of black dancers, which started out as a ghetto experiment and quickly reached world-class level. It was created by Arthur Mitchell, a student of the School of American Ballet, who had broken through ballet's colour barrier by becoming the first black dancer to join an internationally renowned company, the New York City Ballet.

Troy Game is introduced by its choreographer Robert North, who describes it as a satire of the machismo attitudes inherent in sport, karate and body building. Based on the athletic figures found in Greek murals and pottery, the work is a ballet for 12 men, set to the rhythms of Brazilian ethnic music called Batucada. It involves an interweaving of dance variations, karate style fights, slow and fast aikido, leading up to a furiously paced finale.

The Beloved is a dramatic ballet for two dancers. It was choreographed by the late Lester Horton, a noted West coast choreographer, whose approach to modern technique stands alongside that of Martha Graham and Doris Humphrey. The work confronts the themes of violence and fanaticism, in the relationship of a preacher and his wife. It is introduced by the performers who explain the ballet's factual basis.

John Henry, choreographed and introduced by Arthur Mitchell, celebrates the special qualities of the legendary folk hero of the same name. According to legend Henry, a railroad worker, took a dare that he could work faster than a machine - a steam drill - and succeeded, although the effort eventually killed him.