The Legacy Council

  • Karlya Shelton (Benjamin)

    CHAIRPERSON

  • Lydia Abarca (Mitchell)

    VICE CHAIRPERSON - TREASURER

  • Gayle McKinney (Griffith)

    SECRETARY

  • Marcia L. Sells, Esq.

    FOUNDING LEGACY COUNCIL MEMBER

  • Sheila Rohan

    ADVISOR

Karlya Shelton (Benjamin)

Chairperson, Founding Legacy Council Member

Photograph by Aaron Lucy, Denver Headshots

Mistress of Ceremony “Graduation Ball”

photograph by Marbeth from the private collection of Karlya Shelton-Benjamin

Karlya Shelton-Benjamin began dancing at the age of 4 with the Colorado Concert Ballet (currently Colorado Ballet).  At the age of 17, she became one of the first dancers and the first person of color to represent the United States in the Prix de Lausanne competition (1975).  She joined Dance Theatre of Harlem in 1975 where she enjoyed a 10 year professional career rising to the rank of principal dancer.  Karlya studied with Arthur Mitchell, Karel Shook, William Griffith, Patricia Wilde, Tanaquil LeClerq, Alice Elliot, Mary Hinkson and other notable teachers.  She has worked with such master choreographers as Choo San Goh, John Butler, Domy Reiter-Sofer, Geoffrey Holder, Carmen de Lavallade, Sir Frederic Franklin, Alexandra Danilova, John Taras, Louis Johnson, Glen Tetley, Agnes de Mille, Billy Wilson, Valerie Bettis, Carlos Carvajal, Benjamin Harkarvy, and Igal Perry (founding member of Peridance). She has also taught and coached at Oakland Ballet and Cleo Parker Robinson Dance as well as privately.

Ms. Shelton-Benjamin received critical acclaim for her portrayal of Jill the Stable Girl in Equus, Mistress of Ceremonies Graduation Ball, the 3rd variation in Pas de Dix - Raymonda Variations. She has also danced leading roles in Serenade and The Four Temperaments (George Balanchine), A Streetcar Named Desire (Valerie Bettis) and Othello (John Butler), among others. Karlya has appeared in television commercials for DTH and a national tv ad for Sugar Free Dr. Pepper,  She has danced for Her Majesty the Queen Mother of England at London’s Royal Opera House and for then President and Mrs. Reagan at the White House. Karlya currently coaches young dancers on their way to becoming professional. She is fluent in French and has a passion for gems and fine jewelry having worked with Van Cleef & Arpels (NY and Beverly Hills) and Pavé Fine Jewelry.  She is an Accredited Jewelry Professional (GIA A.J.P.) and has received certification in Diamonds and Diamond Grading through the Gemological Institute of America (GIA).  

Lydia Abarca (Mitchell)

Vice Chairperson - Treasurer, Founding Legacy Council Member

Photograph by Leonard Butler

“Le Combat”

“Le Combat”

Lydia Abarca Mitchell is a founding member of the Dance Theatre of Harlem and their first prima ballerina. She danced leading roles in Agon, Bugaku, Concerto Barocco, Allegro Brillante, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Swan Lake (George Balanchine), Afternoon of a Faun (Jerome Robbins), Carmen and Jose (Ruth Page), Le Combat (William Dollar), and Ode to Otis, Holberg Suite, and Biosfera (Arthur Mitchell). She was the first ballerina of a successful black ballet company, The Dance Theatre of Harlem, to grace the cover of Dance Magazine.

In addition to her career with DTH, she appeared in print ads for Avon, Diet Rite Cola, and Revlon, on the cover of Essence Magazine, and was chosen as one of the original Revlon “Charlie” girls. She appears in the movie, The Wiz, and performed in Bubbling Brown Sugarat the Papermill Playhouse in New Jersey with Cab Calloway, in Amsterdam and Paris with Vivian Reed, and was featured in Bob Fosse’s Dancin’ on Broadway. She has worked in various positions with Atlanta’s Ballethnic Dance Company, co-founded by DTH alumni, Waverly Lucas and Nena Gilreath-Lucas, as teacher, coach, and rehearsal director for over 25 years.

Gayle McKinney (Griffith)*

*August 26, 1949 - October 11, 2023

Founding Legacy Council Member

Photograph by

Delphine Diallo

Gayle Dance Pix.jpg

Photograph by Martha Swope

Born in Harlem, New York, Gayle began dancing at Carnegie Hall’s Showtime for children at a very young age. Her family moved to Connecticut where she continued with ballet at Froman’s Professional Russian Ballet School. In high school, she became Dance Club president and was awarded summer scholarships to Connecticut College American Dance Festival to train with notable dance greats. Upon graduation, she attended Juilliard School of Music and focused on ballet training with Anthony Tudor. To further her ballet career, she auditioned for Arthur Mitchell’s newly formed Dance Theatre of Harlem. She danced and toured from 1968 - 1977/78 and became DTH’s first Ballet Mistress of the company. She credits Mr Mitchell’s and Mr Shook’s vision, tutelage and commitment to excellence that cultivated her skill sets.

Since DTH, Gayle has had an extensive performing career in Films, Television, Opera, Industrial Shows and Musicals in the States. She was invited by Theatre Des Westens in Berlin, Germany to perform various theatre productions as well as independently touring and teaching throughout Europe. She is the mother of two accomplished adult children and currently on the ballet faculty of The Dance Extension and guest ballet teacher at Connecticut College.

Marcia L. Sells, Esq.

Founding Legacy Council Member

Photograph by

Delphine Diallo

Marcia Dance Pic.jpg

Marcia Sells became the first Chief Diversity Officer for the Metropolitan Opera in 2021. And was charged with moving the Met Opera’s diversity equity and inclusion programming into the 21st Century. Her move to the Met followed her tenure as Associate Dean & Dean of Students at Harvard Law School and  over 13 years at Columbia University, first as Associate Vice President, Program Development and Initiatives, for the office of Government and Community Affairs and then adding Associate Dean in the School of the Arts for Outreach & Education at Columbia University. 

Prior to working at Columbia University in 2002, Marcia held a variety of progressively responsible positions in academia, the private sector and public service including:  Educational Consultant for Dance Theatre of Harlem, Vice President of Employee and Organizational Development for Reuters America, Vice President of Organizational Development & Human Resources, and Vice President Player Education and Development for the National Basketball Association, Dean of Students at Columbia University School of Law, and Assistant District Attorney trying rape and child abuse cases for the Kings County District Attorney’s Office.

Predating her career as a lawyer and in academia, she began her life in New York City over 40 years ago, working for the Dance Theatre of Harlem. She earned a Juris Doctorate from Columbia University School of Law and received her Bachelor of Arts from Barnard College.  Marcia remains a member of the New York Bar and retired from Connecticut Bar.

Sheila Rohan

Advisor, Founding Legacy Council Member

Photograph by Peter Wallburg Studios

Sheila dance.jpg

Photograph by Marbeth

Sheila Rohan, one of Dance Theatre of Harlem’s original members, said that at the urging of her sister, Nanette Bearden (wife of painter Romare Bearden), she went up to Harlem to audition for what was to be a new Black ballet company. “I thought it was going to be a little community dance program,” she said. “I had no idea it was going to grow to be so tremendous. I’m proud that I had something to do with that.”


With the company, under the direction of Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook, she toured extensively in the United States, the Caribbean and Europe, performing as soloist in several works – Geoffrey Holder’s “Dougla”, Arthur Mitchell’s “Biofera”, and “Rhythmetron”.

Sheila has performed with dance companies both contemporary and ballet. She toured China and South Korea with the Myung Sook Chun Dance Company, and danced the role of Rosa Parks in Gordon Parks’ film for television, “Martin…the ballet”. She has also performed in a production of “Porgy and Bess”, choreographed by Carmen De Lavallade at the Metropolitan Opera House. She performed with the Louis Johnson Ensemble, Fred Benjamin Dance Company, Rod Rodgers Dance Company, Walter Nicks Dance Company, and Clive Thompson Dance.
She has been assistant to several renowned choreographers, taught Master classes in ballet in Kanagawa, Japan, and taught ballet for several years at the Ailey School, both in the Junior and Adult Divisions.
Since retiring from performing Sheila is involved in choreography and teaching, and is credited with choreography for several local schools, theater groups and cultural organizations.
She is on the Board of Directors of the Romare Bearden Foundation, a founding member for Clark Center NYC, and Universal Temple of the Arts, a cultural organization located on Staten Island.