Dance Theatre of Harlem dancer Alexandra Hutchinson stars in the titular role for the company's revival of its 1982 Firebird production, wearing a costume designed by the late Geoffrey Holder. Nir Arieli/Dance Theatre of Harlem hide caption

Nir Arieli/Dance Theatre of Harlem

When Dance Theatre of Harlem premiered its Firebird production in 1982, a minor scandal ensued.

Instead of a traditional tutu wrapped around the waist, costume designer Geoffrey Holder opened up the front, exposing the legs of the dancer and making her look very much like a bird.

The ballet also became a runaway success. Choreographed by John Taras, the company's lush production daringly transports the Russian folktale to the Caribbean with its themes of the triumph of good over evil set to Stravinsky's gleaming score.

Geoffrey Holder's Firebird costume was considered groundbreaking — and controversial — at the time of the premiere in 1982. While traditional tutus go around the entire waist, Holder left the front open for the dancer to look more like a bird. It was also much more revealing. Rachel Papo/Dance Theatre of Harlem hide caption

Rachel Papo/Dance Theatre of Harlem

"It's a huge cast to create this wonderful spectacle ballet," said Dance Theater's artistic director Robert Garland, who is returning the opulent production to stages as the centerpiece of an international tour. The corps de ballet includes 32 dance students from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, whose Symphony Orchestra recorded the Firebird Suite recording used on tour.

Crippling debt had forced Dance Theatre to take a yearslong hiatus until it returned to touring in 2013. Garland, a former principal dancer with the company, took over as artistic director a decade later, after years of rebuilding by Virginia Johnson, another former principal dancer.

"We had a challenging moment," Garland told NPR's Michel Martin ahead of Dance Theatre's show in Washington, D.C. organized by Washington Performing Arts.

Dance Theatre of Harlem artistic director Robert Garland poses with company dancers. Elena Olivo/Dance Theatre of Harlem hide caption

Elena Olivo/Dance Theatre of Harlem

"The company's trajectory as an organization was so fast and furious that [founder] Arthur Mitchell was always playing catch up in terms of what people wanted to see in terms of the big ballet company spectacle piece," he explained.

"Sustaining that over time and not getting the funding that we always wanted to get was always a challenge... But thanks be to God, we're back together again."

As he unpacked the decades-old costumes and backdrops — which Holder had hand-painted at Columbia University's football field — Garland came to appreciate them as early examples of Afrofuturism, which takes a Black-centric lens to sociopolitics and culture.

"Basically you're becoming empowered through this fictional space," Garland said. "So for my dancers, they needed to know what that meant for them. And that was Wakanda for them. That was Black Panther. That's Octavia Butler."

Dance Theatre of Harlem regularly includes in its programs dances choreographed by the late George Balanchine, who had previously hired Arthur Mitchell at New York City Ballet. Balanchine lent his support — and some of his ballets — after Mitchell founded Dance Theatre of Harlem in 1969. Rachel Papo/Dance Theatre of Harlem hide caption

Rachel Papo/Dance Theatre of Harlem

Dance Theatre is banking on its revival of this landmark showpiece to regain a prominent spot in the dance world.

It's been decades since the company created new, truly revolutionary work, the kind that inspired then-President Nelson Mandela to invite them to perform in South Africa in the 1990s.

The company returned to the African continent for the first time since then earlier this month, with a debut in Morocco. And in April, it's presenting in New York a world premiere choreographed by Matthew Rushing and Samantha Figgins — both of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

Garland recalls being first inspired to become a dancer when he saw Dance Theatre of Harlem perform in Philadelphia as a teen. "They did a dance to popular music that I knew," he said, noting he was also studying classical music at the time. "I was sold. I felt like I could get the best of both worlds, my classical world and also my community and my culture."

The late Arthur Mitchell said he was inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr. to launch the Dance Theatre of Harlem a year after the civil rights leader died. Martha Swope/Dance Theatre of Harlem hide caption

Martha Swope/Dance Theatre of Harlem

Launched in a converted garage in 1969, Dance Theatre of Harlem was the brainchild of Mitchell — who was Black — and Karol Shook — who was white. The company grew into a global sensation that gave sold-out performances in Paris and New York.

Mitchell "created this space where when you look around, you see people that look like you in an endeavor that heretofore people thought that Black people could not participate in, which was ballet," Garland said.

At a time when almost all touring dance companies had nearly all-white casts, the dance troupe defied stereotypes about Black bodies.

Garland says he's passing the torch first lit by Mitchell. "We're not just a ballet organization. We're an American organization. We are a Black American organization. We hold so much culture within our organization, within our dancer body. You know, they learn something new every day."