NEW YORK – Arthur Mitchell, who In the 1950s, African-Americans broke the barriers as a ballet dancer of the New York City Ballet, which would become a driving force behind the creation of Harlem's Dance Theater. He was 84 years old.

Mitchell died Wednesday in a hospital in New York, according to his niece, Juli Mills-Ross. She said the death occurred after kidney failure leading to heart failure.

Mitchell began dancing with the New York City Ballet in 1955 under choreographer George Balanchine.

Balanchine entrusted him with several leading roles, including that of pairing him with a white dancer in "Agon" in 1957.

In 1968, touched by the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., he created a dance school that now includes the Harlem Dance Theater.

"It is with great sadness that we share the news that our founding artistic director, the great Arthur Mitchell, has passed away," tweeted the ballet company on Wednesday. "His legacy of passion, power and perfection will continue through every person he touched while alive – we love you and we honor you!"

The dance community shared their condolences:

Misty Copeland, the first African-American dancer of the American Ballet Theater, said she "would do everything I could to bring dreams to life (Mitchell)."

Actress and dancer Debbie Allen, who created the Debbie Allen Dance Academy, called Mitchell a "visionary".

"Arthur Mitchell has claimed Ballet as an American art form, his legacy goes through all of us, we will always talk to him," she tweeted.

Contributor: Cydney Henderson

Related: Misty Copeland's best advice for achieving a "ballerina body"

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