DANCE : Schoolchildren get some lessons in ballet at <i> pointe-</i> blank range.

Back when she was trying to break into the world of classical dance in the 1950s, Ann Elliot hit the wall of racism.

There was no Dance Theatre of Harlem to guide and inspire black youth.

Directors of dance companies, she said, “told us were weren’t serious contenders for classical ballet.”

But Arthur Mitchell, founder of Dance Theatre of Harlem in 1968, and the first African-American to dance with the New York City ballet, “blew that theory out of the water,” she said.

Elliot was in the audience with about 2,000 cheering students from Hollywood to Compton in El Camino College’s Marsee Auditorium as Dance Theatre members explained the origins of ballet and demonstrated the basic steps of elegant dance.

Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the company is in town to perform this weekend at the South Bay Center for the Arts at El Camino College. The lecture and demonstration on dance was put together by Winnie Jackson, a Compton community activist and friend of Mitchell’s.

Jackson said she first saw the Dance Theatre 25 years ago, and approached Mitchell 10 years ago with the idea of staging events for inner-city children in Los Angeles.

The annual shows started with 25 elementary school children, sponsored by Arco, and grew over the years, Jackson said.

During the program, dancer Keith Saunders led the students through a brief history of ballet.

Under soft lights, the dancers stood at a barre , and demonstrated the basic exercises, such as the deep knee bends called the plie. Saunders told the students that professional dancers spend nearly two hours each morning practicing the basic steps.

The students groaned and winced when Saunders lifted the extended leg of a dancer closer to her ear. “Stretch that ankle,” he said.

During the pointe class, the children whistled and clapped as the women danced across the stage on their toes, as if gliding across a body of water.

The students, mostly the girls, exploded into whoops and screams when the dancers--some of the women in long, white flowing skirts, some of the men in leotards and red loincloths--moved to the beat of Rufus Thomas’ “Do the Breakdown.”

“I liked the way they combined hip-hop with modern and classical dance,” said Christi Ahn, 16, of Hollywood High School. “I also liked it because they were perfect.”

Chrishelle Augustine, 7, said it was her first time seeing ballet.

“I liked it when the girls came out, and I liked it when the men who didn’t have clothes on came out,” she said, smiling. She said she would ask her parents to bring her back for another performance.

The Dance Theatre’s performances today and during the weekend will include seven ballets: “The River,” choreographed by Alvin Ailey with music by Duke Ellington; “Medea” choreographed by Michael Smuin with music by Samuel Barber; “Dialogues,” choreographed by Glen Tetley; “Firebird,” choreographed by John Taras with music by Igor Stravinsky; “Ginastera” choreographed by Billy Wilson with music by Alberto Ginastera; “Allegro Brilliante,” choreographed by George Balanchine and “Adagietto No. 5,” choreographed by Royston Maldoom with music by Gustav Mahler.

Dance Theatre of Harlem performs at Marsee Auditorium, El Camino College, 16007 Crenshaw Blvd., Torrance, 8 p.m. Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 7 p.m. Sunday. Information: (800) 832-2787.