This year will be the 35th for the Dallas Black Dance Theatre — the city’s oldest, continually operating professional dance troupe. Coming up are both the DBDT’s Spring Fiesta at the Latino Cultural Center and its Dancing Beyond Borders performance in Fort Worth. So we took the opportunity to talk with Ann Williams, who founded the DBDT in 1976 — the same year, as she points out in the interview, that saw the creation of the DBDT’s neighbor, the Booker T. Washington Arts Magnet High School.

We ask Ann about why it’s been so hard for dance companies to make it in North Texas and what has finally having a permanent home in the Arts District meant for her troupe. She talks about possible aerial work in the company’s 35th season and her dream choreographer.