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Carmen de Lavallade

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Carmen de Lavallade (born March 6, 1931) is an American actress, choreographer and dancer. For many years, she was associated with and married to Tony Award-winning actor, dancer, and director Geoffrey Holder. In 2017, she received the Kennedy Center Honors award for lifetime achievement and contributions to American culture.

Carmen de Lavallade
Carmen de Lavallade receiving the Kennedy Center Honor Medal in 2017
De Lavallade in 2017
Born (1931-03-06) March 6, 1931 (age 93)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actress, choreographer, dancer
Years active1948–present
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1955; died 2014)​
Children1
RelativesJanet Collins (cousin)
Awards
Kennedy Center Honors

Early life

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De Lavallade was born in Los Angeles, California, on March 6, 1931,[1] to Creole parents from New Orleans, Louisiana. She was raised by her aunt, Adele, who owned one of the first African-American history bookshops on Central Avenue. De Lavallade's cousin, Janet Collins, was the first Creole/African descendant prima ballerina at the Metropolitan Opera.[2][3] The family was Catholic.[4]

De Lavallade began studying ballet with Melissa Blake at the age of 16. After graduation from Thomas Jefferson High School in Los Angeles, she was awarded a scholarship to study dance with Lester Horton.[5]

Career

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De Lavallade with her husband, Geoffrey Holder, in 1955

De Lavallade became a member of the Lester Horton Dance Theater in 1949 where she danced as a lead dancer until her departure for New York City with Alvin Ailey in 1954. Like all of Horton's students, she studied other art forms, including painting, acting, music, set design and costuming, as well as ballet and other forms of modern and ethnic dance. She studied dancing with ballerina Carmelita Maracci and acting with Stella Adler. In 1954, de Lavallade made her Broadway debut partnered with Alvin Ailey in Truman Capote's musical House of Flowers (starring Pearl Bailey).[6]

In 1955, she married dancer/actor Geoffrey Holder, whom she had met while working on House of Flowers.[7] It was with Holder that de Lavallade choreographed her signature solo Come Sunday, to a black spiritual sung by Odetta (then known as Odetta Gordon). The following year, de Lavallade danced as the prima ballerina in Samson and Delilah, and Aida at the Metropolitan Opera.[8][9]

She made her television debut in John Butler's ballet Flight, and in 1957 she appeared in the television production of Duke Ellington's A Drum Is a Woman. She appeared in several off-Broadway productions, including Othello and Death of a Salesman.[10] An introduction to 20th Century Fox executives by Lena Horne led to more acting roles between 1952 and 1955. She appeared in several films, including Carmen Jones (1954) with Dorothy Dandridge, Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) with Harry Belafonte, and Lone Star (1996).[10]

De Lavallade was a principal guest performer with the Alvin Ailey Dance Company on the company's tour of Asia and in some countries the company was billed as de Lavallade-Ailey American Dance Company. Other performances included dancing with Donald McKayle and appearing in Agnes de Mille's American Ballet Theatre productions of The Four Marys and The Frail Quarry in 1965. At the insistence of friend John Butler,[11] she began teaching at the Yale School of Drama as a choreographer and performer-in-residence in 1970.

She staged musicals, plays and operas, and eventually became a professor and member of the Yale Repertory Theater. Students during this time includes Meryl Streep, Sigourney Weaver, Joe Grifasi, Christopher Durang, and Wendy Wasserstein.[12] Between 1990 and 1993, de Lavallade returned to the Metropolitan Opera as choreographer for Porgy and Bess and Die Meistersinger.[8]

In 1996, de Lavallade, Gus Solomons jr. and Dudley Williams, started the dance collective PARADIGM,[13] [14] a dance company for mature dancers over the age of 50. whose goal was to "promote and celebrate the talents of mature artists on stage".[15][16] PARADIGM toured and commissioned new dances by a variety of choreographers.[15]

In 2003, de Lavallade appeared in the rotating cast of the off-Broadway staged reading of Wit & Wisdom.[17] In 2010, she appeared in a one-night-only concert semi-staged reading of Evening Primrose by Stephen Sondheim.[18] In 2014, de Lavallade premiered her solo show As I Remember It. The work was a meditation on her history in dance through performance, film, and storytelling.[6]

Personal life

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De Lavallade had resided in New York City with her husband Geoffrey Holder until his death on October 5, 2014.[19] Their lives were the subject of the 2005 Linda Atkinson and Nick Doob documentary Carmen and Geoffrey.[20] The couple had one son, Léo. De Lavallade's brother-in-law was Boscoe Holder.[21]

Awards

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In 2004, de Lavallade received the Black History Month Lifetime Achievement Award and the Rosie Award (named for Rosetta LeNoire and "given to individuals who demonstrate extraordinary accomplishment and dedication in the theatrical arts and to corporations that work to promote opportunity and diversity"),[22][23] the Bessie Award in 2006, and the Capezio Dance Award in 2007,[9][24] as well as an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the State University of New York through Purchase College in 2006 and Juilliard School in 2008.[25]

In 2016, de Lavallade received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Obie Awards presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Village Voice for her excellence in off-broadway theater.[26]

In December 2017, she received the Kennedy Center Honors Award.[11] On August 17, 2017, two days after U.S. President Trump's third statement after the "Charlottesville rally", she announced that she would forgo the related reception at the White House, which was later cancelled,[27][28] although she did attend the dinner at the State Department hosted by Rex Tillerson and emceed by Julie Andrews.[29]

De Lavallade was an honoree at The New Jewish Home's Eight over Eighty Gala 2017.[citation needed]

On August 30, 2023, De Lavallade was presented with Richmond Ballet's Lifetime Achievement in Dance Award prior to a performance of John Butler's Carmina Burana at the Filene Center at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts.[30]

References

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  1. ^ Cosby, Camille Olivia; Renee Poussaint (January 27, 2004). A Wealth of Wisdom: Legendary African American Elders Speak. Atria Books. p. 97. ISBN 978-0-7434-7892-2. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  2. ^ Dunning, Jennifer (May 31, 2003). "Janet Collins, 86; Ballerina Was First "Black" Artist at Met Opera". The New York Times. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  3. ^ Cosby; Poussaint (January 27, 2004). A Wealth of Wisdom: Legendary African American Elders Speak. pp. 98–99. ISBN 978-0-7434-7892-2. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  4. ^ Wilson, Shawn (2006-12-12). "Carmen De Lavallade remembers St. Martha's Church in Vernon, California". The HistoryMakers. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  5. ^ Judy Gitenstein (August 1, 2005). Alvin Ailey. The Rosen Publishing Group. p. 19. ISBN 978-1-4042-0445-4. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
  6. ^ a b Blair, Elizabeth (October 28, 2014). "At 83, Dancer Carmen De Lavallade Looks Back At A Life Spent Onstage". NPR. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
  7. ^ Braswell, Kristin (May 25, 2012). "Interview: Carmen de Lavallade: the Saga Continues". Ebony. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
  8. ^ a b Carmen de Lavallade profile, The HistoryMakers, December 12, 2006. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
  9. ^ a b Sagolla, Lisa Jo (October 2, 2007). "Carmen de Lavallade Wins Capezio Award". Backstage.
  10. ^ a b "Carmen De Lavallade", imdb.com; accessed October 8, 2014.
  11. ^ a b Kaufman, Sarah L. (December 1, 2017). "Carmen de Lavallade is 86 and still the best dancer in the room". Washington Post. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  12. ^ Collins-Hughes, Laura (May 17, 2014). "At 83, dancer Carmen de Lavallade has stories to tell – The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  13. ^ Perron, Wendy. IN MEMORIAM: Remembering Gus Solomons jr, 1938–2023. Dance Magazine. August 25, 2023. https://www.dancemagazine.com/gus-solomons-jr-2/#gsc.tab=0
  14. ^ "Paradigm". www.paradigm-nyc.org. Archived from the original on 21 October 2008. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  15. ^ a b Gus Solomons, Jr.: journalist, choreographer and dancer. Office of Public Affairs and Communications. Yale. April 6, 2010. https://communications.yale.edu/poynter/gus-solomons-jr
  16. ^ Kourlas, Gia. "Gus Solomons Jr., 84, Dies; a Rare Black Presence in Experimental Dance." New York Times. Aug. 20, 2023; Updated Aug. 22, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/20/arts/dance/gus-solomons-jr-dead.html
  17. ^ Reference to de Lavallade at Theatermania.com Archived June 14, 2012, at the Wayback Machine; accessed October 7, 2014.
  18. ^ Portantiere, Michael (2011). "Back into the light". The Sondheim Review. XVII (3): 44. ISSN 1076-450X.
  19. ^ Cosby; Poussaint (January 27, 2004). A Wealth of Wisdom: Legendary African American Elders Speak. pp. 99–100. ISBN 978-0-7434-7892-2. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  20. ^ "Carmen and Geoffrey (2005)" at IMDb.
  21. ^ Dunning, Jennifer; McDonald, William (October 6, 2014). "Geoffrey Holder, Dancer, Choreographer and Man of Flair, Dies at 84". The New York Times. Retrieved October 6, 2014.
  22. ^ "Amas Musical Theatre benefit on Oct 25 includes concert presentation of 'RAISIN'", BroadwayWorld, October 12, 2004.
  23. ^ "'Raisin' to raise roof at 'Blast' bash – Oct. 25 event to fete Holder, De Lavallade, Wilk". Variety. October 12, 2004.
  24. ^ "Capezio Dance Foundation – Awardees" Archived May 5, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, Capezio.
  25. ^ "6 Honorary Doctorates to Be Awarded at Commencement", The Juilliard Journal, May 2008.
  26. ^ Obie Awards, 2016 Winners Archived November 24, 2017, at the Wayback Machine.
  27. ^ Cooper, Michael (August 17, 2017). "Carmen de Lavallade, a Dance Legend, to Skip a White House Reception". The New York Times.
  28. ^ Statement on her homepage
  29. ^ McGlone, Peggy (December 3, 2017). "At the Kennedy Center Honors, plenty of politics make up for Trump's playing hooky". Washington Post. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  30. ^ Rustle, Justin (September 3, 2023). "Dance Review: 'Carmina Burana' presented by Richmond Ballet at Wolf Trap". MD Theatre Guide.
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