Carmen de Lavallade

Carmen de Lavallade

Carmen de Lavallade with husband Geoffrey Holder in 1955 (photo by Carl Van Vechten)
Born March 6, 1931
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation Dancer, choreographer, actress
Years active 1948–present
Spouse(s) Geoffrey Holder (1955-2014; his death)
Children 1
Family Janet Collins (cousin)

Carmen de Lavallade (born March 6, 1931) is an American actress, dancer and choreographer.

Biography

Early Years

Carmen 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 African-American prima ballerina at the Metropolitan Opera.[2][3]

De Lavallade began studying ballet with Melissa Blake at the age of 16. After graduation from Thomas Jefferson High School in Los Angeles was awarded a scholarship to study dance with Lester Horton.[4]

Career

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, de Lavallade 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 House of Flowers.

In 1955, she married dancer/actor Geoffrey Holder, whom she had met while working on House of Flowers.[5] 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.[6]

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.[7] 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 and Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) with Harry Belafonte.[7]

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. She joined 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. Between 1990 and 1993, de Lavallade returned to the Metropolitan Opera as choreographer for Porgy and Bess and Die Meistersinger.[6]

In 2003, de Lavallade appeared in the rotating cast of the off-Broadway staged reading of Wit & Wisdom.[8] In 2010, she appeared in a one-night-only concert semi-staged reading of Evening Primrose by Stephen Sondheim.[9]

Personal life

De Lavallade had resided in New York City with her husband, Geoffrey Holder until his death on October 5, 2014.[10] Their lives were the subject of the Linda Atkinson and Nick Doob documentary Carmen and Geoffrey. The couple had one son, Léo. De Lavallade's brother-in-law was Boscoe Holder.[11][12]

In 2004, de Lavallade received the Black History Month Lifetime Achievement Award, the Rosie Award and the Bessie Award (in 2006) and the Capezio Dance Award (in 2007), as well as an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from Juilliard School in 2007.

References

  1. ↑ Camille Olivia Cosby; 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. ↑ Camille Olivia Cosby; Renee Poussaint (January 27, 2004). A Wealth of Wisdom: Legendary African American Elders Speak. Atria Books. pp. 98–99. ISBN 978-0-7434-7892-2. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  4. ↑ Judy Gitenstein (August 1, 2005). Alvin Ailey. The Rosen Publishing Group. p. 19. ISBN 978-1-4042-0445-4. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
  5. ↑ Braswell, Kristin (May 25, 2012). "Interview: Carmen de Lavallade: the Saga Continues". Ebony. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Carmen de Lavallade profile, thehistorymakers.com; accessed October 8, 2014.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Profile, imdb.com; accessed October 8, 2014.
  8. ↑ Reference to de Lavallade at Theatermania.com; accessed October 7, 2014.
  9. ↑ Portantiere, Michael (2011). "Back into the light". The Sondheim Review (Sondheim Review, Inc.) XVII (3): 44. ISSN 1076-450X.
  10. ↑ Camille Olivia Cosby; Renee Poussaint (January 27, 2004). A Wealth of Wisdom: Legendary African American Elders Speak. Atria Books. pp. 99–100. ISBN 978-0-7434-7892-2. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  11. ↑ 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.
  12. ↑ Chang, Lia (October 7, 2014). "Geoffrey Holder, Artist, Actor, Dancer, Choreographer, Two-Time Tony Award-winning Director and Costume Designer for The Wiz, Dies at 84; Son Pens Intimate Account of Last Days". Backstage Pass with Lia Chang. Retrieved 8 October 2014.

External links

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