Tickets: $100, $35, $30

To honor a “First Lady of Dance,” choreographer, actress and teacher, Carmen de Lavallade, and her legacy in her 81st year, 651 ARTS commissions a new work honoring her life and work, which will culminate with performances on May 18 & 19.  After a year of development support from 651, de Lavallade will provide audiences a first look at Carmen de Lavallade: My Life in Dance and Theater and Legends I Met Along The Way, a retrospective work replete with excerpts of signature solos, film clips, photos and many stories.  “A lot of people didn’t know about my other life…” de Lavallade offers, “I touched every part of the arts in some way; I never settled for one thing… (she laughs), maybe because I didn’t know any better.” Stories of her years in California dancing with Lester Horton, in New York with Alvin Ailey and in Paris with Josephine Baker; working with jazz musicians Duke Ellington and later Wynton Marsalis; her work in film; and the “…magical…” time spent as part of Yale University’s Repertory Theatre, will frame the work.  My Life… is directed by de Lavallade’s past student, actor/director Joe Grifasi, with dramaturgy by award-winning playwright/director Talvin Wilks.  A reception follows the May 19 performance.

About the Artists: Carmen de Lavallade

Carmen de Lavallade first appeared in New York City with the Lester Horton Dance Theater and subsequently on Broadway with Alvin Ailey in House of Flowers. She appeared in the films Carmen Jones, Odds Against Tomorrow, Big Daddy and Lone Star. Horton, Geoffrey Holder, Ailey, Glen Tetley and Agnes de Mille created ballets especially for her. She was a principle dancer with the Metropolitan Opera, a guest artist with the American Ballet Theatre and the New York City Center Opera. At Yale, she taught movement for actors and became a member of the Yale Repertory Company and the American Repertory Theatre at Harvard. She has choreographed for Dance Theatre of Harlem, Philadanco, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the Metropolitan Opera.  De Lavallade received a Dance Magazine Award, an honorary doctorate from the Juilliard School, a Duke Ellington Fellowship Award and a Dance/ USA Award. She is a founding member of Paradigm, a repertory concert company.

Photo Credit:  Julieta Cervantes