{"id":13249,"date":"2021-12-02T16:21:16","date_gmt":"2021-12-02T16:21:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/?p=13249"},"modified":"2025-04-21T07:16:22","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T07:16:22","slug":"american-ballet-theatre-lawaune-kennard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/2021\/12\/02\/american-ballet-theatre-lawaune-kennard\/","title":{"rendered":"American Ballet Theatre’s Orbit: Lawaune Kennard"},"content":{"rendered":"

ABT Negro Unit\u2019s Black Ritual<\/em> and Lawaune Kennard<\/b><\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Click to view American Ballet Theatre; Negro Unit and Black Ritual Orbit<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Photo
Kennard (left) with Muriel Cook in Black Ritual. Photo by Carl Van Vechten.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The American Ballet Theatre\u2019s all-Black Negro Unit, which was founded in 1940 as part of the Federal Theatre Project, included Lawaune Kennard<\/a><\/strong>, along with Lavinia Williams<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong> Anne Jones<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong> Dorothy Williams<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong> Elizabeth Thompson<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong> Evelyn Pilcher<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong> Edith Ross<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong> Valerie Black<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong> Leonore<\/strong> \u201cAzelean\u201d Cox<\/strong><\/a>, Edith Hurd<\/strong><\/a>, Mabel Hart<\/a><\/strong>, Maudelle Bass<\/strong><\/a>, Clementine Collinwood<\/strong><\/a>, Carole Ash<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong> Bernice Willis<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong> and Muriel Cook<\/strong><\/a><\/span>.<\/strong>\u00a0The Negro Unit only performed one ballet during its existence\u2014Black Ritual<\/em> or Obeah<\/em>, which was choreographed by Agnes de Mille and premiered in 1940.<\/p>\n

Lawaune Kennard, 21 years old at the time, performed the role of the \u201csacrificial victim\u201d in <\/span>Black Ritual<\/span><\/i>. This character danced \u201cinto a frenzy in the midst of her executioners\u201d (Maher, 396). In <\/span>The Butler Record<\/span><\/i>, critic Marian Graham wrote that \u201cone senses her [Kennard\u2019s] terror and utter despair under the inescapable ritual of her tormenters.\u201d <\/span>The New York Post <\/span><\/i>declared that Kennard danced the role \u201cexcellently,\u201d though it was reported that de Mille was \u201cdisappointed\u201d by Kennard\u2019s talents (401, 411).<\/span><\/p>\n

Kennard performed with members of the Negro Unit in other works. She performed alongside <\/span>Clementine Collingwood, Muriel Cook, Edith Hurd, and Bernice Johnson in the original Broadway cast of <\/span>Swingin\u2019 the Dream<\/span><\/i>, which premiered in 1939. Additionally, Kennard performed with Evelyn Pilcher and Edith Ross in <\/span>Cabin in the Sky <\/span><\/i>in 1940.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lawaune Kennard and George Balanchine<\/h2>\n

\"CabinGeorge Balanchine didn\u2019t create pieces for the Negro Unit of Ballet Theatre, but\u00a0he served as choreographer with several members of the company during production for Broadway\u2019s Cabin in the Sky<\/em>. The cast included Lawaune Kennard<\/a>, Evelyn Pilcher<\/a>, Edith Ross<\/a>, and Lavinia Williams<\/a> of the Negro Unit as well as other notable dancers Katherine Dunham<\/a> and Talley Beatty<\/a>. Cabin in the Sky<\/em> tells the story of Little Joe, who has earned a chance to redeem his soul after a near-death experience.<\/p>\n

Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cabin in the Sky, Playbill<\/a>
\nCabin in the Sky, Wikipedia<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

More about Lawaune Kennard<\/h2>\n
\"\"
Photo by Carl Van Vechten<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lawaune Kennard, born in 1919, studied with Martha Graham and Franziska Boas and was a member of the Negro Dance Company, in addition to the Negro Unit of Ballet Theatre.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to performing in <\/span>Swingin\u2019 the Dream<\/span><\/i> (1939) and with Katherine Dunham\u2019s company in <\/span>Cabin in the Sky<\/span><\/i>, which was filmed in 1943 and starred Lena Horne, Kennard appeared in Dunham\u2019s 1943 (or 1944) <\/span>Tropical Revue<\/span><\/i>; in the 1945 Broadway musical <\/span>Carib Song<\/span><\/i>; as a lead dancer in the 1946 <\/span>Bal Negre<\/span><\/i>; and <\/span>Show Boat in Chicago<\/span><\/i> of 1948. From 1949-1950, she toured with <\/span>Talley Beatty<\/a>‘<\/strong>s revue throughout Europe and North American. Beatty described Kennard as \u201ca fantastic dancer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Kennard married the actor Rex Ingram in 1941 and was then known by Lawaune Ingram.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sources:<\/strong>
\nBernstein Meets Broadway: Collaborative Art in a Time of War by Carol J. Oja<\/a><\/strong>
\nCarib Song, Library of Congress<\/a><\/strong>
\nBal Negre, Library of Congress<\/a><\/strong>
\nMuriel Cook, Dorothy Williams, Maudell Bass, and Lewanne Kennaro [sic] in \u201cBlack Ritual\u201d, New York Public Library<\/a><\/strong>
\nLawaune Ingram, Playbill<\/a><\/strong>
\nMaher, Erin K. \u201cBallet, Race, and Agnes de Mille\u2019s Black Ritual.\u201d The Musical Quarterly<\/i>, vol. 97, no. 3, Fall 2014, pp. 390-428.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

McClain Groff<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Madeline Crawford<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ABT Negro Unit\u2019s Black Ritual and Lawaune Kennard The American Ballet Theatre\u2019s all-Black Negro Unit, which was founded in 1940 as part […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"universe-template.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[284,253],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-abt-negro-unit-constellation","category-universe"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/130"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13249"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15561,"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13249\/revisions\/15561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}