{"id":8939,"date":"2021-01-17T19:26:08","date_gmt":"2021-01-17T19:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/?p=8939"},"modified":"2025-04-21T07:16:25","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T07:16:25","slug":"camen-de-lavallade-and-arthur-mitchell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mobballet.org\/index.php\/2021\/01\/17\/camen-de-lavallade-and-arthur-mitchell\/","title":{"rendered":"Arthur Mitchell’s Orbit: Carmen de Lavallade"},"content":{"rendered":"

Arthur Mitchell and Carmen de Lavallade<\/h2>\n
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Return back to Arthur Mitchell \/ Carmen De Lavallade Orbit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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In addition to being a member of Lester Horton Dance Theater, the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, and other major companies, Carmen de Lavallade was enlisted by Arthur Mitchell to join the American Negro Dance Company. In 1966, the company, originally sponsored by the US State Department, was to perform pieces by such choreographers as Alvin Ailey and George Balanchine. Other members included John Jones<\/a>, Llanchie Stevenson<\/a>, and Sara Yarborough<\/a>. Though the performance was cancelled, this endeavor secured de Lavallade a place in Mitchell\u2019s orbit.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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Husband and wife Geoffrey Holder and Carmen de Lavallade<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After de Lavallade began her successful career in choreography, she created Sensemaya<\/i> for the Dance Theatre of Harlem in 1979. The original cast of the piece, which premiered at City Center in February of that year, included China (Melva) Murray White<\/a> and Karen Brown<\/a>. The ballet gathers inspiration from a Mayan creation myth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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DTH\u2019s 2018 spring season opening, which commemorated the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.\u2019s assassination, honored artistic director Virginia Johnson as well as de Lavallade. That season, the company performed de Lavallade\u2019s staging of DTH\u2019s signature piece Dougla<\/i>, which was choreographed by her husband Geoffrey Holder.<\/p>\n

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