Countless young dancers are following in the footsteps of Carmen de Lavallade, the Grande Dame of American Dance, who received an award from the Kennedy Center in Washington this evening. She's been breaking down barriers almost her entire life, as Rita Braver now shows us:
The elegant 86-year-old in pink, awakening the young artists of the Dance Theater of Harlem (“Light Up!”) turned out to be one of the pioneers of American modern dance: Carmen de Lavallade.
Braver asked, “What have you always hoped audiences would get from seeing you dance over the years?”
“Communication,” she replied. “Because I don’t feel like I’m dancing here just for myself, you know? I dance for the public.”
The remarkable journey of a California bricklayer's daughter will be recognized this weekend with a Kennedy Center Honor.
The story begins with how even dance lessons were a challenge for her, as she described in her 2014 solo show: “In those days, there were very few people who would take you if you were a person of color,” she recalls. “And if you walked into a dance studio, the white students would leave.”
But her talent triumphed. While still in high school, de Lavallade landed a spot in a prestigious Los Angeles dance company. And she didn't go alone. She was joined by a school friend who turned out to be a good dancer himself: Alvin Ailey.
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De Lavallade introduced Ailey to the world of dance, and they were partners for many years.
In 1954, they were invited to perform in House of Flowers, an all-black Broadway show. But it was an actor from Trinidad who won her heart: Geoffrey Holder. They got married three months later.
Braver asked, “What attracted you to him?”
“I have to say that he allowed me to be who I am. We didn't interfere with each other.”
Holder became a Tony Award-winning director (for The Wiz) who often created dances and costumes for his wife. Mementos from their life together are stored in a huge warehouse in Harlem. “I’ve lived with this all my life,” de Lavallade reflected.
Since Holder's death in 2014, de Lavallade and her son Leo have cataloged each item—letters, photographs, suits and clothing—and recalled the stories behind them, some of them bittersweet.
In 1961, de Lavallade, by then an international sensation, was scheduled to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show.
But she was not allowed to perform with the white dancer she was working with at the time.
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Braver asked, “How did you feel when they told you that?”
“You know, I wasn’t surprised,” she replied. “You know, it’s not like today where you can stand up and protest. This was not the case. You said, “Okay, let's move on.”
And she moved on. She was one of the first black dancers at the Metropolitan Opera, where she also became a choreographer. And she joined the faculty of the Yale School of Drama, where she taught actors how to move.
She still performs. But she never forgot the lessons of history and the injustices she and other black artists faced.
So, de Lavallade became one of the Kennedy Center honorees, who announced she will boycott the now-canceled White House reception after President Trump appeared to equate the white nationalists who marched in Charlottesville with the protesters who opposed them.
“I'm not a politician,” she said. “I have my own political approach. For the first time I felt like… I just can’t.”
Braver said, “Some people will say, 'Well, even so, he's our president, and it's only appropriate for us to go.'
To which de Lavallade responded: “I’m 86 now. I’ve had all these years, I’ve done what I’ve been asked to do, and this is the first time in my life that I’m saying no.” And I think that’s my privilege at the moment.”
Butte Carmen from Lavalade will be there at tonight's Kennedy Center Gala, enjoying your reward for a life well-danced:
“I'm glad to think that everything I did meant something, it really meant something,” she said. “That’s something I’m happy about.”
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Recent Sunday Morning profiles of this year's other Kennedy Center honorees:
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