An Exotic Flower in the House – Carmen de Lavallade in conversation with Deborah Jowitt
An Exotic Flower in the House
by Paula Ewin
Carmen de Lavallade
in conversation with
Deborah Jowitt
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center
Monday, June 27th, 2016 at 6:00PM
On Monday evening I was lucky to be in great company once again at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center for the popular Oral History program held at the intimate Bruno Walter Auditorium. The house was treated to a lively and upbeat conversation between legendary dancer, choreographer, actor Carmen de Lavallade and writer, dancer, choreographer Deborah Jowitt. Their interview was recorded live for the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive, an invaluable resource for future generations.
The program is produced by its founder, the indomitable Betty Corwin, whose passion for preserving live performances on tape for future generations led to the creation of TOFT (Theatre on Film and Tape) in 1970. Thanks to Betty (and her solid successor Patrick Hoffman), over 7,000 Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regional theatre productions have been archived for professional and scholarly viewing. The Oral History “Women in Theatre” initiative is produced in collaboration with The League of Professional Theatre Women and this year’s Co-Chairs, Pat Addiss and Ludovica Villar-Hauser have delivered another memorable evening. Thank you to all for an opportunity to share in a significant moment in theatre history.
Although I have been to Trinidad and Tobago and heard the steel “pans” in the streets there as well as in the subways of New York, I never realized until now that the beautiful, brilliant artist, Carmen de Lavallade experienced the first explosion of Caribbean steel drum music on Broadway as a dancer in the company of Truman Capote and Harold Arlen’s musical “House of Flowers” in 1954. As a “flower” in an idyllic Haitian bordello, she was paired with her friend Alvin Ailey and worked with the young and gifted Geoffrey Holder (who proposed marriage after 4 days!) Diahann Carroll, Jaunita Hall and the legendary Pearl Bailey. Carmen’s spectacular stage career took off!! But let’s not forget, though young, she was very busy working and training for years prior to this Broadway debut.
A daughter of Creole parents from New Orleans, Carmen was raised in Los Angeles where her cousin, dance legend Janet Collins, paved the way for Carmen to study dance seriously. A student of the extraordinary Lester Horton (“my second daddy”) her early training included learning all aspects of dance and theatre; from keeping the space clean to performing in its storefront stage in original pieces, as well as studying acting, music, etc. Her seven day a week schedule prepared her for any future demands choreographers, directors or playwrights may present her with.
“Lester treated everyone differently and his technique would change constantly.” In this “wasteland of sorts” that was LA back in the late 1940’s, her time with the Lester Horton Dance Theatre was a full education for Carmen and one can only imagine the challenging experience of a “conservatory” training and how it shaped her future. While there she also studied with Carmelita Maracci, whose love of Spanish dance and culture offered another perspective…as Horton said “She can give you what I can’t!” As Carmen tells it, Carmelita told her to “ Have an attitude toward your attitude!” and “Talk to your feet!”
At the young age of 17, she met Lena Horne who introduced her to the world of film, appearing in four 20th Century Fox movies, including Carmen Jones, where she met choreographer Herbert Ross. When he was hired to work on House of Flowers he brought Carmen along. It was in that production that she met Geoffrey Holder who proposed to her four days later and to whom she was married for nearly 60 years.
I could go on and on about Carmen’s life and career but have limited space. To whet your appetite I will leave you with some of the highlights, in summary.
Succeeding her cousin Janet as principal dancer at the Metropolitan Opera in Aida and Samson and Delilah…performing at the 92nd Street Y back when that venue was considered a premiere stage and a mecca for talent…working with great actors and directors as a member of the Yale Repertory Theatre and the American Repertory Theatre…and teaching some of our greatest actors, including Meryl Streep, at the Yale School of Drama.
Take it from me, if you choose, you will find further reading about the fabulous Carmen de Lavallade, Alvin Ailey, Lester Horton and her courageous cousin Janet Collins (who broke the color barrier as she appeared as the first black dancer at the Met after refusing at the age of 15 to color her skin white for acceptance in the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo) fascinating, inspiring and absolutely entertaining!
And the best part…Carmen is still performing in As I Remember It her original dance/theatre piece about her wonderful life. This exotic flower is still blooming!!!!