Dance legend Carmen de Lavallade turns 81 today! Here she is in the October 1964 issue of Harper’s Bazaar in a beaded necklace by Coppola e Toppa.
Carmen de Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder on their wedding day, June 26, 1955, with theater legend Lucille Lortel, who hosted the wedding on her estate in Westport, Connecticut. Photo by Carl Van Vechten.
Carmen de Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder, circa 1960s.
(via autumnsdaily)
Call her Carmen… De Lavallade
Carmen De Lavallade by Carl van Vechten c.1955
Carmen de Lavallade by Carl Van Vechten, March 3, 1955.
Harry Belafonte, Carmen de Lavallade, Cicely Tyson and Robert Earl Jones (father of James Earl Jones) in the 1959 Belafonte-produced film noir, Odds Against Tomorrow. The most fascinating 9 minutes you’ll spend today.
Legendary dancer Carmen de Lavallade on the cover of the June 30, 1954 issue of Hue magazine, a Johnson publication.
Legendary dancer Carmen de Lavallade 57 years ago on the June 30, 1954 issue of Hue magazine.
Carmen de Lavallade, April 16, 1985. Photograph by Kenn Duncan.
Duke Ellington’s “Rhythm Pum Te Dum” from his jazz suite, “A Drum Is a Woman.” This track features my aunt Margaret Tynes, Joya Sherrill, Ozzie Bailey and Mr. Ellington himself. “A Drum Is a Woman” was turned into a 1957 CBS television special with the aforementioned artists and dancers Carmen de Lavallade and Talley Beatty.
Carmen de Lavallade and James Truitt dancing the Lester Horton-choreographed “Beloved” in 1962. Horton created “Beloved” in 1948 with Bella Lewitzky after reading a newspaper article about a Midwest man who had beaten his wife to death with a Bible because he suspected her of infidelity.
Duke Ellington in 1952 with dancers Carmen de Lavallade, James Truitt and Don Martin in a photo by Constantine. de Lavallade, Truitt and Martin were Lester Horton dancers at the time.
Carmen de Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder in a 1960 Rheingold beer ad.
Carmen de Lavallade and her husband Geoffrey Holder in the opening of the 2006 documentary Carmen and Geoffrey. The clip opens with a glimpse of the couple dancing to… Quincy Jones’s “Soul Bossa Nova.” You can either buy the DVD or rent it on Netflix.
