Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Dancer Carmen de Lavallade
In the dance world, Carmen de Lavallade is a bona fide icon. She’s been on Broadway, in movies, and on television. She broke boundaries as an African-American in a white-dominated industry, and danced with the Metropolitan Opera, as well as pioneering companies like Lester Horton Dance Theater and Alvin Ailey. Now at 84, she’s still performing.
By Barbara Bogaev • • 1 min readIn the dance world, Carmen de Lavallade is a bona fide icon. She’s been on Broadway, in movies, and on television. She broke boundaries as an African-American in a white-dominated industry, and danced with the Metropolitan Opera, as well as pioneering companies like Lester Horton Dance Theater and Alvin Ailey. Now at 84, she’s still performing. Her recent one-woman show was called As I Remember It. But before all that, Carmen de Lavallade was just a girl from Los Angeles. She’s speaking on Sunday at the Second Baptist Church about the history of Central Avenue and her family. The event is part of the 20th Annual Central Avenue Festival.
