Dancer, choreographer, and actress Carmen de Lavallade, 94, died on Dec. 29. A cousin of ballet dancer Janet Collins, de Lavallade grew up in L.A., and danced with Lester Horton’s and Alvin Ailey’s companies. De Lavallade appeared on Broadway in Hot Spot (Judy Holliday’s last, doomed show), House of Flowers, and A Streetcar Named Desire, and in numerous Off-Broadway shows. She also acted and/or danced in such movies and TV shows as Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Demetrius and the Gladiators, Carmen Jones, Search for Tomorrow, Ryan’s Hope, The Cosby Show, The Hours, and Big Daddy, among others. She taught and directed at the Yale Repertory Theater, and co-founded PARADIGM, a dance company for performers over 50. De Lavallade was married to actor Geoffrey Holder from 1955 till his 2014 death. She told Ebony, “Dance is hard. I would tell young dancers today to really push at what you want to do. Really get out into the trenches and try to audition for companies, no matter how small they are, as well as the big companies. It is very demanding work. You must push yourself and be so good that they can’t resist.”
