January 29
Born Today:
Josefina Lavalle
Dancer Josefina Lavalle (1924-2009) studied ballet with Nellie and Gloria Campobello in Mexico City and Lavalle co-founded the Mexican National Ballet with Guillermina Bravo (1920-2013). Lavalle danced with the Ballet of Fine Arts, helmed by Waldeen Falkenstein (1913-1993), and became interested in contemporary dance when introduced to the work of José Limón (1908-1972), later winning the arts award named after Limón in 1989 for her service to the dance field.
Also Born Today: Ballet dancer Elizaveta Gerdt (1891-1975), daughter of dancer Pavel Gerdt (1844-1917), studied with Michel Fokine (1880-1942) at the Russian Imperial Ballet School and chose to stay and dance in Russia after the 1917 revolution, retiring in 1928 to teach for the Soviet schools at the Bolshoi school, among others. Ballet dancer André Leclair (1930-) danced with Roland Petit’s company, the Norwegian National Ballet and other companies in the 1940s and 1950s and later choreographed for the Royal Ballet of Flanders.
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Broadway Premiere: Sweet Charity in 1966