Los Angeles, California (March 6, 1931 – December 29, 2025) age 94 yrs

Carmen de Lavallade, was a highly accomplished dancer, actor, choreographer, and teacher. She studied ballet at the age of 16. In 1949, de Lavallade became a member of the Lester Horton Dance Theater and in 1954 joined Alvin Ailey. In 1955, she made history by becoming the first Creole/African descendant prima ballerina at the Metropolitan Opera, dancing in a production of “Aida.” In the 1970’s she taught at the Yale School of Drama. She staged a variety of musicals, plays, and operas with  students, who included Meryl Streep, and Sigourney Weaver.  Between 1990 and 1993, de Lavallade returned to the Metropolitan Opera as choreographer for “Porgy and Bess,” “Die Meistersinger,” and “Lucia di Lammermoor.” For her work in the performing arts de Lavallade received the Black History Month Lifetime Achievement Award and the Rosie Award as well as the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Obie Awards. She also received the Kennedy Center Honors Award in 2017.