Lester Horton insisted that she study other art forms, including painting, acting, music, set design and costuming. During this time, De Lavallade continued to study dance, becoming proficient in ballet and other forms of modern and ethnic dance.
In 1949, De Lavallade became a member of the celebrated Lester Horton Dance Theater, where from 1950 to 1954, she enjoyed the status of lead dancer. In 1945, she began studying ballet with Melissa Blake, and at the age of sixteen, upon graduation from Thomas Jefferson High School, she was awarded a scholarship to study dance with the renowned Lester Horton. De Lavallade discovered her talent for dance early. Her cousin, Janet Collins, was the first African American prima ballerina at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. There, her aunt, Adele De Lavallade, owned the Hugh Gordon Book Shop, one of the first African American history bookshops on Central Avenue. This is a special American story and it is worthy of our support.Choreographer and dancer Carmen De Lavallade was born on March 6, 1931, to Grace Grenot and Leo Paul De Lavallade in Los Angeles, California. “Central City Opera is a unique, landmark festival with a jewel of an opera house.
It is even more exciting now than it was in the 1950s.” She has made significant gifts to CCO to honor her father. Phebe returned to Central City after nearly 50 years and found that “Central City didn’t disappoint. She went on to work at Paris Opera, San Francisco Opera and then, from 1971-1988, as Executive Stage Manager for the Metropolitan Opera. Phebe went on to study opera at Indiana University and then was hired by the Hamburg Opera in Germany. In Central City, Phebe learned how to listen and appreciate opera as an art form. She and the other kids-children of CCO staff, singers, orchestra performers, etc.-would then put on their own productions of the operas. She and the other kids would watch every opera rehearsal, memorizing all the songs (at the time in CCO’s history, all the operas were in English). Phebe spent every summer for 10 years in Central City. Berkowitz family Central City-bound, 1953
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