July 2: Today in Dance

Born Today: Lavinia Williams

Dancer Lavinia Williams (1916–1989) began her training in ballet and later performed with Katherine Dunham (1909–2006) from 1940–1945, joining the company in appearances on Broadway in Cabin in the Sky (1940) and on film in the musical Stormy Weather (1943). Her experience with Dunham inspired her to teach and share Caribbean dance and she founded schools of dance in Haiti, Guyana, and The Bahamas. For a brief time she was married to Leon Theremin, the inventor of the oddly spacey musical instrument called a theremin.

Also Born Today: Ballerina Kyra Nichols (1958-) studied with Alan Howard (1931–2003), himself a former Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo company member and danced with NYCB from 1974–2007, an unusually long career for a ballet dancer. Indian choreographer Jani Master (1982-) creates dances for Tollywood films, musicals filmed in the Telugu language. His hit dance Butta Bomma (2020) mixes Bollywood dance with Memphis Jookin’ and street dance.

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Check out more about dance at: https://www.dawndavisloring.com/todayindance

Dawn Davis Loring is delighted to announce the publication of her first book on dance: Dance Appreciation, co-authored by Julie L. Pentz. Available from Human Kinetics and from Amazon and other booksellers.