Lavinia Williams (July 2, 1916 – July 19, 1989), who sometimes went by the married name Lavinia Williams Yarborough, was an American

dancer Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

and dance educator who founded national schools of dance in several

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countries.

Biography

Grace Lavinia Poole Williams was born the second of six children in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, in a family of west-indian descent. She grew up in

Portsmouth, Virginia Portsmouth is an Independent city (United States), independent city in southeastern Virginia, United States. It lies across the Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth River from Norfolk, Virginia, Norfolk. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

and Brooklyn, New York, and studied at Washington Irving High School and then the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study f ...

, where she joined the American Negro Ballet, beginning her career in a number of dance companies and stage productions. Her work included

classical ballet Classical ballet is any of the traditional, formal styles of ballet that exclusively employ classical ballet technique. It is known for its aesthetics and rigorous technique (such as en pointe, pointe work, turnout (ballet), turnout of the legs, ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

modern Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosophy ...

musicals Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

, and, most importantly, Caribbean dance, which she mastered in the 1940s while working with

Katherine Dunham Katherine Mary Dunham (June 22, 1909 – May 21, 2006) was an African American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, and social activist. Dunham had one of the most successful dance careers of the 20th century and directed her own dance compan ...

. She spent nearly the entirety of the years from 1953 through to the late 1980s teaching dance and founding and developing national schools of dance in

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

, and

the Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of ...

. She spent most of the last years of her life teaching in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, but left the United States for Haiti in February 1984. ''

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'' reported that she died of a heart attack in

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( ; ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Haiti, most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 1,200,000 in 2022 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The me ...

, although several other sources and Beryl Campbell reported it as "some kind of food poisoning".'' Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey'', written, directed and produced by Steven M. Martin. Orion/MGM, 1994: 51mins Beryl reports Lavinia's food poisoning. Diana Dunbar, Lavinia's friend and student, arranged her funeral service. Lavinia Williams Dancer

Marriages and children

Williams married

Léon Theremin Lev Sergeyevich Termen ( 18963 November 1993), better known as Leon Theremin, was a Russian inventor, most famous for his invention of the theremin, one of the first electronic musical instruments and the first to be mass-produced. He also worke ...

in the mid-1930s. In 1938, Theremin suddenly returned to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, where he was imprisoned and later sent to a labor camp. Williams never saw him again. She married Shannon Yarborough in the late 1940s and had two daughters, Sharron and Sara. The younger daughter, Sara Yarborough-Smith, followed in her mother's footsteps as a professional dancer with the

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Founded in 1958, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) is the largest modern dance company in the United States.Dance Data Project (October 2024) 2024 Largest Contemporary and Modern Companies Report Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater ...

, the

Dance Theater of Harlem Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) is an American professional ballet company and school based in Harlem, New York City. It was founded in 1969 under the directorship of Arthur Mitchell and later partnered with Karel Shook. Milton Rosenstock served ...

and the Robert Joffrey Ballet, among others. Lavinia visited

Clara Rockmore Clara Reisenberg Rockmore ( Reisenberg; 9 March 1911 – 10 May 1998) was a Litvak classical violin prodigy and a virtuoso performer of the theremin, an electronic musical instrument. She was the sister of pianist Nadia Reisenberg. Life and ...

in 1974 and expressed happiness in discovering that Theremin was still alive; shortly afterwards she and Theremin started corresponding, with Theremin even proposing remarriage.

Featured in

* Aschenbrenner, Joyce. ''Katherine Dunham: reflections on the social and political contexts of Afro-American dance.'' New York: CORD: 1981.

Bibliography

* She wrote the 49-page pamphlet ''Haiti Dance'' printed by Brönners Druckerei in 1959. * She wrote various other small pamphlets on dance, for example: ''Ballets d'Haïti: Bamboche creole'', 24 pages, 1974; ''Dances of the Bahamas & Haiti'', 1980, 12 pages.

Notes

References

* Allen, Zita. Thirteen WNET New York. "Lavinia Williams." ''Dance In America: Free To Dance'' web companion.
Online.
* Kisselgoff, Anna. ''The New York Times''. "Dance: For Alvin Ailey, 25th Anniversary Gala." December 2, 1983.

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Lavinia 1916 births 1989 deaths American female dancers Dancers from Pennsylvania African-American female dancers African-American dancers 20th-century American educators American emigrants to Haiti 20th-century American dancers 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American educators