Overview
- She is survived by her son, Léo, and was predeceased by her husband and artistic partner of 59 years, Geoffrey Holder, who died in 2019.
- Her six-decade career spanned Broadway, film, television, and concert dance, with collaborations that included Agnes de Mille, Harry Belafonte, Josephine Baker, and Holder.
- She broke barriers for Black artists as a leading dancer at the Metropolitan Opera and appeared as a guest artist with American Ballet Theatre.
- A formative mentor to Alvin Ailey, she and Ailey made their Broadway debuts in 1954 in House of Flowers.
- Beginning in 1970 she taught at the Yale School of Drama, and her honors included the Dance Magazine Award (1967), a Juilliard honorary doctorate (2008), the Dance USA Award (2010), and a Kennedy Center Honor (2017).