Bella Lewitzky
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Bella Lewitzky (January 13, 1916, in Los Angeles, California - July 16, 2004, in Pasadena, California) was a modern dance choreographer and noted teacher.
Born to Russian immigrants, Lewitzky spent her childhood in a utopian socialist colony in the Mojave Desert, and on a ranch in San Bernardino. She moved back to Los Angeles in her teens, and briefly studied ballet.
In 1934, she joined Lester Horton's company, became its lead dancer, and was instrumental in the development of the Horton Technique. There, she met Newell Taylor Reynolds; they married in 1940.
In 1946 Lewitzky founded Dance Theater of Los Angeles with Horton. Dance Theater of Los Angeles was one of the few institutions in the United States to house both a dance school and theater under the same roof. She left the company in 1950 to pursue her own interests and an independent career.
She choreographed the films Bagdad (1949) (with Lester Horton), Tripoli (1950), and Prehistoric Women (1950)
In 1951, she was subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee to answer questions about communist activities in the arts. "I'm a dancer, not a singer," she replied.
In 1955 Lewitzky gave birth to her only daughter, Nora Reynolds. Also in 1955 she moved her rehearsals to Idyllwild, CA, a small town in the San Jacinto Mountains outside of Los Angeles. In 1958 she became the founding chair of the dance department at the Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts, which has since been renamed the Idyllwild Arts Academy. She taught at the school until 1972. Her daughter, Nora, joined the dance faculty in 2003 and continues teaching Lewitzky technique. The Idyllwild Arts Academy is one of the few dance programs in the United States that offers Lewitzky Technique as part of their curriculum.
In 1966, she founded the Lewitzky Dance Company. Under her artistic guidance, the company became one of the leading international modern dance companies, performing to critical acclaim in forty-three states across the U.S. as well as twenty countries on five continents. Among her dance associates was the former television child actress Noreen Corcoran of Bachelor Father.
The originality, humanity and unconventional qualities for which Lewitzky's dances are famous often found their way into the management of her company. At a time when it was fashionable for dance companies to be based in New York -- and dangerous not to be -- she kept her company operating out of her native Los Angeles for thirty years.
It also led to a controversial episode in 1990, when she crossed out the anti-obscenity clause on the acceptance form of a $72,000 National Endowment for the Arts grant. She eventually had to sue NEA-chairman John E. Frohnmayer to have the grant reinstated. The New York Times quoted her as saying in response, "I've been struggling in dance for 28 years. To exist merely to exist is stupidity. To exist to make art is a pretty grand act."
Although she no longer performed, her creative energy continued unabated, with each year seeing the creation of at least one eagerly awaited new dance. She never stopped caring about her art form, a fact borne out by the numerous awards she received for service to dance and the advisory and honorary positions she held on boards and councils of prestigious arts institutions across the nation.
She has received many awards including honorary doctorates from California Institute of Arts (1981), Occidental College (1984), Otis Parsons College (1989), and the Juilliard School (1993)
"Great control of every motion and placement," she says, "is a kind of self-care. It's self-love in the best sense. I make a contract with the dancers (not literally, of course) to keep them alive and well and progressive-doing level best to see that they're not injured." One must bear in mind, she says, that "dancing is not normal, that only a strong, knowledgeable body can protect against damage." - Bella Lewitzky, from an interview with Donna Perlmutter, Dance Magazine, January 1997
[edit] Further reading
- "Bella Lewitzky." State of the Arts: California Artists Talk about Their Work. Ed. Barbara Isenberg. Chicago, IL: Ivan R. Dee, 2000. 3-7. ISBN 1566636310.
