Donald McKayle, one of the first choreographers to weave the African-American experience into the fabric of modern dance and the first black man to direct and choreograph a Broadway musical (“Raisin”), died on Friday at a hospital near his home in Irvine, Calif. He was 87.
His wife, Lea Vivante McKayle, confirmed the death. He was a professor of dance at the University of California, Irvine, for almost 30 years.
Mr. McKayle had been working on Broadway for more than two decades when he achieved his triumph with “Raisin,” a musical based on “A Raisin in the Sun,” Lorraine Hansberry’s classic drama about a black family struggling with loss, change and identity in midcentury Chicago.
Clive Barnes, in his New York Times review of the production, suggested that the musical was even more evocative than the play, and compared Mr. McKayle to the star choreographer Jerome Robbins.
“Mr. McKayle comes to the musical theater as a ranking choreographer,” Barnes wrote, “but also like Mr. Robbins, his skill with actors must now be unquestioned.”
The show won the 1974 Tony Award for best musical, and Mr. McKayle was nominated for both his roles — as director of a cast led by Joe Morton and as choreographer.
They were not his first Tony nominations — the first was for “Golden Boy,” with Sammy Davis Jr., in 1965 — and they would not be his last: He received two more, for “Doctor Jazz” in 1975 and for “Sophisticated Ladies,” which was his original concept, in 1981.
Mr. McKayle received more than a score of other awards and fellowships, including a spot on the Dance Heritage Foundation’s original list of America’s 100 “irreplaceable dance treasures.”
Long before his Broadway successes, though, his work was well known to the New York dance world; at least two of his works are considered modern classics.
In 1951, when Mr. McKayle was barely of age, “Games” had its premiere at Hunter College Playhouse (now the Kaye Playhouse). It depicted urban children at play in streets coursing with an undercurrent of fear, and was distinguished by its being performed without any orchestral music: The dance was set to a cappella songs and chants associated with childhood games.
When Mr. McKayle’s “Rainbow ’Round My Shoulder” opened in 1959, few New York dance lovers had ever seen a chain gang represented onstage before. A line of bare-chested men, sometimes holding hands and sometimes intertwining their arms, as if chained together, lamented their imprisonment and dreamed of the cherished women in their lives. In 2016, when the work was part of Paul Taylor’s American Modern Dance season at Lincoln Center, it received a Bessie Award for best revival.
Donald Cohen McKayle was born in Manhattan on July 6, 1930, the younger of two sons of Philip McKayle and the former Eva Cohen, both born in Jamaica. When his children were small, the elder Mr. McKayle worked as a maintenance man, for a while at the Copacabana; as World War II approached, he became an aviation mechanic. Donald’s mother did some work in the garment industry, then went back to school to become a medical assistant.
Dance was a part of the McKayles’s life in their Harlem neighborhood, crowded with West Indian immigrants. Donald remembered going with his parents to the Renaissance Ballroom and watching his father pretend to dance on the job, wearing steel-wool pads on his feet as he mopped the floor. But it was modern dance that entranced the young man.
One day, on his way to church, Donald noticed a poster showing attractive black people in exotic clothes. It was an ad for Katherine Dunham and her company, the nation’s first self-supporting black modern-dance troupe. Donald promptly spent $4.50 for a balcony seat to see their show, “Haitian Roadside.”
He soon saw Martha Graham perform but wasn’t sure whether he liked it, he wrote in his memoir “Transcending Boundaries: My Dancing Life” (2002). But, he added, he could not get it out of his mind.
When he was 14 he was enchanted by the first musical he saw, “Finian’s Rainbow.” But it was a dance concert with Pearl Primus, another pioneer in introducing African and Caribbean dance to Americans, that sealed the deal. “I want to dance like her,” he announced to a friend that night. And from then on he considered himself a dancer.
Without any formal training, he received, in 1947, a scholarship to the New Dance Group, a company dedicated to promoting social change. Three years later he was on Broadway, part of the ensemble in the musical revue “Bless You All,” with Pearl Bailey as headliner. (He attended City College of New York but dropped out in his sophomore year.)
Mr. McKayle’s career spanned seven decades. His last work, “Crossing the Rubicon: Passing the Point of No Return,” addressed the plight of immigrants and was performed last year by the Etude Ensemble at the University of California, Irvine. Although he formally retired from the university in 2010, he continued to teach and to work with the ensemble.
Mr. McKayle worked in film and television as well, choreographing movies like the animated classic “Bedknobs and Broomsticks” (1971) and the remake of “The Jazz Singer” (1980), starring Neil Diamond, and earning an Emmy nomination for “Minstrel Man” (1977). He also did the choreography for Marlo Thomas’s landmark TV special “Free to Be … You and Me” (1974).
The screen was not his favorite place, however. When Norman Lear, the king of socially conscious 1970s television, offered him a job as director of his newest series, “Good Times,” a “Maude” spinoff starring Esther Rolle, Mr. McKayle accepted, but hesitantly. He directed three episodes. After that, he had to take time off because of an illness in his wife’s family, and he never returned.
His last Broadway contribution was to the revue “It Ain’t Nothin’ but the Blues,” starring Gregory Hines, in 1999.
In addition to his wife of almost 53 years, whom he had met in Israel when she was his dance student, Mr. McKayle’s survivors include two daughters, Liane McKayle and Gabrielle McKayle, both from his first marriage, to Esta Beck; a son, Guy; and two grandchildren.
In a 2008 interview with the publication Backstage, Mr. McKayle was asked what his advice would be for young dancers. “Work in as many areas as you can,” he suggested. “The more colors you have on your palette, the more you have to work with, and the more you can aspire to.”
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Donald McKayle (July 6, 1930 – April 6, 2018[2]) was an American modern dancer, choreographer, teacher, director and writer best known for creating socially conscious concert works during the 1950s and '60s that focus on expressing the human condition and, more specifically, the black experience in America. He was "among the first black men to break the racial barrier by means of modern dance."[3] His work for the concert stage, especially Games (1951) and Rainbow Round My Shoulder (1959), has been the subject of widespread acclaim and critical attention. In addition, McKayle was the first black man to both direct and choreograph major Broadway musicals, including the Tony Award-winners Raisin (1973) and Sophisticated Ladies (1981), and he worked extensively in television and film.[4][5] As a young man he appeared with some of the twentieth century's most important choreographers, including Martha Graham, Anna Sokolow, and Merce Cunningham, and in some of Broadway's landmark productions, including House of Flowers(1958) and West Side Story (1957), where he served for a time as the production's dance captain. A Tony Award and Emmy Award nominee, McKayle held an endowed chair for the last decades of his life in the Dance Department at UC Irvine, where he was the Claire Trevor Professor of Dance. He previously served on the faculties of Connecticut College, Sarah Lawrence College, and Bennington College.
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[hide]Early life and influences[edit]
McKayle was born in New York City on July 6, 1930, and grew up in a racially mixed East Harlem community of African-American, Puerto Rican, and Jewish immigrants.[6] He was the second child of a middle class, immigrant family of Jamaican descent.[7]
Growing up in an integrated neighborhood shaped McKayle's understanding of the social issues and racial prejudices in America during a time when racism and segregation was commonplace. McKayle was also influenced by his parents' liberal and activist lifestyles. He was exposed to social dance and the exuberant social atmosphere of the West Indian parties his parents attended.[8] McKayle's educational experience attending a public school outside of the Harlem community also heightened his social awareness. His political beliefs were influenced by his high school English teacher Lewis Allen, also known as Abel Meeropol, author of the poem "Strange Fruit". And in high school McKayle joined the Frederick Douglass Society to learn more about African-American history and heritage, a subject that was not taught in school.[9]
But it was an inspiring performance by Pearl Primus that sparked McKayle's interest in dance as a teenager. Despite his lack of formal dance training, McKayle auditioned and was granted a scholarship for the New Dance Group in 1947.[10]McKayle was ambitious and eagerly took advantage of the company's formal training in modern, ballet, tap, Afro-Caribbean, Hindu, and Haitian dance forms. His instructors included modern dance pioneer Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Anna Sokolow and Karol Shook.[11] His noted mentors are Sophie Maslow, Jane Dudley, William Bales, and his first teacher Jean Erdman.[12] Other instructors include Mary Anthony, Pearl Primus, Jean-Leon Destine, Hadassah, and Paul Draper.[13] In less than a year, McKayle was choreographing his own complete concert dance pieces.
Early choreography[edit]
McKayle's early works explores the universal human condition and reflect themes of unity and community through expressive and emotional movement.[14]
At the age of 18 McKayle premiered his solo piece, Saturday's Child (1948), choreographed to the poetry of Countee Cullen. This piece depicted the reality of poverty and the suffering of the homeless. According to McKayle's autobiography, he was inducted into the Committee for the Negro in the Arts due to the repeated performance and high visibility of this piece. This organization was composed of Harlem Renaissance, leaders including Langston Hughes, and up-and-coming African-American artists and performers such as Harry Belafonte. The Committee was dedicated to changing the prejudices and widespread racism that made it difficult for African Americans in the performing arts.[15]
The American dance classic Games (1951) was McKayle's first major work and was responsible for launching his dance career. He combines rhythms, chants, play songs and street games to create a childhood scene dedicated solely to playtime. Inspired by childhood memories, Games explores themes of poverty and discrimination in shaping the lives and attitudes of the youth.[16]
Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder (1959) is also considered a masterwork that incorporates Africanist movement, rhythms, and music. Prisoners of a chain gang move powerfully across the stage creating an expressive narrative through abstract movements of physical labor. McKayle alludes to African-American dreams of freedom and equality through this image of bondage and slavery. The racial injustice and violence of the piece concludes as a chain gang member is shot and killed.[17] [18]
Broadway/ TV/ Film[edit]
McKayle's early works attracted the interest of Broadway stars, audiences, and Hollywood films. Golden Boy (1964) was his first Broadway production, followed by I'm Solomon (1969) and Dr. Jazz (1975). McKayle was the director and choreographer of Raisin (1974) and was awarded a Tony for the best musical. He was responsible for the entire concept, staging and choreography of Sophisticated Ladies (1981), which has won numerous awards.
Creating choreography for celebrities led to his appearances in popular television shows such as The Bill Cosby Showand The Ed Sullivan Show. McKayle's work was broadcast on every major TV network from 1951 to 1985. He has also choreographed for films including Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1970), The Great White Hope (1972), and The Minstrel Man (1976).[13]
Biographical Documentary Film[edit]
Donald McKayle : Heartbeats of a Dancemaker Film by Joy Chong-Stannard; Victoria N Kneubuhl; Gregg Lizenbery; Marilyn Cristofori. Musical score by Stephen Fox. Appearances by Donald McKayle; Della Reese (narrator); Harry Belafonte; José Limón Dance Company; San Jose and Cleveland Ballet. Dance Pioneers; Hawaii Public Television; Dance Horizons Video.
Awards[edit]
In 1963 McKayle was awarded the Capezio Dance Award, and in 1992 received the Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award for lifetime achievement.[19] In 2004 he received the Heritage Award from the National Dance Associationfor his contributions to dance education. He was the first to receive the Distinguished Faculty Lectureship Award for Research from the University of California, Irvine where he was an instructor and the artistic director of UCI's dance troupe.[20]
The 2016 Bessie for Outstanding Revival (The New York Dance and Performance Awards) was presented to Rainbow ’Round My Shoulder by Donald McKayle, performed by Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, and produced by Paul Taylor American Modern Dance at the David H. Koch Theater for giving a classic modern dance powerful new life, transforming the midcentury portrayal of an African-American prison chain gang into a searingly resonant cry for our current times, performed with humanity, craft, and beauty.[21]
Companies[edit]
McKayle formed and directed his own dance company, Donald McKayle and Dancers (1951–69), and was the head of the Inner City Repertory Dance Company from 1970 to 1974.[12] He maintained relationships with companies that are repositories of his work including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, the Cleveland San Jose Ballet, and the Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Theatre. He has been a choreographer of the Limon Dance Company since 1995.[22] He has also choreographed over 70 pieces for dance companies around the world in the U.S., Canada, Israel, Europe and South America.[20]
Selected choreography[edit]
- Saturday's Child (1948)(1960)
- Creole Afternoon (1950)
- Games (1951)
- Her Name was Harriet (1952)
- Nocturne (1953)
- The Street (1954)
- Prelude to Action (1954)
- Four Excursions (1956)
- Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder (1959)
- District Storyville (1962)
- Blood of the Lamb (1963)
- Reflections in the Park (1964)
- Incantation (1968)
- "Songs of the disinherited"
Broadway choreography credits[edit]
- Redhead, 1959 (Associate Choreographer)
- Golden Boy, 1964 (Tony Award nominee for Best Choreography)
- A Time for Singing, 1965
- I'm Solomon, 1968
- Raisin, 1973 (Tony Award nominee for Best Choreography and Best Direction)
- Doctor Jazz, 1975 (Tony Award nominee for Best Choreography)
- Sophisticated Ladies, 1981 (Tony Award nominee for Best Choreography)
- It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues, 1999
Roles[edit]
- House of Flowers (1954)
- West Side Story (1957)
Selected film and television choreography[edit]
- Ed Sullivan Show (CBS, 1966/67)
- The Great White Hope (1970)
- Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1970)
- Charlie and the Angel (1972)
- The New Bill Cosby Show (1972)
- Free to Be… You and Me (1974)
- Minstrel Man (CBS, 1977
- The Jazz Singer (1980)
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