Carmen de Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder met in early 1950s, two dancers cast in a Herbert Ross staging of Truman Capote’s “House of Flowers.”
Tall, vibrant, Holder originally came from Port of Spain, Trinidad. The lithe, strong Lavallade hailed from Creole folk. But in one of those vital migrations that enriched this nation, the New Orleans-born beauty arrived in New York City via Los Angeles. She moved to L.A. for a dance scholarship. There she met friend, classmate and future collaborator Alvin Ailey.
In the simply, intimately titled “Carmen & Geoffrey,” co-directors Linda Atkinson and Nick Doob balance the dance legends’ remarkable individual journeys with their shared accomplishments.
“Carmen & Geoffrey” places its commanding subjects in the midst of their most challenging historical moment.
Though the two began making their marks before the civil rights movement’s heydey, this telling lesson in American history is bitterness-free.
Yes, Holder recounts the story of the Stork Club refusing Josephine Baker service.
But he also states with his rich baritone the personal motto that guided him through many seemingly shut doors: “If I’m not wanted in a place, then there’s something wrong with the place.”
Holder is a renaissance man: an accomplished painter, an actor, a choreographer, an engaging teller of tales.
He won a Tony for directing “The Wiz.” In 1978, he directed the 1978 musical “Timbuktu!” a reimaging of “Kismet” set in ancient Mali. It was nominated for four Tonys, including one for star Eartha Kitt.
Doob and Atkinson weave a trove of archival delights with three years of recent footage.
A pas de deux of Lavallade and Ailey dancing on a beach in Joe Layton’s version of “Porgy and Bess” mesmerizes.
“He danced the way his body was made to dance,” says Lavallade about friend Ailey. This excerpt from an NBC broadcast deserves to be as as well known as the scene of Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron in “An American in Paris.”
Speaking of Americans in Paris, another archival find shows the duo on stage with ex-pat Baker. Lavallade’s reminiscences of the star are a delight.
One doesn’t have to be a dance aficionado to be drawn to this film, but if you are, Lavallade’s observations about the difficult work of dance — and choreography — are as poetic as they are illuminating.
Adding to the documentary’s cultural breadth is Judith Jamison, a legend herself as artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. And dance critic Jennifer Dunning (who co-authored a book with Holder) talks with conviction about the couple’s meaning for American dance and gently about their meaning for each other.
“CARMEN & GEOFFREY”
Not Rated. 1 hour, 20 minutes. Directed by Linda Atkinson and Nick Doob; photography by Doob; featuring Carmen de Lavallade, Geoffrey Holder, Boscoe Holder, Leo Holder, Gus Solomons jr., Dudley Williams, Judith Jamison, Jennifer Dunning. At the Starz FilmCenter.
