Legendary dancer/choreographer Donald McKayle to speak during Vassar residency. Monday, December 4, 2006

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY — Dancer/choreographer Donald McKayle, named one of "America's Irreplaceable Dance Treasures" by the Dance Heritage Coalition, will discuss dance and his storied career on Monday, December 4, at 7:00 p.m. in the new Frances Daly Fergusson Dance Theater of Kenyon Hall. This event is free and open to the public, and part of McKayle's weeklong residency at Vassar.

A dancer in the original production of "West Side Story" (1957), the multi-talented McKayle has not only performed and choreographed numerous works for stage and screen, and won critical laurels for several major Broadway productions, he also directed episodes of the popular 1970s television program "Good Times." His signature dance work, "Songs of the Disinherited," will be performed March 3 and 4 by the Vassar Repertory Dance Theatre, as part of their twenty-fifth anniversary gala performance at Poughkeepsie's Bardavon Opera House.

McKayle made his professional debut in 1948, and choreographed his first pieces with the New Dance Group when he was 18 years old. He later performed in the companies of Sophie Maslow, Jean Erdman, Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham and Anna Sokolow. In addition to "West Side Story," McKayle appeared in such Broadway productions as "Bless You All" (1950), "House of Flowers" (1954) and "Copper and Brass" (1957).

McKayle has choreographed more than 50 works for companies in the United States and abroad. His early pieces included the classic "Games" (1950), which examines the dangers faced by urban schoolchildren, as well as the popular "Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder" (1959) and "District Storyville" (1962), both of which remain in the repertory of the Alvin Ailey Company. Following a stint as artistic director for the Inner City Repertory Dance Company of Los Angeles, McKayle returned to Broadway, directing "Raisin" (1974), "Dr. Jazz" (1975) and "Sophisticated Ladies" (1981), the latter based on the life of Duke Ellington. His theatrical works include "N'Orleans" (1981), a musical play co-written with Toni Morrison and Dorothea Freitag, "Emperor Jones" (1984) and "Stardust" (1990).

Beginning in the mid-1960s, McKayle also began to choreograph dance sequences for film and television, with credits including "The Bill Cosby Special" (CBS, 1967), "The Motown Special" (NBC, 1968), "The Great White Hope" (1969), "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" (1970), "The 49th Annual Academy Awards" (ABC, 1977) and "The Jazz Singer" (1980), among others. He directed the first few episodes of "Good Times" in 1974.

In April 2005, Donald McKayle was awarded a Master of African American Choreography medal by the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. His numerous honors also include five Tony Award nominations, the NAACP Image Award (for "Sophisticated Ladies"), an Emmy Award nomination, the Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award, the Capezio Award, and the Outer Critics Circle Award.

McKayle is a Professor of Dance and Artistic Director of the Dance Department at the University of California-Irvine, where he has received the UCI Medal, the university's highest honor. Earlier he was Dean of the School of Dance at the California Institute of the Arts, and he has also served on the faculties of the Juilliard School, Bennington College, Bard College, Sarah Lawrence College, the American Dance Festival, and Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival

McKayle's autobiography, Transcending Boundaries: My Dancing Life, was honored with the Society of Dance History Scholar's De La Torre Bueno Prize. A television documentary on his life and work, Heartbeats of a Dance Maker, was aired on PBS stations throughout the United States.

Donald McKayle's talk at Vassar is co-sponsored by the Office of the Dean of the Faculty, the Department of Dance, the Program in Africana Studies, and the Black Students Union. Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact the Office of Campus Activities at (845) 437-5370.

Vassar College is a highly selective, coeducational, independent, residential, liberal arts college founded in 1861.

Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations or information on accessibility should contact Campus Activities Office at (845) 437-5370. Without sufficient notice, appropriate space and/or assistance may not be available.

Vassar College is a highly selective, coeducational, independent, residential liberal arts college founded in 1861.

This article was posted on Wednesday, November 29th, 2006.