Person
Biography
Gemze de Lappe was best known as a primary disciple for choreographer Agnes de Mille, for whom she first worked in a 1943 of
Oklahoma! She became a muse for de Mille both on Broadway (
Paint Your Wagon) and in concert dance
(A Rose for Miss Emily with ABT), while she also worked with other prominent choreographers including Jerome Robbins (in the original Broadway cast of
The King and I). Her only Pillow performances were as the partner of Glen Tetley in 1957, dancing a new work by John Butler as well as Robert Joffrey’s classic
Pas des Deesses, though she later became part of the Pillow community when she taught for several years at Smith College and lived nearby. Born in Portsmouth, Virginia, she moved with her parents to New York City where she studied with Michel Fokine and Irma Duncan (one of Isadora’s adopted daughters). She once explained her unusual first name (pronounced JEM-zee) by saying, “I have a fey Irish mother and she just gave it to me — concocted it.” She became known as the most authoritative stager of de Mille’s ballets and shows, and some of her stagings were presented on Inside/Out by New York Theatre Ballet in 2007. Her most notable Pillow appearance in recent years was a 2005 PillowTalk when she paid tribute to Agnes de Mille in a memorable presentation that lives on as a lasting testament to her life’s work. De Lappe died on November 11, 2017 at the age of 95.
Source of Biography
Written by Norton Owen for Jacob's Pillow Remembers.
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