Fort, Syvilla, 1917-1975

Syvilla Fort (July 3, 1917 – November 8, 1975) was an American dancer, choreographer, and dance teacher, who drew on a variety of dance techniques, as well as her African American heritage, in the creation of her original dance works and through her influential teaching practice.

Born in Seattle, Washington, Syvilla Fort was the daughter of John Wesley Lorenzo Fort, a postal worker, and Mildred Oldwin Fort. She grew up in the Wallingford/Green Lake section of Seattle (sometimes known as Tangletown) and began studying dance when she was three years old. Denied admission to ballet schools because she was Black, Fort's early dance education took place in private lessons at her home. While still a child, Fort was dedicated to sharing her love of dance, teaching ballet, tap, and modern dance to small groups of neighborhood children who could not afford private lessons. She had a brother, John W. Fort (1922-2020), who generally went by the name of Jack Fort. After the death of her first husband, Syvilla’s mother married Robert E. Dill (1895-1948), a Seattle City Light employee, in 1932. The couple would have another child, John Dill, in 1940; the entire family lived in the same home in which Syvilla had grown up as a child during the years in which she remained in Seattle.

...