Beatty, Talley, 1918-1995

Broadway appearances as performer: Cabin in the Sky (1940); Blue Holiday (1945); Concert Varieties (1945); Show Boat (1946); Inside U.S.A.; as assistant to director: Blues for Mister Charlie (1964); as choreographer: Ari (1971); Your Arms Too Short to Box With God (1976, 1980, 1982); But Never Jam Today (1979)

Talley Beatty;(1923–1995); virtuoso performer, choreographer and teacher; danced onstage, films, nightclubs and Broadway musicals; broke boundaries with his first professional piece, Southern Landscape (1947), a five-section dance, inspired by Howard Fast’s Southern Reconstruction novel Freedom Road, and Beatty’s own experience with racial discrimination; Beatty developed a broad-ranging dance style drawn from the vocabularies of Katherine Dunham, Jack Cole, Lester Horton, Jerome Robbins, Martha Graham and ballet technique; Beatty's choreography has been performed by modern and ballet companies; born in Shreveport, Louisiana;grew up in Chicago; Katherine Dunham encouraged him to take dance when he was 11; made his professional debut at 14 with the Chicago Civic Opera; joined Dunham’s original company around 1937; rose to principal dancer; left the troupe to freelance after appearing in Stormy Weather (1943); broadened his explorations in dance during 1940s; studied with Martha Graham; toured California nightclubs with ex-Dunham dancer Janet Collins as Rea and Rico; appeared in Maya Deren’s A Study in Choreography for Camera (1945); Beatty formed his own company to tour a showcase of his works entitled Tropicana, 1952; disbanded the troupe five years later to focus on concert dance and choreography in New York City; as a teacher at Phillips-Fort Dance Studio Beatty established his association with Alvin Ailey

Talley Beatty; leading modern dance choregrapher; died April 29, 1995 at Roosevelt Hospital; 76 at the time of death and residing in Manhattan; cause of death complications from diabetes; born in Shreveport, Louisiana; moved to Chicago with his family; encouraged to study dance by a young Katherine Dunham; made his debut at 12 with the Chicago Civic Opera; continued to study with Dunham and joined her company in the mid-1930s and maintained an association with her for nearly six decades; began performing on his own in 1940s, but also performed with the Dunham company in concerts, musical theater, and films; appeared in Maya Deren's "A Study in Choreography for the Camera" (1945); appeared in "Blackface" (1947), a ballet choreographed by Lew Christiansen [sic] for Ballet Society; became one of the first black modern dance choreographers to become well known; established his own company, Tropicana, in 1949; works include: "The Road of the Phoebe Snow" (1959); his first work, "Southern Landscape," depicting black lives during Reconstruction was inspired by Howard Fast's novel, "Freedom Road," included the solo, "Mourner's Bench," which became a signature piece; "Come and Get the Beauty of It Hot" (1960); "Toccata" (1969); and "The Stack Up" (1982), created for the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater; Beatty's work has been performed by a wide range of American and foreign modern dance and ballet companies; off-Broadway and Broadway theatre credits for choreography include: "The Blacks"; "Blues for Charlie"; "Your Arms Too Short to Box with God"; and "Don't Bother Me; I Can't Cope; honors include 1993 Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival award

Talley Beatty; born December 22, 1919 in Cedar Grove, Louisiana, a section of Shreveport; grew up in Chicago, Illinois; considered one of the greatest of African American choreographers; studied withr Katherine Dunham and Martha Graham; went on do solo work and choreograph his own works which center on the social issues, experiences, and everyday life of African Americans; died April 29, 1995

Talley Beatty; pioneering African-American choreographer of the 20th century; born in Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1918; moved to Chicago; at age 12, began taking ballet lessons at Katherine Dunham's suggestion, after she discovered him in the neighborhood where she taught; joined Dunham's company while still a teenager and rose to the rank of principal dancer; left the company to freelance for other choreographers, but maintained connection to Dunham, performing her works and eventually becoming a Dunham technique teacher; studied with Martha Graham in New York; performed as a freelance dancer for Lincoln Kirstein's Ballet Society, Helen Tamiris and Lew Christensen; became known for the remarkable control and expressiveness he brought to his roles; featured in the short film A Study in Choreography for Camera by experimental filmmaker Maya Deren, 1945;launched choreographic career with Southern Landscape (1947), a piece about racial discrimination; his wide-ranging choreographic style reflected the eclectic influence of Dunham, Graham, Jack Cole, Lester Horton, Jerome Robbins and ballet; officially founded his own dance troupe, Tropicana in 1949 and toured throughout the United States and Europe for six years; performed in Alvin Ailey's inaugural company concert in New York City, 1958; would create seven works for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; Beatty created more than 50 works; last work, Ellingtonia, a 1994 tribute to Duke Ellington for Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble; Beatty passed away a year later at age 76 in NYC

Talley Beatty; born 1923; occupation: choreographer, dancer; grew up in Chicago, Illinois; nterested in dance from a young age; originally dreamed of becoming a tap dancer; took a few lessons in cakewalking from pianist Eubie Blake; from age 14, Beatty studied with African-American dancer and choreographer Katherine Dunham; member of Dunham troupe, 1937-1943; debut with Dunham's group at the 92nd Street Young Men's Hebrew Association (YMHA) in New York City; 1937; performed in Dunham's concert "Tropics and Le Jazz Hot" in 1940; citics found Beatty's style somewhat more balletic than other company members; left the company in 1943, following the completion of the film STORMY WEATHER; toured California nightclubs with fellow ex-Dunham company dancer Janet Collins assuming Spanish-sounding stage names to deflect suspicion that they were black;
Beatty continued to experiment with a variety of roles and dance styles during 1940s; appeared in Maya Deren's experimental film A STUDY IN CHOREOGRAPHY FOR CAMERA (1945); cast as a lead dancer in a Broadway revival of "Showboat" (1946) opposite Pearl Primus; Beatty also danced in a minstrel ballet, "Blackface," in 1946; began to concentrate on concert dance and choreography; formed his own dance company to tour the United States and Europe in 1952, with a program entitled "Tropicana,"; explored themes of African-American life that served as a counterpoint to the Civil Rights Movement during the 1950s and 1960s; works include: "The Route of the Phoebe Snow", which later became part of the Alvin Ailey company repertory, 1964; "Come and Get the Beauty of It Hot" (1960), "Montgomery Variations" (1967); and "Black Belt" (1969); had a long and fruitful collaboration with Duke Ellington beginning in 1950s; provided choreography for several of Ellington's extended works, such as "A Drum Is a Woman" (1957) and "My People" (1963); also choreographed for other companies, including: Birgit Cullberg Ballet, Boston Ballet, the Inner City Dance Company of Los Angeles, Ballet Hispanica [sic], and the Bat-Sheva Company; shifted to teaching in the 1960s; theatre work includes "Your Arms Too Short to Box with God" (1977); "But Never Jam Today" (1978); other later works include "The Stack-Up" (1983) and "Blues Shift" (1984)