01/19/2026
As we celebrate MLK Day and the continued imperative for equity, we want to amplify the legacy of four pioneers in dance and honor their trailblazing work. Through tenacity and grace Carmen de Lavallade, LaVerne Reed, Toni Pierce-Sands and Judith Jamison created space for a new generation of dancers to discover, belong and become.
Toni Pierce-Sands led an illustrious performance career in the US and overseas. She performed with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater as a soloist in many signature works. She founded TU Dance to create access and opportunity—a platform for performers, students and audiences to engage in the remarkable art form of dance.
Carmen de Lavallade shattered barriers as one of the first black prima ballerinas to perform with major American companies, helping shape theater and dance for six decades. A founding artist of the Lester Horton Dance Theater, she later starred alongside her friend Alvin Ailey in House of Flowers (1954). She appeared in film and television, worked with leading choreographers and staged numerous musicals, plays and operas. Her legendary career earned her multiple lifetime achievement awards and honorary doctorates from SUNY Purchase and Juilliard.
Judith Jamison, a trailblazing dancer, choreographer, author and Artistic Director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater from 1989-2011. She brought the company to unparalleled success, including two historic performances in South Africa and a 50-city global tour. Her distinguished career reflected the nation’s highest artistic honors, including the National Medal of Arts. Ms. Jamison’s enduring legacy is one of courage, resilience, relentless excellence and vision.
LaVerne Reed was a dancer, actor, choreographer, playwright, director, producer and educator who innovated Washington, DC’s theater and arts scene. She created the LaVerne Reed Dancers in 1976, which included VIVA’s own Robbin Tasha-Ford, and worked with Stephanie Mills, Melba Moore, Cicely Tyson, and Esther Rolle. Reed’s influence inspired generations of young black artists and leaves a powerful creative legacy in Washington, DC and beyond.
