Partners in love and art

Craving some uplift in this season of lack and dread? Spend some time with Carmen & Geoffrey--that would be that regal couple, Carmen de Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder--in a generous, charming documentary directed by Linda Atkinson and Nick Doob. It opens this Friday at Manhattan's Quad Cinema for a six-day run.

What I most love about this film is not its behind-scenes peeks at the creative process, or its gentle intertwining of personal histories with the story and major personalities of modern dance and popular entertainment in America. I most treasure the filmmakers' calm but direct insight into what it took for these gifted artists to rise, in a racist society, to the summit of their professions.

I'm moved by the young Holder's headstrong determination to push past dyslexia and express a whole range of artistic talents--dance, visual arts, music and more. It makes me sit up a bit taller when I recognize (and identify with) the haughty Caribbean-ness of something Holder told John Lahr: "I walk through doors. If I'm not wanted in a place, there's something wrong with the place, not me." For her part, de Lavallade, remembering their friendship with Josephine Baker, remarks, "You learn from people who are not afraid of who they are." (Yeah, you're right!) And so, we can learn from these fabulous two: how an artist crafts a world of his own from what ever comes to hand; how respect and reverence and everyday friendship help a marriage last over half a century; how to conquer by vision, self-discipline, love and generosity.

***************************

CARMEN AND GEOFFREY
Directed by Linda Atkinson and Nick Doob
Distributed by First Run Features

80 minutes, color; 2006

with: Carmen de Lavallade; Geoffrey Holder; Boscoe Holder; Leo Holder; Gus Solomons jr; Dudley Williams; Judith Jamison; Jennifer Dunning; Alvin Ailey; Josephine Baker

Quad Cinema -- March 13-18, 2009
34 West 13th Street, Manhattan
212-255-8800

An intimate look at two extraordinary personalities, Carmen De Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder, married fifty-three years. De Lavallade, a legendary dancer and choreographer whose career began in California, came to New York with Alvin Ailey, performing as a soloist with his company and as a ballerina with the Metropolitan Opera. Holder, a 6'6" "gentle giant" from Trinidad, has worked as a Broadway dancer, actor, director, choreographer, costume and set designer, painter and musician, winning a Tony Award for directing "The Wiz."

"More than an outstanding, five-decade creative collaboration," says Dance Magazine, CARMEN AND GEOFFREY which had its premiere with DFA's Dance on Camera Festival co-sponsored by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, tells "one of the dance world's great love stories." Atkinson's film, shot over three years, explores this romantic and creative partnership. Containing rare dance footage from the 50's and 60's, featuring Alvin Ailey, Herbert Ross, Lester Horton, Joe Layton, Duke Ellington and Josephine Baker in Paris, among others, the film also features contemporary works, including Carmen's on-going partnership with Gus Solomons, Jr and Dudley Williams.

Filmmaker Linda Atkinson first met Carmen and Geoffrey while studying acting at the Yale School of Drama. She graduated with an MFA, having won the Carol Dye Acting Prize, and has since performed at theatres around the country. Working with her husband, Nick Doob, she produced a prize-winning series of health-related documentaries for high school students. She has recently directed an original play, FINEPRINT, at Sing Sing Correctional Facility. She is currently producing a film based on Robert Coles's "Women of Crisis."

Nick Doob has been a director, cinematographer and editor on numerous award-winning films. He has shot four Oscar-nominated films including FROM MAO TO MOZART, which won an Oscar. He directed DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAIN with D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, and ELAINE STRITCH AT LIBERTY, which won an Emmy. In 2000 he won an Emmy as a producer on AMERICAN HIGH, the acclaimed verité TV series. For HBO he co-directed A BOY'S LIFE with Rory Kennedy, and is currently directing and producing a film about Alzheimer's Disease for HBO.