Eleo Pomare

Eleo Pomare (20 October 1937 – 8 August 2008) was a Colombian-American modern dance

He founded a dance school, the Eleo Pomare Dance Company, in New York City, which continued after his death.

Early life and education

Pomare was born on 20 October 1937 in Santa Marta, Colombia. His father, James “Tawny” Forbes, was the captain of a cargo ship that was subject to a torpedo attack near Colón, Panama, during World War II. Pomare was with his father at the time, aged six years old, and afterwards went to live with his mother, Mildred Pomare Lee, in Panama. His sister Selina Forbes Pomare was born June 19, 1940, in Santa Marta, Colombia. In 1947, he was sent on his own to live with an aunt and uncle in New York City, joined by his mother a few years later. He attended New Lincoln School in Harlem.^[1]

He later attended New York's High School of Performing Arts, and was mentored by Verita Pearson before graduating in 1953. At this time he also taught dance himself, to young people at the Police Athletic League (PAL).^[1]

Career

Pomare founded a

An important work was Gin. Woman. Distress., a three-part solo dance, to the songs of Bessie Smith. It depicts the slow deterioration of a homeless woman. Pomare choreographed the work for Elizabeth Cameron Dalman in New York during 1966, and it was widely toured by Dalman in Europe and Australia from 1966 to 1987. The work was also taught to Johnson, who performed it in Adelaide in 1972.^[4]

One of the company's signature pieces developed by Pomare was called Blues for the Jungle (1966), originally titled Harlem Moods, as it depicted life in Harlem, New York. First performed in Amsterdam, the work is in three parts: Underworld, From Prison Walls, and Dat Day. Other productions in the 1960s included Missa Luba in 1965 and Las Desenamoradas in 1967 (based on Federico García Lorca's play The House of Bernarda Alba set to "Olé" by John Coltrane).^[4]

In 1986, in honour of Nelson Mandela, Pomare created Morning Without Sunrise, set to music by Max Roach.^[1]

Touring

The company toured to

William Moore (1933–1992), African American dance critic, dancer, researcher, and founder of Dance Herald magazine, managed the company at some point, as he did the company of Joan Miller.^[9]

Recognition

Pomare was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1972.^[1]

The borough president of Manhattan, David Dinkins, declared 7 January 1987 as Eleo Pomare Day.^[1]

Guest dancers

A November 1983 performance by

Other featured dancers included:[1]

Death and legacy

Pomare died of cancer in Manhattan, New York,^[11] on 8 August 2008.^[1]

The Eleo Pomare Dance Company continued after his death.^[11] Dancer and choreographer Martial Roumain, who joined the company as a teenager, is responsible for preserving Pomare's work and for future performances of it.^[7]

An exhibition celebrating his achievements, entitled The Man, The Artist, The Maker of Artists, was mounted at the

Pomare is often considered the angry black man of modern dance, although he did not consider himself angry or bitter, but that he is rather "telling it like it is".^[13] "I'm labeled...angry...because I will not do what they want from a black dancer. They want black exotics... I have something to say and I want to say it honestly, strongly and without having it stolen, borrowed or messed over."^[14]

The impact of Pomare as writer, dancer and choreographer has helped many gain an understanding of the black experience.