Claire Haywood

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Claire Haywood
Haywood in 1948
Born
Claire Helen Haywood

(1916-05-23)May 23, 1916
Atlanta, Georgia
DiedSeptember 23, 1978(1978-09-23) (aged 62)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materSpelman College
Howard University
OccupationBallet teacher
Organization(s)Jones-Haywood School of Ballet
Capitol Ballet Company

Claire Helen Haywood (1916 – September 23, 1978) was an American ballet dancer and teacher, called a “grand dame of Black dance in Washington”.[1] With Doris W. Jones, she cofounded the Jones-Haywood School of Ballet in 1941 to give African American students the opportunity to study classical ballet. She also cofounded the Capitol Ballet Company and became its artistic director.

Early life[edit]

Claire Helen Haywood was born in 1916 in Atlanta, Georgia.[2] She earned a BA from Spelman College in 1932 and an MA from Howard University in 1936.[2] She also completed work toward a PhD at Catholic University of America.[2]

Career[edit]

Haywood studied dance with Doris W. Jones and in 1940 persuaded Jones to move to Washington, D.C.[3] In 1941, she and Jones founded what became the Jones-Haywood School of Ballet,[2] initially occupying temporary wartime space, then moving to a clapboard house on Delafield Place, Northwest, with a house attached to the studio, which Jones and Haywood shared.[1] Both women were African-American dancers themselves and their integrated school offered training in classical ballet to African-American students denied admission to white dance schools.[4] In 1974 Haywood told a reporter, “Much talent has been thrown away over the years because the opportunities just weren’t there.”[1] The article went on: “It was an earlier lack of opportunities that made teaching an obsession with both women.”[1] Among the students who thrived under their supervision at the Jones-Haywood School were eventual Broadway star Chita Rivera,[5] Dutch National Ballet principal dancer Sylvester Campbell,[6] choreographer Louis Johnson,[7] and ballerina Sandra Fortune-Green.[1] Haywood served as a teacher and then became co-director in 1950.[2] She also cofounded the Capitol Ballet Company, and became its artistic director in 1961.[2] Through the 1970s, School and Company were the only such institution for African American ballet dancers outside of Arthur Mitchell's Dance Theatre of Harlem.[8]

Haywood was also a visual artist, exhibiting in Atlanta and Martha's Vineyard as well as D.C.[2]

In 1976, Haywood and Jones were the subject of a documentary film called Artists of the Dance.[2][9]

Death[edit]

Claire Helen Haywood died on September 23, 1978.[10] She was 62.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e Trescott, Jacqueline (1974-05-24). "Sandra Fortune Smiles on Capitol Ballet Company". The Sacramento Bee. pp. 6, 7, 8. Archived from the original on 2021-05-20. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Claire Haywood Dies, Founded Ballet School". The Evening Star. Washington, D.C. September 25, 1978. p. 19.
  3. ^ Dunning, Jennifer (2006-04-04). "Doris W. Jones, 92, Ballet Dancer Who Founded School for Blacks, Is Dead". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2021-06-16. Retrieved 2021-05-23.
  4. ^ Rivers, Megan (February 22, 2021). "Jones-Haywood Dance School celebrates 80 years in DC". wusa9.com. Archived from the original on 2021-06-16. Retrieved 2021-05-23.
  5. ^ Kaufman, Sarah L (March 15, 2016). "How Chita Rivera keeps dancing at 83, with 16 screws in her leg". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on 2021-06-16. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
  6. ^ Dunning, Jennifer (1997-04-06). "Sylvester Campbell, 59, a Pioneer Among Black Classical Dancers". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2021-06-16. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
  7. ^ Kourlas, Gia (2020-04-10). "Louis Johnson, 90, Genre-Crossing Dancer and Choreographer, Dies". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2021-06-16. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
  8. ^ Kriegsman, Alan M. (1978-12-10). "New Strides for Black Dancers". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on 2021-06-16. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
  9. ^ "Artists of the Dance". Marysville Journal-Tribune. 1985-01-21. p. 13. Archived from the original on 2021-05-23. Retrieved 2021-05-23.
  10. ^ "Haywood, Claire (c. 1916–1978)." Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages, edited by Anne Commire and Deborah Klezmer, vol. 1, Yorkin Publications, 2007, pp. 846-847. Via Gale eBooks.
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