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Creator
Eleo Pomare Dance Company
Call number
*MGZEB 25-0002
Physical description
1.29 linear feet (4 boxes)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
Eleo Pomare Dance Company photographs, *MGZEB 25-0002. Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Repository
Jerome Robbins Dance Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.

The Eleo Pomare Dance Company was established in the 1950s by Colombian-American modern dance choreographer and dancer Eleo Pomare (1937-2008). The company was known for Pomare's politically-charged pieces about Black life. The company photographs date from around 1956 to the 2000s and consist of prints, contact sheets, and picture files of company members rehearsing and performing in studios and venues; headshots; publicity shots; and event shots.

Biographical/historical information

The Eleo Pomare Dance Company was established in 1958 by Colombian-American modern dance choreographer and dancer Eleo Pomare (1937-2008). The company was known for Pomare's politically-charged pieces about Black life. Over the course of five decades, the company performed Pomare's work and influenced contemporary dance, particularly Black contemporary dance.

Eleo Pomare was born in Santa Marta, Columbia in 1937. After graduating from high school in New York City, Pomare started his first dance company in the 1950s.

In 1962, Pomare received a scholarship to study and perform with German choreographer and dancer Kurt Jooss in Essen, Germany. Pomare began choreographing his own works with the students, clashed with the leaders of the Jooss school, and moved with other dancers to Amsterdam to re-establish his dance company (known as Dansgroep Eleo Pomare and Eleo Pomare and Dancers). The company performed in Amsterdam and Northern Europe receiving positive reviews.

At the prompting of his friend, writer James Baldwin, Pomare returned to the United States in 1963, where he revived and expanded Eleo Pomare Dance Company (EPDC). Company members have included Ron Pratt, Dolores Vanison, Judi Dearing, Diana Ramos, Al Perryman, Strody Meekins, and Carole Johnson, Dudley Williams, Loretta Abbott, Diane Harvey Salaam (née Dyane Harvey), Charles Grant, Lillian Olubayo Williams, Chuck Davis, and Martial Roumain. EPDC and Pomare toured through North America, Africa, the Caribbean, Asia, Australia, and Europe. The company and Pomare also frequently performed in the Dancemobile series (co-founded by Pomare, the series used a flatbed truck as a stage and took modern dance performances to underserved communities), Marymount Manhattan Theater, Hunter Playhouse, the Joyce Theater, and the Delacorte Theater.

In addition to performing with and maintaining EPDC, Pomare choreographed works for the Alvin Ailey Dance Company, the Maryland Ballet Company, the Alpha Omega Theatrical Dance Company, Balletinstituttet, and others.

EPDC performed works that ranged from balletic pieces and jazz to modern dance. The works often addressed the hardships of the Black experience through raw movements and emotions performed across the entire stage. One signature work, Blues for the Jungle (1966), depicted African American history from enslavement to the fight for equal rights in the 1960s. Another notable work, Missa Luba (1965) addressed the Christian church's role in the colonization of Africa and combined Catholic Mass with the music and voices of the Congolese Boys' Choir. Some other works, such as Las Desenamoradas (1967), Still Here (1982), and Tabernacle (1989), were inspired by, or based on, literature (Federico García Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba, a Langston Hughes poem, and Baldwin's The Fire Next Time, respectively). Other notable works include Gin.Woman.Distress (1966), a solo set to songs by Bessie Smith; Narcissus Rising (1968), Pomare's signature solo of an aggressive S&M biker; and Morning Without Sunrise (1986), a piece created in honor of Nelson Mandel's heroism.

Pomare's partner was Glenn Conner. At the time of Pomare's death Conner was the executive director of the Eleo Pomare Dance Company.

Pomare died in New York City in 2008.

Scope and arrangement

The Eleo Pomare Dance Company photographs date from approximately 1956 to the 2000s and depict company members rehearsing and performing in studios and various venues through mostly black-and-white and color prints, contact sheets, and picture files. The photographs also include cast shots, headshots of Eleo Pomare Dance Company (EPDC) members and Pomare, publicity shots, and prints of events. Ballet premiere dates and identified dancers are noted in the container list.

The bulk of the collection dates from the 1960s to the 1990s and comprises black-and-white and color prints of Pomare's ballets. A small number of the prints are mounted; a couple of files include contact sheets, flyers, or programs; and the Beginsville (1964) file has an incomplete script of the work. Particularly well-represented ballets include Blues for the Jungle (1966), Gin.Woman.Distress (1966), Missa Luba (1965), and Cantos for a Monastery (1956). There are also prints of the Alvin Ailey Dance Dance Company, Ailey II, and the Alpha Omega Theatrical Dance Company. Prints often have title, choreographer, composer, and dancer information handwritten on the back. Some prints also include the photographer's name.

Most ballet photographs portray the original EPDC members performing or rehearsing the piece and a cast shot. Ballets produced in the 1960s and 1970s often include prints of the EPDC performing in the Dancemobile series. Some files include shots of later company members performing the work. Pomare appears in most of the works dating from the 1960s to the 1970s. Of note are photographs of Pomare, John Parks, Martial Roumain, and Donna Clark each performing Narcissus Rising (1968).

The collection also has two folders of headshots. One folder features the EPDC's company members' headshots. These prints include the company member's name on the back. Original company members are also noted. The other folder consists of candids and portraits of Pomare, as well as a postcard from Pomare's memorial service.

There is a folder of EPDC publicity shots as well as three folders of events. The publicity shots feature mostly prints and contact sheets of the company and Pomare. The event files include Pomare teaching, Pomare receiving the Kennedy Center Masters of African-American Choreography medal, and Pomare working in Europe from 1962 to 1964.

Credited photographers include Jonathan Atkin, Georgina Bedrosian, Eduard Berger, Paul Daiter, Edward Effron, David Fullard, Paul Jordan, E. Joseph Jr., Nan Melville, Mansa K. Mussa, Takako Nakasu, Beatrice Schiller, and Lisa Alexandra Wickham.

Arrangement

Arranged by title, headshots, publicity shots, or event.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Gift of Glenn Conner in 2010.

Processing information

Processed by Amy Lau in 2025.

Using the collection

Location

Jerome Robbins Dance Division
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498
Third Floor