Gemze de Lappe

Gemze de Lappe (February 28, 1922 – November 11, 2017) was an American dancer, choreographer, and teacher born in Portsmouth, Virginia, whose career spanned Broadway, concert dance, film, and academic instruction across more than seven decades. Her father, Birch Wood de Lappe, worked as an actor and teacher, and her mother, Maureen McDonough, was an actress and drummer. De Lappe pursued her training at Hunter College and the Ballet Arts School at Carnegie Hall, studying under Irma Duncan and Michel Fokine. She began her professional career as a member of Fokine's company.

De Lappe became closely associated with choreographer Agnes de Mille and was frequently partnered by de Mille's preferred male dancer, James Mitchell. Her concert dance work included engagements with American Ballet Theatre and the Agnes de Mille Dance Theatre. In the early 1950s, she briefly formed a dance team with Dean Crane.

Her Broadway career extended from 1941 to 1978 and encompassed a range of productions. She appeared in the original West End and first national companies of Oklahoma!, performing the role of Laurey in the "Dream Ballet." Her Broadway credits include Paint Your Wagon, for which she received a Donaldson Award, as well as Juno, the revue Phoenix '55, Gorey Stories, and The American Dance Machine. She also originated the role of Simon of Legree in The King and I and reprised that role in the film version.

Beyond performing, de Lappe made significant contributions as a reconstructor and choreographer of existing works. She recreated de Mille's choreography for the 1979 Broadway revival of Oklahoma! and choreographed Abe Lincoln in Illinois on Broadway. She regularly traveled throughout the country to recreate original choreography for productions of The King and I, Oklahoma!, Brigadoon, and Carousel for professional, regional, and educational theatre companies. In spring 2011, the University of North Carolina School of the Arts presented a recreation of the original Broadway production of Oklahoma! with choreography reconstructed by de Lappe. She remained known for her reconstructions of work by de Mille, Isadora Duncan, and Jerome Robbins.

De Lappe also held an academic appointment as a professor of dance at Smith College and took on visiting appointments following her nominal retirement. In 1989, Niagara University awarded her an honorary doctorate. In 2007, she received Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre, and in 2012 she was presented with the Martha Hill Dance Fund Lifetime Achievement Award. She remained active as a choreographer and teacher until her death in 2017 at the age of 95.