Eleo Pomare

Eleo Pomare (20 October 1937 – 8 August 2008) was a Colombian-American modern dance choreographer known for his politically charged productions depicting the black experience.

He and his mother moved from Colombia to the United States in 1947. Pomare attended New York’s High School of Performing Arts, founded a company in 1958, dismantled it to travel to Europe to study and perform with Kurt Joos and Harold Kreutzberg, then returned to the United States in 1964 when he revived and expanded his company. Notable productions include Missa Luba in 1965, Blues for the Jungle in 1966 (portraying life in Harlem), Las Desenamoradas in 1967 (based on Federico García Lorca's play The House of Bernarda Alba set to jazz by John Coltrane), and Narcissus Rising in 1968 (a sensational solo portraying the psychology of a motorcycle gang member).

Pomare is often considered the angry black man of modern dance, although he does not consider himself angry or bitter. He is rather, "telling it like it is." "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."

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

Pomare died of cancer in Manhattan.

Emery, Lynne Fauley: "Black Dance From 1619 to Today", page 301. Princeton Book Co, 1988.

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