By: Lauren Whitaker, NC School of the Arts
For a woman born in Virginia who has lived most of her life in New York, Gezme de Lappe knows a lot about Oklahoma. And, at 89, she knows a lot about maintaining an active life. Her career as a dancer, actor, director and teacher has spanned seven decades. She has spent much of 2011 teaching Agnes de Mille’s original choreography to the student cast of Oklahoma! at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA).
The students are learning from a master: De Lappe originated the role of “Girl in Pigtails” when Rodgers & Hammerstein opened the groundbreaking musical on Broadway in 1943. She later moved into the role of Dream Laurey, also on Broadway, and served as assistant director and choreography supervisor when the show went on tour. She now works with the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization on archiving their musicals.
In January and April, de Lappe spent six days a week teaching complex choreography to artists as young as 15. They worked in the afternoons and evenings. The schedule was demanding, but de Lappe says the challenge was not one of stamina, but of timing. “I think most dancers and choreographers, and people my age, like to work in the morning.” At UNCSA, the students attend academic classes mornings; rehearsals take place later in the day.
Maintaining a healthy diet was a challenge. “We had an hour for dinner between 6 and 7, and then back to rehearsal. As a performer you don’t want to eat a lot before you rehearse or perform. So I would have some soup or something, and then I’d be hungry again when we finished up around 10.”
Along with nutrition and exercise, she credits her Catholic school education with developing the discipline that has helped her to succeed as an artist for more than 70 years. “The nuns gave me a sense of what was right and wrong, of manners and deportment, “ she said. And the discipline helped her to clear the emotional hurdles that an artist faces. “You learn to accept rejection and criticism — we all do — anyone in a stressful job.”
A protégé of Agnes de Mille, de Lappe performed with the American Ballet Theatre and Ballet Russe in Cannes, France. She has performed on Broadway in The King and I, Paint Your Wagon, Carousel and Brigadoon; has appeared in films; has staged de Mille repertoire around the world; and has taught for 13 years at Smith College in Northampton, Mass.
The artist is surprised by her own longevity. “I never thought I’d last until I was 70, let alone 80,” she said. “My family all died pushing 70.”
De Lappe has no plans to retire completely. “Aside from my children, the best thing in my life has been my work,” she says. The mother of two married at the age of 38. “More than half my life was without my children, but dance was always part of my life.”
Apart from a healthy diet, exercise, and emotional strength, a passion for the arts keeps de Lappe going. “I just love what I do, and I enjoy being around the people I work with,” she says. “That is really a lovely way to spend your life.”