Born to Russian immigrants, Lewitzky spent her childhood in a utopian socialist colony in the Mojave Desert, and on a ranch in San Bernardino. She moved back to Los Angeles in her teens, and studied ballet.
In 1934, she joined Lester Horton's company, and became its lead dancer. There, she met Newell Taylor Reynolds; they married in 1940. She choreographed the films Bagdad (1949), Tripoli (1950), and Prehistoric Women (1950), and started her own company in 1966.
In 1951, she was subpoenaed by the House Un_American Activities Committee to answer questions about communist activities in the arts. "I'm a dancer, not a singer," she replied.
In 1991, she successfully sued the National Endowment for the Arts to keep its grant after she crossed out the anti_obscenity clause in her contract, arguing that artists ought to have the right to produce work that may be viewed as obscene.
External links
Lewitzky Dance Company (http://www.perspicacity.com/dancesite/lewitzky/)
BellaLewitzky, a modern-dance pioneer and an outspoken champion of artistic freedom, died July 16 in an assisted-care center in Pasadena.
Lewitzky was born in Llano del Rio, a utopian socialist community in the Mojave Desert.
Lewitzky served on the dance panel of the National Endowment for the Arts and on the California Arts Council and was the recipient of the Dance Magazine Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Tiffany Award, the National Medal of Arts, the Capezio Award and, in 1989, the first California Governor's Award for Lifetime Achievement.
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