Maracci, Carmelita (b. 1911)
Maracci, Carmelita (b. 1911)
Spanish-trained American dancer . Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1911; studied ballet and Spanish dance in California; taught dance in Los Angeles.
Brought to America as a child, Carmelita Maracci wove Spanish techniques into her style of dance with fine castanet and heel work. She made her professional debut in California in 1930. Appearing with her own group, she choreographed solos: Viva Tu Madre, Nightingale and the Maiden, Etude, Cantine, Fandanguillo, Gavotta Vivace; trios: Another Fire Dance, Sonate, Portrait in the Raw España, Flamenco; group dances: Narrative of the Bull Ring and Suite; as well as the ballet Circo de España for the Ballet Theater in 1951. Wrote Agnes de Mille : "She is a true original, a satirist, a composer in the grand line, one of the great American choreographers." Poor health, however, often kept Maracci off the stage.
sources:
de Mille, Agnes. Book of the Dance. Golden Press, 1961.