Josefina Lavalle is a Mexican

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 ballet dancer, choreographer and ballet director. She established together with Guillermina Bravo

Guillermina Bravo

Guillermina Bravo is a Mexican ballet dancer, choreographer and ballet director. She was co-founder of the academy of Mexican dance in 1947, and established together with Josefina Lavalle the national ballet company in Mexico City in 1948, which has been located in Querétaro since 1991, where she...

 the national ballet company in Mexico City

Mexico City

Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

 in 1948

Biography

Lavalle was born in Mexico City. She studied at the Escuela Nacional de Danza under Nellie

Nellie Campobello

Nellie Francisca Ernestina Campobello Luna, born María Francisca Moya Luna , was a Mexican writer...

 and Gloria Campobello

Gloria Campobello

Gloria Campobello Luna was a Mexican ballet dancer and choreographer. Her older half-sister Francisca was a well-known writer and dancer, known as Nellie Campobello.- Biography :...

, and became member of Waldeen's

Waldeen Falkenstein

Waldeen Falkenstein' Brooke de Zatz better known as "Waldeen" was an American-born dancer and choreographer...

 ballet of fine arts . Together with Anna Sokolow

Anna Sokolow

Anna Sokolow was a Jewish American dancer and choreographer.-Training:...

 she discovered her talent for contemporary dance

Contemporary dance

Contemporary dance is a genre of concert dance that employs compositional philosophy, rather than choreography, to guide unchoreographed movement...

 and got her first contact to José Limón

José Limón

José Arcadio Limón was a pioneer in the field of modern dance and choreography. In 1928, at age 20, he moved to New York City where he studied under Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman. In 1946, Limón founded the José Limón Dance Company...

, when she took part in a course of choreography for young dancers. In 1955 Carlos Chávez

Carlos Chávez

Carlos Antonio de Padua Chávez y Ramírez was a Mexican composer, conductor, music theorist, educator, journalist, and founder and director of the Mexican Symphonic Orchestra. He was influenced by native Mexican cultures. Of his six Symphonies, his Symphony No...

 made her primaballerina

Primaballerina

"Primaballerina" is a 1969 song performed by Swedish singer Siw Malmkvist and written by Hans Blum. It was the German entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1969...

 and choreographer of the academy of Mexican dance and he discovered her really talent during the works of "Misa brevis" with the Ballet de Bellas Artes in 1961. Lavalle was director of the Academia de la Danza Mexicana from 1959 to 1969 and for a second time from 1972 to 1978.

Amongst others, Lavalle was awarded with the "José Limón" medal of the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura

Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura

The Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura , located in the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, is the national Mexican institute of fine arts and literature, founded on December 31, 1946...

 in the Palacio de Bellas Artes

Palacio de Bellas Artes

The Palacio de Bellas Artes is the most important cultural center in Mexico City as well as the rest of the country of Mexico...

on January 19, 2008.

Further reading

• Gabriela Jiménez Bernal: Josefina Lavalle (Spanish), Dirreción de Danza UNAM, Mexiko-Stadt.