Lorna Burdsall
{{Short description|American dancer and choreographer (1928-2010)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Lorna Burdsall
| birth_name =
| birth_date = 1928
| birth_place = Preston, Connecticut
| death_date = 2010 (Age 81)
| spouse = Manuel Piñeiro (1955 - 1975)
| children = 1
| known_for = Dance and choreography
| movement = Modern dance
}}
Lorna Burdsall (1928 - 2010) was an American dancer and choreographer who was a founding member and director of the Danza Contemporanea de Cuba.
From 1955 to 1975, she was married to Cuban intelligence official Manuel Piñeiro.
Following her divorce from Piñeiro, Burdsall became the National Director of Dance and Modern Dance in Cuba, and was an advisor on modern dance to Cuba's Minister of Culture.
Biography
Lorna Burdsall was born in 1928, in Preston, Connecticut. She was interested in dance as a child, and as a young adult she studied at the American Dance Festival in New London, Connecticut, training with dancers such as Martha Graham and José Limón, whom she drew influence from later in life.{{cite web |last1=Dorsey |first1=Kristina |title=Revisiting the legacy of dancer-choreographer Lorna Burdsall |url=https://www.theday.com/article/20150818/ENT10/150819334 |website=The Day |access-date=23 April 2022 |date=18 August 2015}} After attaining a master's degree in psychology but being unable to find work in the field, Burdsall began teaching dance at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. This was short lived, however, and she quit after being unable to take her students to perform at a Black high school.{{cite web |last1=Rubinsky |first1=Jane |title=Lorna Burdsall: Dancing From Connecticut to Cuba |url=http://journal.juilliard.edu/journal/lorna-burdsall-dancing-connecticut-cuba |website=The Juilliard School |access-date=22 April 2022 |language=en |date=6 March 2009}}
In 1953, while studying dance at the Juilliard School in New York City,{{cite web |last1=Willens |first1=Michele |title=DANCE; The Heart Was Their Guide, in Love and the Arts |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/11/movies/dance-the-heart-was-their-guide-in-love-and-the-arts.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=22 April 2022 |date=11 June 2000}} Burdsall met Manuel Piñeiro, the son of a Cuban alcohol distributor who was studying business administration at Columbia University.{{cite web |last1=Gámez Torres |first1=Nora |title=Newly found letters offer glimpse into life of US dancer married to Cuban spy chief |url=https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article136735808.html |website=Miami Herald |date=6 March 2017 |access-date=22 April 2022}} She married Piñeiro in 1955, one year after graduating from Juilliard.{{cite web |last1=Tsioulcas |first1=Anastasia |title=Stranger Than Fiction: Cuba, Spies, Bombs And Dance |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/03/18/469634824/dance-dance-revolution-when-an-american-fell-in-love-with-castros-spy-chief |website=NPR.org |access-date=22 April 2022 |language=en}}
=Marriage to Manuel Piñeiro=
After marrying Piñiero in 1955, Burdsall moved with him to Cuba. At first, she was not fully aware of his involvement with the Cuban Revolution, but eventually she began to help her husband and his fellow revolutionaries. While pregnant with their child, she hid guns and ammunition in their Havana apartment, most of which were sent to arm guerrillas training with her husband in the Sierra Maestra mountains. After the Revolution, her husband was appointed the deputy Minister of the Interior of Cuba, then helmed a top intelligence position within the country.
Burdsall divorced Manuel Piñeiro in 1975.{{cite web |last1=Dodds |first1=Paisley |title=American Expatriates Cling to Cuba's Socialist Ideals |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-may-19-ad-cuba19-story.html |website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=22 April 2022 |date=19 May 2002}}
Career
Burdsall was a founding member of the Conjunto Nacional de Danza Moderna, now the Danza Contemporanea de Cuba. Burdsall blended Afro-Cuban elements with North American and European modern dance training. She performed there for 15 years, later becoming director of the company. In 1977, Burdsall became the National Director of Dance and Modern Dance, and was an advisor on modern dance to Cuba's Minister of Culture. After leaving the Danza Contemporanea de Cuba, Burdsall founded Así Somos, an experimental modern dance company based in performance art. The company performed out of her own apartment in Havana, where she had taken down walls to make more space for the dancers.
Lorna Burdsall died in Havana, in 2010.
Awards and honours
- Award for Distinction for Natural Culture of Cuba (1982){{cite web |title=Burdsall, Lorna, 1928-2010 - Archival Collections |url=https://atom.library.miami.edu/burdsall-lorna-1928-2010 |website=University of Miami Cuban Heritage Collection |publisher=University of Miami |access-date=24 April 2022}}
- Medal for 25 Years of Artistic Movement (1985)
- Cuban National Dance Prize (2008)
Legacy
Since Burdsall's death in 2010, the Performing Arts branch of the Union of Writers and Artists in Cuba (UNEAC) has awarded the Premio de Danza Lorna Burdsall, a yearly award which recognizes lifetime achievement in dance. It is the highest honor that the UNEAC awards.{{cite web |last1=Hernandez Torres |first1=Saylin |title=Entregó la UNEAC Premio de Danza Lorna Burdsall |url=http://www.acn.cu/cultura/44402-entrego-la-uneac-premio-de-danza-lorna-burdsall |website=ACN |access-date=23 April 2022 |language=es-es}}
References
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Category:American emigrants to Cuba