CARMEN and GEOFFREY, an intimate documentary which was awarded Best Film at ttff/09, follows the astonishing five-decade marriage and careers of two legends of the stage: Carmen de Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder. Carmen, a dynamic dancer and choreographer from California, moved to New York with Alvin Ailey and began a legacy of modern dance in America. Geoffrey, a Trinidad-born choreographer, was also a set and costume designer, painter, actor (see Annie, Live and Let Die etc.) and man about town with productions such as The Wiz.
Directed by Linda Atkinson and Nick Doob, the film is packed with archival material depicting the artists at work, including clips from the 1950s and 1960s. The film stands as evidence that Carmen and Geoffrey’s greatest accomplishment was their balance of passion – for their art and for each other. “Carmen & Geoffrey” features interviews and performance footage of friends and colleagues: dancers Judith Jamison, Gus Solomons, Jr., Dudley Williams, Ulysses Dove and Alvin Ailey.