Dancer/Choreographer Deborah Zall Passes Away

Dancer/choreographer Deborah Zall, a well known dramatic dancer and choreographer trained at the Martha Graham School passed away of pneumonia on December 11th in New York City.

DEBORAH ZALL's career as an independent solo artist, specializing in dramatic portrayals of women, took her around the world, performing at the Edinburgh Festival, Cannes Festival and Beinnial de la Danse in France, Contempo Tanz in Guatemala, the South Bank Center and The Place in London, and Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in the U.S., to name a few. In addition to her own choreography, her repertory included works created especially for her by Jane Dudley, Anna Sokolow, Stuart Hodes, Igal Perry and Eleo Pomare.

Her unique talents prompted several renowned choreographers to reconstruct solo works for her, including Ruth St. Denis's Incense, Brahms-Liebestraum, Gold Madonna (reconstructed by Jane Sherman), Jane Dudley's The Lonely Ones, Sophie Maslow's The Village I Knew, Anna Sokolow's Kaddish, Ethel Winter's En Dolor, Yuriko's The City, and Proverbs by Jane Dudley, created especially for Deborah and Bertram Ross.

As a choreographer, Zall created works for the Los Angeles Ballet, made possible by a grant from the NEA, the Arkansas Ballet in Little Rock, and the Harkness Dance Players. She restaged Bertram Ross' work Nocturne for the Martha Graham Dance Ensemble and the Ailey/Fordham Dancers, and she assisted Yuriko in restaging Steps in the Street. CBS-TV, PBS, and the BBC in London filmed Ms. Zall's works for telecast, and her Kaddish for Ten Women has been staged and filmed at schools and universities in London.

Considered a master teacher of the Graham technique, Zall taught workshops in the U.S. and internationally, including at London's Middlesex University, Laban Centre and The Place, and in New York at the LaGuardia H.S. Her mentor and great friend, Bertram Ross, gave her the legacy of his work, and she made them available for restaging.

Most recent activities for Ms. Zall included restaging Bertram Ross's Nocturne for the Martha Graham Dance Ensemble and presenting performances of works by Sokolow, Dudley, and Zall.

Her superb company of dancers was composed of all former members of the Martha Graham Dance Company: Nya Bowman, Jennifer Conley, Erica Dankmeyer, Carrie Ellmore-Tallitsch, Sandra Kaufman, Lauren Newman, and Kenneth Topping.

A memorial performance is being planned by Ms. Zall's company members for a date to be announced.