Bella Lewitzky

Dancer, choreographer, educator, caring humanitarian and champion of freedom of expression, Lewitzky was a life-long resident of Southern California. Born while her parents were members of the socialist Llano Del Rio Colony in 1916, Lewitzky became the star of the Lester Horton Dance Group, the first American inter-racial dance company, based in Los Angeles in the 1930's and 40's where she was the primary developer of the Horton technique. Her students included Alvin Ailey and Carmen De Lavallade who went on to create the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre in New York.

In the 1950's Lewitzky was a target for the House un-American Activities Committee where she refused to testify against fellow artists.

In 1951, she was subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee to answer questions about possible communist activities in the arts. "I'm a dancer, not a singer," she replied.

In 1966 she founded the Lewitzky Dance Company and was appointed Dean of Dance at the California Institute of the Arts. Her company performed and toured internationally for the next thirty years.

In 1990, when she crossed out the anti-obscenity clause on the acceptance form of a $72,000 NEA grant she sued NEA-chairman John E. Frohnmayer to have the grant reinstated. She won the suit.

In 1991, she successfully sued the National Endowment for the Arts over the anti-obscenity clause in grant contracts, arguing that artists ought to have the right to produce work that may be viewed by some as obscene.

She was awarded the American National Medal of the Arts in 1996 by the National Endowment of the Arts in Washington D.C.