Follow LA Observed on Twitter here
The dance pioneer suffered a stroke Tuesday and died in a Pasadena nursing facility yesterday. Born here, she formed her famous dance company in 1966. Her presence in the Los Angeles arts scene was felt for 60 years, as the Times obituary by Lewis Segal details.
Lewitzky served as vice chairwoman of the National Endowment for the Arts dance panel and was an appointee to the California Arts Council. In 1984, she produced the unusually diverse and groundbreaking dance component of the 10-week Olympic Arts Festival in Los Angeles...To her dancers and supporters, Lewitzky was "an extraordinary and rare role model, a powerful woman who was every bit as strong as the men in society," said Loretta Livingston, one of the most prominent Lewitzky company members and an acclaimed director of her own locally based ensemble.
Called before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1951 to say who in the art world might be a communist, Lewitzky repled: "I'm a dancer, not a singer."