A dance great left mark on Eugene.

Byline: COMMENTARY By Jenifer Craig For The Register-Guard

Bella Lewitzky, known internationally as the doyenne of West Coast modern dance, died July 16 in Pasadena, Calif., at the age of 88.

The pre-eminent performer, choreographer, artistic director and educator, defied conventional wisdom to maintain a lifelong base outside of New York.

She appeared several times in Oregon, most often in Eugene where I first met her as an undergraduate dance student at the University of Oregon. I studied with her here, worked in public relations for her in Los Angeles, and later, after I joined the UO dance faculty, it was my honor to initiate and host her residencies in Eugene during the 1990s.

Lewitzky also had two highly publicized encounters with the federal government, risking professional ostracism to stand upon principle. She was subpoenaed to appear before the House UnAmerican Activities Committee in 1951, and her FBI file reveals that she was under surveillance until 1960. In 1991 she won a lawsuit against director John Frohnmayer and the National Endowment of the Arts for what she considered to be censorship of the arts.

Ironically, Lewitzky was simultaneously lauded with many international tours, often sponsored by the United States Information Service. The Lewitzky Dance Company performed in 43 states and 19 countries.

Lewitzky first taught a summer session at the University of Oregon in 1970, where she shared a solo from Kinaesonata. Walter Terry praised it in Saturday Review, declaring Lewitzky `a major choreographer. She is a great dancer. She is a superb teacher. She is, indeed, a dance force that must, in the future be experienced from coast to coast.'

In 1971, the Lewitzky Dance Company was selected for the Interdisciplinary Model Program in the Arts for Children and Teachers, the artists-in-schools program funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. Eugene was one of only five school districts in the nation selected for IMPACT.

Lewitzky spent two months at Edgewood Elementary School, where staff coordinator Gwen Curran wrote, `There was someone dancing in the gymnasium all the time! With the arrival of the Lewitzky Company, there was even dancing in the halls and classrooms and cafeteria!''

In 1991, The Lewitzky Dance Company performed at the Hult Center for the first time. Lewitzky was asked to talk about her recently won lawsuit which she said was `not so much an attack upon the NEA, but rather a defense of the NEA as it was originally conceived by Congress. Art will describe our civilization and outlast our wars. ... Art is creativity - without creation there is no progress, no vision - yes, you and I need it and certainly a wise government needs it.'

The Lewitzky Dance Company was the first dance company invited to perform at the Oregon Bach Festival in 1994. In 1997, Eugene was one of the last three stops in the company's farewell year, and Lewitzky addressed the Eugene City Club.

Lewitzky's work is alive in our community through UO assistant professor Walter Kennedy, soloist with the company for 20 years, and her only rehearsal director. `For Bella, choreography was a highly admirable aspiration and her honesty was the greatest gift," Kennedy said. "She has indelibly influenced my life, my teaching, and my art making.'

Jenifer Craig is associate professor and chairwoman of the dance department at the University of Oregon.