Gay Delanghe, professor of dance in the School of Music, Theatre & Dance, died in Ann Arbor Aug. 1 after a long illness. She was 65.
Delanghe joined the faculty in 1972 and retired in 2001 after serving as chair of the dance department since 1995. Known to friends and fellow dancers as “Legs Delanghe,” the department dedicated its 2005-06 season to her. In 2004 the Michigan Dance Council awarded the dancer and educator its Lifetime Achievement Award.
A graduate of Detroit’s Cass Technical High School, Delanghe earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from U-M, taught for a while in the Detroit Public Schools and then moved to New York City, where she became principal dancer with choreographers Yvonne Rainer and Lucas Hoving. In addition to performing with companies there, she presented her own works and taught at Barnard College. She also taught at the American Dance Festival in New London, Conn., and at the University of Quebec and the Centre Formation Professional de Danse in Poitiers, France.
During her years in Ann Arbor Delanghe choreographed local programs and performances, with many of her works becoming the core of Ann Arbor Dance Works, U-M’s professional company. For more than four decades she was central to the development of modern dance in Michigan.
Delanghe also shared her expertise with students at the Interlochen Center for the Arts during the 1970’s, training hundreds of young dancers and serving as chair of the modern dance program from 1979-1999.
A chocolate potluck to celebrate Delanghe’s life and work will be held 1:30-4:30 p.m. Sept. 10 at the Betty Pease Studio Theater, directly behind the Central Campus Recreational Facility. For information on this event,
e-mail Sara Grosky, [email protected].
Contributions may be made to the Delanghe Endowment Fund, U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance.
