About
Dancer, choreographer, actress, and activist for Afro-Puerto Ricans who is remembered for becoming the first and only director of the office of Afro-Puerto Rican affairs at the Puerto Rican Institute of Culture. She was a performer by nature and was involved in American productions of Valley Without Echo, Witches of Salem, The Boyfriend, The Crucible, and Kwamina, in addition to many African and Afro-Puerto Rican folkloric dancing performances.
Before Fame
She began dancing at a young age, always entertaining her family members. She initially went to study sociology and anthropology at Fisk University in Tennessee. Due to the anti-black discrimination she faced while in Tenessee, she returned to finish school at the University of Puerto Rico. Her education then continued at City College of New York where she became a member of the song and ballet group called the "Africa House".
Trivia
She took dance and voice lessons at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. She died in 1990 as a result of lung cancer.
Family Life
Her parents were Agustin and Marcoline Del Villard, and she traced her family's African roots back to the Yoruba people of Nigeria. She grew up in Puerto Rico.
Associated With
At the Roberto Clemente Center in New York City, there is a Spanish day treatment program in her name.
