Sylvia del Villard (February 28, 1928 – February 28, 1990), was an

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

, dancer, choreographer and Afro-Puerto Rican activist.

Early years

Del Villard was born in Santurce, a section of

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the juri ...

. As a young child, Del Villard would entertain her parents, Agustin and Marcoline Del Villard, with her dances. Her family considered her very talented and she was also a good student at school. She received her primary and secondary education in Santurce and when she graduated from high school the government of Puerto Rico awarded her with a scholarship to attend college.Puerto Rican Popular Culture
/ref> Del Villard studied

Sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

and

Anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

at Fisk University in

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. However, Del Villard had to deal with the anti-black discrimination which was rampant in the southern regions of the United States at that time. She returned to Puerto Rico and enrolled in the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...

where she earned her degree.Black History Month Heroes
/ref> Upon graduating, Del Villard traveled to New York City and enrolled in the City College of New York. It was during this period that she was to develop a passion and love for Africa. She joined the song and ballet group called the "Africa House". She was also able to trace her African roots to the

Yoruba people The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitut ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. Del Villard took dance and voice lessons with Leo Braun at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...

.N.Y. Encyclopedia of Famous Puerto Ricans
/ref>

Acting career

Among the theater productions in which Del Villard has participated in Puerto Rico and abroad are: ''La Muerte'' (Death), ''La Tempestad'' (The Storm) and ''Let My People Go''. She danced as a ballerina in the following American productions: ''Valley Without Echo'', ''Witches of Salem'', ''The Boyfriend'', ''The Crucible'' and ''Kwamina''. In Puerto Rico she joined the Afro-Boricua Ballet. With the ballet she participated in the following Afro-Puerto Rican productions, ''Palesiana y Aquelarre'' and ''Palesianisima''. In 1968, she founded the Afro-Boricua El Coqui Theater, which was recognized by the Panamerican Association of the New World Festival as the most important authority of Black Puerto Rican culture. The Theater group were given a contract which permitted them to present their act in other countries and in various universities in the United States. Del Villard's favorite poet was Luis Palés Matos. In 1970, she established a theater/school in San Juan and named it after him. However, it wasn't long before she closed the theater because of the continuous complaints she received from her neighbors. Although many, including herself, felt the complaints were politically motivated and marked the beginning of a voluntary exile that eventually brought her to Hollywood, California.

Director of the office of the Afro-Puerto Rican affairs

She moved back to New York where she founded a new theater group which she named Sininke. She made many presentations in the

Museum of Natural History A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more ...

in that city. In 1981, she became the first and only director of the office of the Afro-Puerto Rican affairs of the Puerto Rican Institute of Culture. She was known to be an outspoken activist who fought for the equal rights of the Black Puerto Rican artist.

Later years

In 1989 in California, Del Villard was diagnosed with

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

and returned to the island to receive treatment for her condition. Sylvia del Villard died on February 28, 1990 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Legacy

In 1993,

Banco Popular de Puerto Rico Popular, Inc., doing business as Banco Popular in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and as Popular Bank in the mainland United States, is a financial services conglomerate that has operated in Puerto Rico for over 125 years and in the mainland ...

produced a musical with the participation of many noted artists titled ''Ocho Puertas: Un Especial para la historia'' (Eight Doors: A Historical Special), which paid tribute to Del Villard among other artists. In the East Village of New York City, there is the Sylvia Del Villard Program of the

Roberto Clemente Roberto Enrique Clemente Walker (; August 18, 1934 – December 31, 1972) was a Puerto Rican professional baseball right fielder who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates. After his early death, he was pos ...

Center, a Spanish day treatment program named after her. In

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, there is a Sylvia Del Villard Hall at the

Segundo Ruiz Belvis Segundo Ruiz Belvis (13 May 1829 – 3 November 1867) was a Puerto Rican abolitionist who also fought for Puerto Rico's right to independence. Early years Ruiz Belvis was born in Hormigueros, Puerto Rico (then a barrio of the municipality ...

Cultural Center.A Continuing Day Treatment Program The Sylvia Del Villard Program
/ref>

Early years

Acting career

Director of the office of the Afro-Puerto Rican affairs

Later years

Legacy

See also

References

External links