![]() ![]() He didn’t know exactly what he was going to do in the studio, he told me, but he would find out once he was there. As we spoke, he gathered his things together in a dance bag and prepared to go. Now it was his turn to surprise me he was going to a rehearsal. I was a huge eight months pregnant, and I had hoped that the surprise of seeing me so transformed would make him smile. I saw him first from the back - standing, of course - amidst the hub of people in the lobby. There was a tag sale going on in the vestibule, so I bought him a plant and tried to find his room. Shortly after his leg was amputated, I went to visit Homer in the hospital across from the rose garden on Fifth Avenue. I am so grateful that I had that moment of goodbye with one of the most graceful warriors I’ve ever known.Ī spiritual journey, and a comical bus ride down Fifth Avenue He smiled and said yes, and then put his arms around me, looked me in the eyes, and said “I’ll see you later.” I realize now that he knew exactly what he was saying to me. “Will you e-mail me when you get there?” I asked. “I’m going to be going away for a while - I’ve got some things to work on for myself.” One of my companions that night thought he meant travelling to the Midwest or someplace to initiate some new project. Afterwards he seemed like he had something to tell me. On this past Saturday night, I went to Donna Uchizono’s show at Dance Theater Workshop, and Homer was sitting on my left. One friend joked that if you could always find David Dorfman in the audience of just about any dance concert in New York, you could also simultaneously find Homer sitting both on his right and his left. He loved dance so much, and supported so many artists by endlessly going to and witnessing their work. He stunned me with his lack of self-pity, his resilience and determination, and always, his willingness to share whatever he could of his own strength with me. I remember first hearing about his impending leg amputation, falling into his arms sobbing wildly and desperately for him. From that very first meeting in Gerri Houlihan’s class at the Boston Ballet, he was unfailingly gracious and personable, eager to share himself and his love of dance with me every time I saw him. I met Homer for the first time around 1987 in Boston. “I’m going to be going away for a while.” The following tributes from the Dance Insider Archives were first published April 30, May 3, and May 17, 2004.) ![]() Despite losing a leg to the disease, he continued to dance and to live practically until the end. (Editor’s Note: Our friend, colleague, and hero the dancer and choreographer Homer Avila passed away 13 years ago this month in New York City, from cancer. Homer Avila remembered by Fiona Marcotty, Suki John, Aimee Ts’ao, Barbara Chan, David Finkelstein, Paula Jeanine, Judith Smith, Mary Verdi-Fletcher, Bill Bragin, Dana Caspersen, David White, Charlene Van Fleet, John Avila, Theresa Sareo, Cherlyn Smith, and Paul Ben-Itzak, with original art by Robin Hoffman. Dance Insider Illustration by and copyright Robin Hoffman. ![]()
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