José De Vega, Jr. (January 4, 1934 - April 8, 1990)

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José De Vega, Jr. (4 January 1934, San Diego, Calif. - 8 April 1990, Westwood, Calif., age 56) was an Actor, dancer and choreographer. He was committed to eliminating ethnic stereotypes from the popular media.

He made his New York debut in 1957 when he landed the role of "Chino" on Broadway in West Side Story; a role he would reprise in the 1961 film version. Subsequently, he performed in several films (Blue Hawaii, The Spiral Road, and A Covenant with Death) and spent four years with the Modern Dance Company of Rome (Danza Contemporania Di Roma).

In 1981, De Vega returned to America and began to choreograph for Great Leap, an Asian-American arts organization based in Santa Monica, Calif., to promote Asian-American recognition in film. (De Vega's father was Filipino and his mother Colombian.) He spent the last nine years of his life with this organization.

De Vega's final film work consisted of choreographing the major dance scene for Karate Kid II (1989). He died of AIDS-related causes.


José De Vega (right). Photo: courtesy Isabel Gorre

Source: http://www.artistswithaids.org/artforms/dance/catalogue/devega.html

Further Readings:

Beyond Shame: Reclaiming the Abandoned History of Radical Gay Sexuality by Patrick Moore
Paperback: 264 pages
Publisher: Beacon Press (January 14, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 080707957X
ISBN-13: 978-0807079577
Amazon: Beyond Shame: Reclaiming the Abandoned History of Radical Gay Sexuality

The radical sexuality of gay American men in the 1970s is often seen as a shameful period of excess that led to the AIDS crisis. Beyond Shame claims that when the gay community divorced itself from this allegedly tainted legacy, the tragic result was an intergenerational disconnect because the original participants were unable to pass on a sense of pride and identity to younger generations. Indeed, one reason for the current rise in HIV, Moore argues, is precisely due to this destructive occurrence, which increased the willingness of younger gay men to engage in unsafe sex.

Lifting the'veil of AIDS,' Moore recasts the gay male sexual culture of the 1970s as both groundbreaking and creative-provocatively comparing extreme sex to art. He presents a powerful yet nuanced snapshot of a maligned, forgotten era. Moore rescues gay America's past, present, and future from a disturbing spiral of destruction and AIDS-related shame, illustrating why it's critical for the gay community to reclaim the decade.

Comments

I knew Jose Dr Vega growing up

[(Anonymous)]

My parents were good friends with the De Vega family and I remember Jose growing up, His parents are my brothers God Parents and I used to stay at their house when growing up, I still remember their house and his family.