Leo Holder on His Father Geoffrey Holder’s Legacy and the Revival of the Firebird Ballet

With the Met Gala fast approaching, Black style is being explored and examined in a way it never has been before.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s exhibition “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” at the Costume Institute, opens May 10 and will run through October. Guest curated by Monica L. Miller, Barnard College’s chair of African Studies, in partnership with the Costume Institute’s chief curator Andrew Bolton, the exhibition will take a deep dive into the evolution of dandy style and the use of clothing as a form of self-expression. 

Among those who epitomized a dandy was Geoffrey Holder, the legendary dancer, choreographer, actor, composer, designer and artist, a native of Trinidad who was a principal dancer for the Metropolitan Opera Ballet as well as a costume designer. Over the course of his career Holder won two Tony Awards for the original Broadway production of “The Wiz,” including one for Best Costume Design in a Musical.

While Holder went on to be featured in several films, including the James Bond feature “Live and Let Die” as well as “Doctor Doolittle,” “Annie” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” and also served as a pitchman for 7 Up, he never lost his love of dance.

He was instrumental in the success of the Dance Theatre of Harlem by working with its founder, Arthur Mitchell, on productions including “Dougla,” “Bele” and “Firebird.” For “Firebird,” Holder designed both the costumes and set for John Tara’s interpretation of the ballet, bringing a touch of his native Caribbean to the work.

Holder’s costume for the “Firebird,” a magical bird that triumphs over evil, was described as “scantily gorgeous,” while the princesses were portrayed as “harem concubines” rather than graceful, chaste figures, according to a review in 1982.

Now, after a 20-year hiatus, “Firebird” is being revived with Leo Holder, Geoffrey Holder’s son, working with Robert Garland, executive artistic director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem, on the 2026 edition.

“I’m scared to death,” Leo Holder said of being charged with reimagining the costumes made famous by his father, who died at age 84 in 2014. But he stressed: “It’s going to be his statement, not mine.”

Of course, the fabrications are being updated to reflect today’s modern materials, “but that has nothing to do with changing his statement.” The costumes also need to be the same colors — “he was very much a colorist,” Holder said — and they need to be comfortable for the dancers. “But the fact of the matter is, it still has to be him, not me, on that stage.”

Holder said he’s cognizant that “people are going to have to dance in these. Geoffrey knew how to make his costumes dance, but never at the expense of the person wearing the costume. So in reviving this, I have to understand the engineering of the dancer just to make sure everything works.”

Considering the work will be staged by the Dance Theatre of Harlem with its company of Black dancers, Holder also had to take into consideration the different skin tones within the group. “Black people come in all different shades. There are three existing ‘Firebird’ costumes, and each one is just slightly different because the dancers who wore them were different shades. In redoing this, I have to take those elements into consideration.”

Although Leo Holder said he’s taken dance lessons over the years, he never pursued it as a career because there were too many truly talented dancers in his family. But because his father knew instinctively what would work for a dancer, he was able to translate that to his costume design. “It came to him naturally,” he said. “It was the same way with ‘The Wiz’ and any other shows that he did. How do you make a Tin Man dance and still be able to sit and wait for his cues off stage?”

He said because his father was “a painter first, he had the kind of mind and the kind of eye that could turn practically anything into something that it wasn’t originally supposed to be. That’s the way his mind operated, and that’s the painter, that’s the artist.”

Garland said Arthur Mitchell recognized Geoffrey Holder’s “brilliance” and knew his designs would support both the work and the dancers, something his son respects and is working to replicate. It’s a skill Garland knows firsthand since he was the principal dancer for the Dance Theatre of Harlem and has also worked as a choreographer for several ballets around the world during his career.

Not only does he appreciate Geoffrey Holder’s aptitude for costume design, he also pointed out how he was a cheerleader for everyone in the troupe. “He gave us the idea of possibility,” Garland said. “He always said, ‘You know you can do this.’ It was just love all the time. Geoffrey Holder remains one of those people that once you see him, you want to be as close to him as possible.”

But it wasn’t just within the world of ballet that Geoffrey Holder had an influence. He also had an innate love of fashion and wasn’t shy about pushing the envelope.

Leo Holder said his parents attended a number of Met Galas and would have loved to have been part of this year’s festivities when Black style will be showcased.

Although Leo Holder said his father could “absolutely” be considered a dandy, “there was so much more” to his style. “He was very aware of himself as his own artwork. He is a piece of sculpture. He knows what to do with that piece of sculpture. He knows how to hang it. His  motto was: ‘Don’t go anywhere looking for atmosphere, you bring it with you.’”

Holder said his father would wear a lot of white or black but didn’t shy away from more bold hues. “He would wear certain colors to really pop out if he needed to,” he said. “He knew how to dress for whatever occasion.

“In Geoffrey’s case, it wasn’t just him being a dandy, it was also him being a designer. He could design for himself, but he also loved being able to make something out of a ready-made piece and bring out an aspect that didn’t exist before. He worked very fast — his design sense was immediate, and other people took notice any time he would design something for my mother, especially back in the ‘70s and early ‘80s. Every once in a while, somebody like Halston would see something, and the next thing you know, he would see it, not copied, but hinted.”

With his large body of work in the creative field, Leo Holder said his father wore a lot of hats, but in his bones, he always saw himself as an artist. “The commercials were great and the Bond movies were great. They paid the rent when the rent needed to be paid. But he was always a painter first.”

The 2026 revival of “Firebird” will debut the first week of February in Paris before returning to New York City Center in April.