Allegra Kent Allegra Kent Allegra Kent (born August 11, 1937) is an American ballet dancer, actress, children's book author and columnist. Iris Margo Cohen was born to Jewish parents, Harry Herschel and Shirley (née Weissman) Cohen, and later changed her name to Allegra Kent. Kent grew up in what she later described as a dysfunctional environment. In "Once a Dancer: An Autobiography", she describes her Texan father – "who liked to substitute 'Cowboy' for Herschel" – as having "a gambler's soul and a restless nature". She describes her Wisznice-born immigrant mother as feeling "neither European nor American; she was ashamed of her
Allegra Fuller Snyder She goes on to state that "This field of investigation has been the major focus of my life and work for the last thirty-plus years." Snyder also directed several documentaries on dance practices around the world Allegra Fuller Snyder Allegra Fuller Snyder is a dance ethnologist (ethnochoreologist), choreographer, professor and author specializing on dance and culture. Her research focuses on dances among Native American tribes particularly the Yaqui, and on dance among several ethnic groups in Africa and Asia. She is Professor Emerita of dance ethnology from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). Snyder is the daughter of