Lola Mae Jones Coates

Lola Mae Jones Coates (born December 31, 1927; died May 8, 2012) was a dancer, dance teacher, choreographer and co-founder of the Birmingham Civic Ballet.

Lola Mae was the daughter of Frederick Sheppard and Lola Mae Wood Jones. She graduated from Phillips High School and from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, where she studied drama. After graduating, she worked in New York City, establishing herself as a choreographer for off-Broadway productions. She returned to Birmingham to teach alongside her mother at the Lola Mae Jones School of Dance (later renamed the Steeple Arts Academy of Dance).

Coates also became active in the Town and Gown Theater as a performer, choreographer and producer. She helped found the Birmingham Civic Ballet as well as the Steeple Arts Ballet Company and choreographed several original ballets, including "Legend of the Valley". She won five Birmingham Festival of Arts awards fro her choreography and was enlisted to choreograph performances for the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Coates was married to Lester Coates, Jr of Mountain Brook and had three daughters.

References

• "Lola Mae Jones Coates" obituary (May 9, 2012) Birmingham News