Active Years: 1926-today
Position: American dancer in shows and films.
Career Highlights: Among Verdon’s most renowned performances are her starring roles in Michael Kidd’s Can Can in 1953 and two years later in Damn Yankees, in which she played the fun and cantankerous Lola. She caught the attention of many with dancing in Sweet Charity and Chicago [...]

Active Years: 1918-1998
Position: American dancer and choreographer for ballet and the theater.
Career Highlights: Robbins’ street-smart choreography in the Broadway hit West Side Story is one of his most enduring works. Three years after its opening, Robbins choreographed “Cool,” “Jets,” and “America” for the film version. He won two Academy Awards for choreography and directing. West [...]

Active Years: 1946-today
Position: American dancer, primarily in theater and television.
Career Highlights: McKechnie’s name is associated with the original production of A Chorus Line, in which she created the role of Cassie and for which she won a Tony award.
Career Totals: McKechnie was first seen on Broadway in the chorus of the 1961 play How to [...]

Active Years: 1934-today
Position: American dancer and actress for the big screen, television and theater. Best-selling author.
Career Highlights: MacLaine’s dancing in the 1954 The Pajama Game is remembered by many. In recent times, she is probably best known for her film roles, including Postcards from the Edge and Steel Magnolias.She won an Oscar for her starring [...]

Active Years: 1944-
Position: American dancer; director/choreographer of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
Career Highlights: Dedicating the piece to black women everywhere, Ailey created the solo Cry for Jamison. Her name has now become synonymous with the work.
Career Totals: Jamison was a star dancer in the Ailey company for fifteen years. She has also performed [...]

Active Years: 1894-1991
Position: American dancer and choreographer, founder of  modern dance
Career Highlights: The 1940s were Graham’s most productive years. She created Letter to the World(1940), based on the life of Emily Dickinson, Deaths and Entrances (1943), Dark Meadow (1946), and Cave of the Heart(1946). She is best known for Appalachian Spring, created in 1944, which [...]

Active Years: 1878-1927
Position: American dancer and choreographer.
Career Highlights: Duncan’s first major piece and the one which laid out many of the principles she would espouse during the rest of her career was called The Dance of the Future. The dance-lecture piece won wide popularity and launched her career.
Career Totals: One of Duncan’s first ballets was [...]

Active Years: 1919 -
Position: American dancer and choreographer
Career Highlights: As a virtuoso dancer in the Martha Graham Dance Company, Cunningham created the roles of March in Letter to the World and the Revivalist in Appalachian Spring. Now, after more than fifty years as a choreographer, he is hailed as the father of postmodern dance.
Career Totals: [...]

Active years: 1921-1980
Position: American dancer and choreographer for shows and television.
Career Highlights: Champion received eight Tony awards during his career. He is best known for the astounding list of Broadway shows that he created: Bye Bye Birdie(1960), Carnival (1961), Hello Dolly(1964) and 42nd Street (1980).
Career Totals: Champion danced in a team with Jeanne Tyler, who [...]

Active Years: 1950-today
Position: American dancer and choreographer in film and theater and television producer.
Career Highlights: Allen’s role as Anita in the 1980s revival of West Side Story (a part that Chita Rivera had played earlier) won her significant public attention and her first of two Tony’s (the second was for the 1986 Sweet Charity). She [...]