Artistic director of the Santander Ballet in Colombia, faculty at Virginia Commonwealth University’s department of dance and choreography, and founder of the Latin Ballet of Virginia in Richmond in 1997, a professional dance company whose performances are rooted in Latin American traditions.
Cyd Charisse is one of Hollywood’s greatest dancers best known for two acclaimed dance sequences, the “Broadway Melody Ballet” from the movie Singin’ in the Rain with Gene Kelly and the “Girl Hunt Ballet” from The Band Wagon.
Though ice skating has been around for centuries, it only came into its current form and fashion in the mid-19th century and was still taking shape as a professional and competitive sport when Charlotte Oelschlägel took up the activity.
Native American activist and dancer
Australian architect, dancer and choreographer
Anne Douglas (later Doucet) was one of the original dancers in the Denishawn modern dance company in the 1920s, leaving home at 17 to tour with them for 10 years before establishing a dance training studio in southern California with her sister.
Teacher, performer, preserver, and cultural ambassador of Bon Odori, a centuries-old Japanese folk dance rooted in the Buddhist tradition of communal gathering to honor and celebrate the memory of ancestors.
Her first two plays, Asiamnesia and How to be A Korean Woman tackle emotional and physical dislocation, loss, and grief with both humor and a great deal of heart. Chomet also investigates and obliterates stereotypes of the monolithic Asian woman, all the while creating more opportunities for Asian actors to work on stage even as audiences gain a deeper understanding of the complexities and multiplicities of Asian identity.
Tina Ramirez combined her artistic vision with years of performance and teaching experience to create and sustain the nation’s preeminent Hispanic-American dance company and school, Ballet Hispanico.
Twyla Tharp is one of America’s most important contemporary dance choreographers.