Dance

Pakistani dancer Sheema Kermani. Her performances are rare in Pakistan, and tightly controlled by the government. She practices Indian classical dance, a sensual form of movement that goes against Islamic fundamentalist attitudes toward women and their bodies. Kermani graduated from Croydon College of Art in London and started dancing in Karachi with the Ghanshyan's Dance Troupe. She then went to India to train under several masters of Indian classical dance. She has performed all over the world. She's choreographed two major works.

Garth Fagan is the Tony Award winning choreographer of Broadway The Lion King. He is the founder and artistic director of the critically acclaimed group Garth Fagan Dance. Fagan is a Distinguished University Professor of the State University of New York. He won many awards and fellowships, including a Guggenheim.

Dancer and actress Marge Champion starred in some of the great musicals of the 1950s, including the films Show Boat and Mr. Music, as well as several stage productions and television shows, along with her partner Gower Champion. She acted in some notable films, including The Swimmer (1968). Her career spans many decades and she was most recently in a Broadway revival of Follies. Champion teaches classes at Jacob Pillow Dance Festival.

Dancer/Choreographer Mark Morris. Early in his career, Morris performed with a variety of companies. In 1980, he founded the Mark Morris Dance Group creating over 90 works for the troupe. He has also staged over a dozen commissions for other ballet companies, including the San Francisco Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, and the American Ballet Theatre. From 1988-1991, Morris was Director of Dance for the national opera house of Belgium in Brussels. Morris was named a MacArthur Fellow in 1991, and he is the subject of a biography by Joan Acocella (Farrar, Straus and Giroux).

We remember dancer Gwen Verdon. She died today at the age of 75. She became an overnight Broadway sensation in 1953 as a dancer in Can Can, for which she won her first Tony Award. Later she created her most memorable roles in Bob Fosse's "Damn Yankees" as the seductress Lola, "Sweet Charity" as the taxi dancer Charity, and "Chicago" as the chorus girl Roxie. Verdon was also Fosse's third wife. (ORIGINAL BROADCAST from 5/5/93)

Principal dancer for the Houston Ballet, and the first African-American to be a principal dancer, Lauren Anderson. She began studying at the ballet’s academy at the age of 7, and working with Stevenson at the age of 11 when he was hired by the ballet. Stevenson choreographed “Cleopatra,” for her.

Artistic director for the Houston Ballet, Ben Stevenson. He’s been with the ballet for over 25 years, turning it into a premiere dance company. The New York Times’ dance critic said of Stevenson, (he) “is one of the most original figures in the development of regional ballet in America.” Stevenson’s own choreography for the Houston ballet include the full length works: “Swan Lake,” “Cinderella,” “Peer Gynt,” “Dracula,” and “Cleopatra.” Stevenson is a native of Britain.

Earlier this week, Harold Nicolas, the younger member of the famous tap-dancing duo, The Nicholas Brothers, died in Manhattan. The Nicholas Brothers danced in vaudeville, on Broadway, in night clubs and on TV, but may be best known for their appearances in movie musicals of the 1930s and 40s. We’ll listen back to a 1985 interview with Nicolas.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz has been following the work of choreographer Mark Morris. Today he talks about Morris' career and some of his recent work.

She played the humorless shrink, Lilith, on the television show "Cheers" for which she won two Emmy Awards and has appeared in many films, including "Bugsy," "Malice," and "Jumanji." Now Neuwirth is starring in the hit broadway musical "Chicago" a comedy set in the Roaring Twenties. She won a Tony award for her performance as Nickie in "Sweet Charity."