Born To Dance

I saw her on Broadway several times, at least 3 time in the musical- Chicago alone, & she is a long time favorite of mine. Gwenyth Evelyn Verdon was one of Broadway's biggest stars of the Golden Era & beyond. She was an actress & dancer who won 4 Tony awards. With flaming red hair & an endearing quaver in her voice, Gwen Verdon was a critically acclaimed dancer & occasionally an actor in films in the 1950s,1960s & 1970s... & into the 1980s with terrific work in the films Cocoon & Marvin's Room.




Verdon is strongly associated with the work of her husband, director/choreographer Bob Fosse. She was his primary dancer/collaborator & muse for whom he choreographed much of his work. She was the guardian of his legacy after his death. Because of his extramarital affairs, in 1971 Verdon filed a legal separation from Fosse, but never divorced him. She held him in her arms as he suffered a fatal heart attack on the sidewalk outside the theatre where  his musical- Sweet Charity was being revived.

Verdon & her daughter with Fosse- Nicole collaborated to create the Broadway show- Fosse. She continued to teach dance & musical theatre until 1999. Best known for her verve, vim & vivacity. On the day she died in 2000, the lights on Broadway were dimmed in honor of the passing of one of its brightest stars. Gwen Verdon would have been 84 years old today.

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I caught Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake on PBS a few years ago & I was blown away. His production turned tradition upside down & took both the theater & dance worlds by storm when it arrived on Broadway in 1998. Swan Lake to the unlikely step of playing Broadway, instead of a concert hall or opera house. It went on to win 3 Tony Awards. Acclaimed as a landmark achievement on the international stage, it has become the longest running ballet in London’s West End & on Broadway. I was revived this season on Broadway, & has had hugely successful tours in Britain.



Bourne was the Artistic Director of his first company- Adventures in Motion Pictures (1987-2002). His new company is named- New Adventures.

His best know productions include Nutcracker!, Swan Lake, The Car Man ( A modern dance version of the opera- Carmen) & Play Without Words. Bourne is a Resident Artist at Sadlers Wells Theatre & has created the choreography & direction for several major revivals of classic musicals: Oliver!, My Fair Lady, South Pacific & the hit West End & Broadway musical Mary Poppins for which he won an Olivier Award & A Tony. His production of Swan Lake is featured in Stephen Daldry’s film- Billy Elliot.

Bourne started training to be a dancer at the rather late age of 22 .He's grateful he came to it late: "If I hadn't had my experience of all those things, I don't think my work now would connect with a much wider audience than the dance world. If I'd started young as a choreographer, as a dancer, the subject of my work would be movement, much more choreography as such, because I wouldn't have all those other influences".

He danced professionally for 14 years creating many roles in his own work. In 1999 he gave his final performance playing The Private Secretary in the Broadway production of Swan Lake. His other ballets include Edward Scissorhands & Dorian Gray. I am a bit smitten. I had a lover who was a professional dancer. He was very flexable. Bourne turns 51 today.