Michael Kidd

@Choreographers, Life Achievements and Childhood ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Michael Kidd was an American choreographer famous for his “integrated musical” technique American Dancers Ballet Dancers Choreographers Leo Celebrities Michael Kidd was an award winning American choreographer who over his long and productive career spanning decades revolutionized choreography on the American stage and cinema. A talented choreographer who reached the pinnacle of his glory with the dance numbers in ‘Seven Brides for Seven Brothers’, he was best known for his energetic and exuberant productions that enthused the audiences and made them want to groove along. At the peak of his career during the 1940s and 1950s, he is credited to have staged some of the leading Broadway productions and film musicals of that time. An intuitive dancer to whom choreography came naturally, he developed the technique of “integrated musical’ in which dance movements are integral to the plot. One characteristic of his which distinguished him from other choreographers was that his dancing was based mostly on real life, using the gestures people normally perform in their day-to-day lives. This quality made him extremely popular as even people without technical knowledge of dance moves could connect with his performances. He won several awards for his productions and became the first choreographer to win five Tony Awards. He was also awarded an honorary Academy Award in recognition of his services to the art of dance.

Personal Details

Birthday: August 12, 1915 Died on: December 23, 2007 Nationality: American Famous: Dancers, Ballet Dancers, Choreographers Spouses: Mary Heater (m.1945), Shelah Hackett (1969–2007) Birth Place: New York City Gender: Male Information Detail Birthday August 12, 1915 Died on December 23, 2007 Nationality American Famous Dancers, Ballet Dancers, Choreographers Spouses Mary Heater (m.1945), Shelah Hackett (1969–2007) Birth Place New York City Gender Male Father Abraham Greenwald Mother Lillian Sun Sign Leo Born in New York City Famous as Choreographer, Ballet Dancer Died at Age 92

New York City

Michael Kidd born at Unsplash Birth Place

He married dancer Mary Heater in 1945. The couple had two daughters and eventually divorced. Unsplash Personal Life

He tied the knot for the second time in 1969, with Shelah Hackett; his second wife bore him a son and a daughter. The couple remained married for life. Unsplash Personal Life

He lived a long and productive life. He became sick with cancer during his last years and died on December 23, 2007 at the age of 92. Unsplash Personal Life

He was born on August 12, 1915, in New York City, to Abraham Greenwald and his wife Lillian. His father worked as a barber, and both he and Lillian were refugees from Czarist Russia. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

His family moved to Brooklyn where he attended New Utrecht High School. He developed an interest in dance and studied under Blanche Evan, a dancer and choreographer. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

Eventually he decided to study engineering and enrolled at the City College in New York to study chemical engineering. However, he was granted a scholarship to the School of American Ballet and left the City College to pursue his dream. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

He joined the corps de ballet of Lincoln Kirstein’s Ballet Caravan and toured the country, performing in many roles including the lead in ‘Billy the Kid’ which was choreographed by Eugene Loring. Unsplash Career

In 1942, he adopted the name “Michael Kidd” when he was performing for Ballet Theater (now called American Ballet Theater). The company gave him the chance to create his own ballet, ‘On Stage’ in 1945. Unsplash Career

’On Stage’ was very well received and Kidd was hailed as one of the great hopes of postwar American ballet. However, Kidd soon lost interest in ballet and left the company. Unsplash Career

He started performing for Broadway in 1947. His first choreography on Broadway was for ‘Finian Rainbow’, a musical that explored racial prejudice. It was much acclaimed though he failed to repeat this success with his next musicals. Unsplash Career

In 1950, he choreographer Frank Loesser’s ‘Guys and Dolls’ which became a hit and earned him a Tony Award. With highly popular numbers like ‘Adelaide’, the musical became one of theater’s greatest musicals. Unsplash Career

Kidd was the first choreographer to win five Tony Awards, the first of which he received for the lyrical musical ‘Finian's Rainbow’. He received a total of nine Tony Award nominations over the course of his career. Unsplash Awards & Achievements

In 1997, he was awarded an honorary Academy Award "in recognition of his services to the art of dance in the art of the screen". Unsplash Awards & Achievements

Information	Detail
Birthday	August 12, 1915
Died on	December 23, 2007
Nationality	American
Famous	Dancers, Ballet Dancers, Choreographers
Spouses	Mary Heater (m.1945), Shelah Hackett (1969–2007)
Birth Place	New York City
Gender	Male
Father	Abraham Greenwald
Mother	Lillian
Sun Sign	Leo
Born in	New York City
Famous as	Choreographer, Ballet Dancer
Died at Age	92

Michael Kidd

American

Aug 12, 1915

Biography

Personal Details

New York City