1. Michael Kidd

2.       Kidd was born August 12, 1915,  his parents were refugees from Czarist Russia.  He was born as Milton Greenwald in Manhattan, New York.  He moved to Brooklyn, attended New Urecht High School, and studied ballet under Blanche Evan.  He went on to study chemical engineering at City College.  However, he was granted a scholarship to the School of American Ballet and left the City College to pursue his dream.  From 1942 to 1947 he was a soloist with Ballet Theater (now called American Ballet Theater) and in 1945, the company gave him the opportunity to create his own ballet, “On Stage!”.  He married dancer Mary Heater in 1945, had two daughters, and later divorced.  He again married in 1969, this time to Shelah Hackett, they had one son and one daughter, and remained married for life.  At age 92 he died of cancer on December 23, 2007.

4. Inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1981
Received an honorary Academy Award in 1997 "in recognition of his services to the art of dance in the art of the screen"

5.       His style of choreography incorporates everyday gestures with dynamic moves, emphasizing and differentiating characters through dance.  Most if not all gestures are integral to the plot. 
      According to The New York Times, Anna 
Kisselgoff, the former chief dance critic of said Times, wrote that Mr. Kidd’s signature was “characterization through energy, epitomized by a lovesick male clan 
going courting with an acrobatic challenge dance” in “Seven Brides.”
This video is a great display of Kidd's ability to make a dance out of practically any activity, like courtship, woodcutting, or arm wrestling, for example.

6. A few entertaining truths
In the film The Band Wagon (music and lyrics by Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz), Kidd was hired to stage the film's dances at Astaire's request, because he was nervous about the ballet. Kidd said that he made Astaire comfortable by pretending that he was just making up the steps spontaneously.
Nanette Fabray, a performer in Love Life (choreographed by Michael Kidd), could only make dancing turns to the left side because of a hearing problem.  Instead of urging Fabray to turn right regardless, as other choreographers have, Kidd was intrigued by this and had every other dancer turn to the left as well.
The "Burlington Bertie From Bow" number from Star! was physically demanding, as recalled by Julie Andrews, and she was stunned when Kidd wanted a retake, saying she had a bad back. Andrews recalled that "he looked crestfallen. Then he said, 'I wasn't trying to be mean. I just knew that when you saw it on film, you wouldn't be pleased.' I always thought that was a nice way to say, 'Once more.'"
An obituary on Dec about the choreographer Michael Kidd misstated his given name at birth and his birthplace as Michael Greenwald, and Brooklyn.

7. (sources.)
bluh, bluh. “Michael Kidd.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Apr. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Kidd#Awards.
bluh, bluh. “Michael Kidd: Theatre and Film Choreographer.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 18 Sept. 2011,
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Michael Kidd.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 12 Mar. 2019,
Editors, TheFamousPeople.com. “Who Was Michael Kidd? Everything You Need to Know.” Childhood, Life Achievements & Timeline, 2 Nov. 2017,
Tobias, Patricia Eliot. “Michael Kidd, Choreographer, Is Dead.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 25 Dec. 2007,