List of dance personalities explained
This is a work-in-progress partial list of people involved in dance.
Alphabetical
A
B
C
D
- Sophie Daguin - ballet mistress and ballerina
- Dan Dailey - American film actor and dancer
- Jean Dauberval - French dancer and choreographer
- Shiamak Davar - Indian choreographer
- David Dawson - British choreographer
- Igone de Jongh - Dutch ballet dancer
- Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker
- Louis Deland - ballet master, ballet dancer, choreographer
- Patricia Delgado - American ballet dancer, répétiteur and teacher
- Michaela DePrince - Sierra Leonean-American ballet dancer
- Gaby Deslys - French ballroom dancer and actress
- Sasha De Sola - American ballet dancer
- Prabhu Deva - Indian dancer and choreographer
- Julie Diana - American ballet dancer, ballet master, writer and arts administrator
- Charles-Louis Didelot - French dancer and choreographer
- Anton Dolin - English ballet dancer and choreographer
- Holly Dorger - American ballet dancer
- Anthony Dowell - English ballet dancer and choreographer
- Jurgita Dronina - Russian-Lithuanian ballet dancer
- Remo D'Souza - Indian Bollywood choreographer
- Tabitha and Napoleon D'umo a.k.a. "Nappytabs" - dance teachers, choreographers, and creative directors
- Isadora Duncan - "mother of modern dance"
- Katherine Dunham - pioneer of black dance, anthropologist, dancer, choreographer, creator of the Dunham Technique
- Aurélie Dupont - French ballet dancer and artistic director of Paris Opera Ballet
- Irina Dvorovenko - Ukrainian-American ballet dancer
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
- Brooklyn Mack - American ballet dancer
- Mayara Magri - Brazilian ballet dancer
- Shantanu Maheshwari - Indian dancer, choreographer and actor
- Natascha Mair - Austrian ballet dancer
- Natalia Makarova - Russian ballet dancer
- David Makhateli - Georgian ballet dancer
- Maia Makhateli - Georgian ballet dancer
- Marianna Malińska (1767–fl.1797) - first native ballerina in Poland
- Hugo Marchand - French ballet dancer
- Paul Marque - French ballet dancer
- Roberta Marquez - Brazilian ballet dancer
- Cathy Marston - British choreographer
- Sophie Martin - French ballet dancer
- Kizzy Matiakis - English ballet dancer
- José Martínez - Spanish ballet dancer
- William Matons - WPA-era, 1930s modern dancer and choreographer, known later during Calypso craze as Calypso Joe, and later still as General Hershy Bar
- Sabrina Matthews - Canadian ballet choreographer and former ballet dancer
- Kay Mazzo - American ballet dancer and educator, Chairman of Faculty of School of American Ballet
- David McAllister - Australian ballet dancer, former artistic director of The Australian Ballet
- Wayne McGregor - British choreographer
- Trey McIntyre - American dancer and choreographer
- Amanda McKerrow - American ballet dancer
- Rachael McLaren - Canadian dancer
- Steven McRae - Australian ballet dancer
- Tate McRae - first-ever Canadian finalist in So You Think You Can Dance
- Sara Mearns - American ballet dancer
- Vrushika Mehta - Indian contemporary dancer and television actress
- Itziar Mendizabal - Spanish ballet dancer
- Sulamith Messerer - founder of Japanese ballet
- Jo Mihaly - German dancer and writer
- Ann Miller - American tap dancer, singer, and actress, especially in films
- Arthur Mitchell - American artistic director, educator, choreographer and dancer
- Shakti Mohan - Indian contemporary dancer and winner of Dance India Dance 2
- Baisali Mohanty - Indian classical dancer and choreographer
- Pippa Moore - English ballet dancer
- Laura Morera - Spanish ballet dancer
- Kathryn Morgan - American ballet dancer and YouTuber
- Mary Ellen Moylan - American ballet dancer
- Hope Muir - Canadian dancer, artistic director of National Ballet of Canada, former artistic director of Charlotte Ballet
- Vadim Muntagirov - Russian ballet dancer
- Gillian Murphy - American ballet dancer
- Graeme Murphy - Australian choreographer
- Arthur Murray - dance instructor and businessman, known for the Arthur Murray Dance Studios franchise
N
O
P
- Stephen Page - Australian choreographer, artistic director of Bangarra Dance Theatre
- Ludmila Pagliero - Argentine ballet dancer
- Maria Palmer - Austrian-born American actress and dancer
- Hermes Pan - film choreographer, especially in collaboration with Fred Astaire
- Noelani Pantastico - American ballet dancer
- Merle Park - Zimbabwean ballerina at the Royal Ballet
- Sae Eun Park - South Korean ballet dancer
- Georgina Parkinson - English ballet dancer and ballet mistress
- Veronika Part - Russian ballet dancer
- Anna Pavlova - legendary Russian prima ballerina, who brought ballet to the world
- Georgina Pazcoguin - American ballet dancer
- Justin Peck - American ballet dancer and choreographer
- Tiler Peck - American ballet dancer
- Rupert Pennefather - English ballet dancer
- Tina Pereira - Trinidadian-Canadian ballet dancer
- Rosie Perez - American (Afro-Puerto Rican descent) dancer, choreographer, actress and director
- Jules Perrot - French ballet dancer and choreographer
- Marius Petipa - choreographer who created the classical ballet
- Vilhelm Pettersson - Swedish ballet dancer
- Unity Phelan - American ballet dancer
- Juanita Pitts - African-American tap dancer
- Maya Plisetskaya - prima ballerina assoluta of the Bolshoi Ballet from 1960 to 1990
- David Poole - South African ballet dancer and ballet master at Cape Town City Ballet
- Eleanor Powell - American actress and dancer of the 1930s and 1940s, known for her exuberant solo tap dancing
- Ida Praetorius - Danish ballet dancer
- Angelin Preljocaj - French dancer and choreographer
- Olga Preobrajenska - Russian dancer and teacher
- Juliet Prowse - South African-American dancer, actress, and singer in many films, including G.I. Blues, which also starred Elvis Presley
- Laetitia Pujol - French ballet dancer
- Brian Puspos - American hip-hop dancer, choreographer
R
S
- Stephanie Saland - American ballet dancer and teacher
- Saleem (Saleem Azzouqa) - gay Muslim playwright, actor, DJ, and dancer
- Iana Salenko - Ukrainian-German ballet dancer
- Marcelino Sambé - Portuguese ballet dancer
- Oh Sehun - South Korean dancer and member of EXO
- Ruth St. Denis - American dancer who tried to fuse modern dance with Egyptian and east Asian ideas; famously in collaboration with her partner Ted Shawn
- Olga Sandberg (1844–1926) - Swedish ballerina
- Margrethe Schall - ballerina
- Silja Schandorff - Danish ballet dancer
- Amanda Schull - American actress and ballet dancer
- Amber Scott - Australian ballet dancer
- Anders Selinder - ballet master and choreographer
- Polina Semionova - Russian ballet dancer
- Hee Seo - South Korean ballet dancer
- Lynn Seymour - Canadian ballet dancer
- Uday Shankar (Bengali: উদয় শংকর) (1900–1977) - pioneer of modern dance in India; world-renowned Indian dancer and choreographer; known for adapting Western theatrical techniques to traditional Indian classical dance, imbued with elements of Indian classical, folk, and tribal dance, thus laying the roots of modern Indian dance, which he popularized in India, Europe, and the United States in the 1920s and 1930s
- Ted Shawn - ballet dancer often in collaboration with his influential partner Ruth St. Denis; they were the creators of Denishawn
- Moira Shearer - Scottish ballet dancer and actress in The Red Shoes
- Fang-Yi Sheu - Taiwanese dancer
- Ingrid Silva - Brazilian ballet dancer
- Daniil Simkin - ballet dancer
- Mary Skeaping - British ballerina
- Charlotte Slottsberg - ballet dancer
- Damian Smith - Australian ballet dancer
- Thiago Soares - Brazilian ballet dancer
- Yuri Soloviev - soloist of the Kirov Theatre
- Jennie Somogyi - American ballet dancer
- Phyllis Spira-Boyd - South African ballet dancer
- Helene Spilling - Norwegian dancer and TV personality
- Abi Stafford - American ballet dancer
- Jonathan Stafford - American ballet dancer and artistic director of New York City Ballet
- Taylor Stanley - American ballet dancer
- Cory Stearns - American ballet dancer
- Lisa Steier - Swedish ballerina
- Dana Stephensen - Australian ballet dancer
- Ethan Stiefel - American ballet dancer and choreographer
- Beatriz Stix-Brunell - American ballet dancer
- Madoka Sugai - Japanese ballet dancer
- Laurretta Summerscales - British ballet dancer
- Sofiane Sylve - French ballet dancer
- Sofia Boutella - Algerian hip hop dancer
- Shobana - Indian Bharatanatyam dancer
T
Notes and References
- Johnson, Lillian (May 14, 1938). The Baltimore Afro-American. Page 10. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
