Marguerite Pomerhn-Derricks (born 1961), professionally known as Marguerite Derricks, is a former

ballerina A ballet dancer is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. Ballet dancer ...

and a multi award-winning

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

from

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

.Bob Thompson, "A woman on the Go Go: Catchy Gap ad, Austin Powers' moves make choreographer a hot commodity," ''Kingston Whig - Standard''. Kingston, Ontario: July 5, 1999, pg. 27. Derricks studied ballet at the National Ballet School of Canada; she admired Karen Kain. Derricks was behind the choreography of two films similar in their subject matter, ''

Striptease A striptease is an erotic or exotic dance in which the performer gradually undresses, either partly or completely, in a seductive and sexually suggestive manner. The person who performs a striptease is commonly known as a "stripper", "exotic d ...

'' (1996) and ''

Showgirls ''Showgirls'' is a 1995 erotic drama film directed by Paul Verhoeven, written by Joe Eszterhas, starring Elizabeth Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan, Gina Gershon, Glenn Plummer, Robert Davi, Alan Rachins, and Gina Ravera. The film focuses on an ambi ...

'' (1995). Some of her more noted works include the ''

Austin Powers ''Austin Powers'' is a series of American satirical spy comedy films created by Mike Myers, who stars as the British spy Austin Powers as well as his arch-nemesis, Dr. Evil. The series consists of '' International Man of Mystery'' (1997), ' ...

'' films, '' 10 Things I Hate About You'' (1999), ''

Donnie Darko ''Donnie Darko'' is a 2001 American Science fiction film, science fiction psychological thriller film written and directed by Richard Kelly (filmmaker), Richard Kelly in his List of directorial debuts, directorial debut, and produced by Flower ...

'' (2001), ''

Little Miss Sunshine ''Little Miss Sunshine'' is a 2006 American tragicomedy road movie, road film directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (in their directorial debut) from a screenplay written by Michael Arndt. The film stars an ensemble cast consisting of G ...

'' (2006), and ''

Spider-Man 3 ''Spider-Man 3'' is a 2007 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. Produced by Columbia Pictures, Marvel Entertainment, and Laura Ziskin Productions, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, it was directe ...

'' (2007). After the first ''Austin Powers'' film, she became famous and increased her reputation with an advertisement for The Gap, "Go Go." During one interview, she said that with regard to her newfound popularity, "it all started with Mike yers" (the star of ''Austin Powers'') and added that "Go Go has changed my life." In 2006, Derricks choreographed '' Sister Act the Musical'', which had its world premiere at the

Pasadena Playhouse Pasadena Playhouse is a Tony Award-winning historic performing arts venue located 39 S. El Molino Avenue in Pasadena, California. The 686-seat auditorium produces a variety of cultural and artistic events, professional shows, and community engag ...

. In 2009, she served as the choreographer for director Kevin Tancharoen's remake of the movie ''Fame'', and for Gregory Boyd and

Frank Wildhorn Frank Wildhorn (born November 29, 1958) is an American composer of both musicals and popular songs. His musical ''Jekyll & Hyde (musical), Jekyll & Hyde'' ran for four years on Broadway. He also wrote the hit song "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" for ...

's musical " Wonderland" – a twist on the "

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...

" children's story. Derricks also choreographed

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962) is an American actor and film producer. Regarded as a Cinema of the United States, Hollywood icon, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Tom Cruise, various accolades, includ ...

's dance performance as the movie mogul Les Grossman in the 2008 film ''

Tropic Thunder ''Tropic Thunder'' is a 2008 Satire (film and television), satirical Action comedy, action comedy film directed by Ben Stiller, who wrote the screenplay with Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen. The film stars Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., ...

''.

Recognition

Derricks is the only choreographer to win three consecutive

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

s: she won for her work on the television series ''

3rd Rock from the Sun ''3rd Rock from the Sun'' is an American television sitcom created by Bonnie and Terry Turner, which originally aired from January 9, 1996, to May 22, 2001, on NBC. The show is about four Extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrials who are on an e ...

'' (1997), '' Fame L.A.'' (1998), and the ''1998 Goodwill Games Ceremony'' (1999). In 2002, she won an American Choreography Award for her work on ''

That '70s Show ''That '70s Show'' is an American television teen sitcom that aired on Fox from August 23, 1998, to May 18, 2006. The series focuses on the lives of a group of six teenage friends living in the fictional town of Point Place, Wisconsin, from 197 ...

Internet Movie Database IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

,
Awards for Marguerite Pomerhn Derricks
" URL accessed 18 January 2007. adding to two others for The Gap "Go Go" and the short lived sitcom '' Jenny'' starring Jenny McCarthy. She won an NAACP Award for Best Choreography for '' Sister Act the Musical''. She has also won four

MTV Movie Awards The MTV Movie & TV Awards is a film and television awards show previously presented annually on MTV. It began as the MTV Movie Awards in 1992, when its 1992 MTV Movie Awards, first edition was held, and adopted its current name in 2017, beginnin ...

for Best Dance (''

'', ''

Charlie's Angels ''Charlie's Angels'' is an American crime drama television series created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts for ABC. It originally aired from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, airing for five seasons consisting of 115 episodes. It was produ ...

'', '' 10 Things I Hate About You'', and '' American Wedding'').

References

External links

*
Broadway Dance Center biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Derricks, Marguerite 1961 births American choreographers American ballerinas Primetime Emmy Award winners Living people Artists from Buffalo, New York 21st-century American women