Michael Smuin (October 13, 1938 – April 23, 2007) was an American ballet dancer,

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 ...

and

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

. He was co-founder and director of his own dance company, the Smuin Ballet in San Francisco.

Biography

Born in

Missoula, Montana Missoula ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, United States. It is located along the Clark Fork River near its confluence with the Bitterroot and Blackfoot rivers in western Montana and at the convergence of five ...

, Smuin was a

principal dancer A principal dancer (often shortened to principal) is a dancer at the highest rank within a professional dance company, particularly a ballet company. A principal may be either gender. The position is similar to that of ''Soloist (ballet), solois ...

with the

American Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant. Through 2019, it had an annual eight-week season at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center) in the spr ...

and the

San Francisco Ballet San Francisco Ballet is the oldest ballet company in the United States, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet under the leadership of ballet master Adolph Bolm. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Fra ...

, for which he served as co-

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogu ...

from 1973 through 1985. In 1994 he founded Smuin Ballet. He also choreographed for the

Dance Theatre of Harlem Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) is an American professional ballet company and school based in Harlem, New York City. It was founded in 1969 under the directorship of Arthur Mitchell and later partnered with Karel Shook. Milton Rosenstock served ...

, Washington Ballet,

Pacific Northwest Ballet Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) is an American ballet company based in Seattle, Washington. It is said to have the highest per capita attendance in the United States, with 11,000 subscribers in 2004. The company consists of 49 dancers and hosts ...

, and

Milwaukee Ballet The Milwaukee Ballet is a professional ballet company founded by Roberta Boorse of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It is located in Milwaukee, and is currently run by Michael Pink, the artistic director. History The Milwaukee Ballet was fou ...

. Smuin's Broadway credits included '' Little Me'' (1962) as a dancer, '' Anything Goes'' (1987) as a choreographer, and '' Sophisticated Ladies'' (1981) and '' Shogun: The Musical'' (1990) as choreographer and director. He also choreographed the 1995 West End production of '' Mack and Mabel''. Smuin's film credits included ''

The Fantasticks ''The Fantasticks'' is a 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and book and lyrics by Tom Jones. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the 1894 play ''The Romancers'' (''Les Romanesques'') by Edmond Rostand, concerning two ne ...

'', ''

A Walk in the Clouds ''A Walk in the Clouds'' is a 1995 period romantic drama film directed by Alfonso Arau and starring Keanu Reeves, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Giancarlo Giannini, Angélica Aragón, Evangelina Elizondo, Debra Messing and Anthony Quinn. An in ...

'', '' The Joy Luck Club'', '' The Cotton Club'', and ''

Rumble Fish ''Rumble Fish'' is a 1983 American drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It is based on the 1975 novel '' Rumble Fish'' by S. E. Hinton, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Coppola. The film stars Matt Dillon, Mickey Rourke, Vince ...

''. Smuin collapsed and died of a heart attack while teaching company class in San Francisco.

Awards and nominations

;Awards *1984 Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography – ''Great Performances: Dance in America'' *1988 Tony Award for Best Choreography – ''Anything Goes'' *1988 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Choreography – ''Anything Goes'' ;Nominations *1981 Tony Award for Best Choreography – ''Sophisticated Ladies'' *1981 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical – ''Sophisticated Ladies'' *1981 Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography – ''Great Performances: Dance in America''

References

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External links

Smuin Ballet official website
* *
KQED artist profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smuin, Michael 1938 births 2007 deaths American theatre directors American male ballet dancers American choreographers Musical theatre choreographers Primetime Emmy Award winners Artists from Missoula, Montana Tony Award winners 20th-century American ballet dancers