Miranda Garrison is an American actress, dancer, and

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 ...

, best known for her film choreography.

Career

For the 1987 film ''

Dirty Dancing ''Dirty Dancing'' is a 1987 American romance film, romantic drama film, drama Dance in film, dance film written by Eleanor Bergstein, produced by Linda Gottlieb, and directed by Emile Ardolino. Starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, it tel ...

'', starring

Patrick Swayze Patrick Wayne Swayze ( ; August 18, 1952 – September 14, 2009) was an American actor, singer, songwriter, and dancer. Known for his romantic, tough, and comedic roles in blockbusters and cult films, Swayze was nominated for three Golden Glob ...

, Miranda Garrison assisted

Kenny Ortega Kenneth John Ortega (born April 18, 1950) is an American director, producer, choreographer, and concert creator. He is best known for his work with Disney Channel, notably the '' High School Musical'' film trilogy, cult classics such as '' Newsi ...

in choreography; she also acted in the film, playing the part of Vivian Pressman. For the 1988 film ''Salsa'', she acted the part of Luna, the owner of a Los Angeles salsa club and a romantic interest. In this film, she danced numbers from her own work as the choreographer. In the 1990 film ''

The Forbidden Dance ''The Forbidden Dance'' (also known by its full promotional title ''The Forbidden Dance is Lambada'') is a 1990 American drama film starring former Miss USA Laura Harring in her first major acting role. It was produced by Menahem Golan's 21st ...

'' about the

Lambada Lambada () is a dance from the state of Pará in Brazil. The dance briefly became internationally popular in the 1980s, especially in the Philippines, Latin America and Caribbean, Caribbean countries. It has adopted aspects of dances such as Maxi ...

from Brazil, she again appeared as an actress-dancer, performing in the role of Mickey. In 1996, she assisted choreographer

Vincent Paterson Vincent Paterson (born May 4, 1950) is an American director and choreographer who has had an expansive career in many parts of the entertainment industry including film, Broadway, concert tours, opera, music videos, television and commercials. ...

in the film '' Evita'', with singer

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

, based on the 1978 musical of

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broad ...

. Early in her career, Garrison danced in the high-profile 1980 film '' Xanadu'', starring the singer

Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British and Australian singer and actress. With over 100 million records sold, Newton-John was one of the List of best-selling music artists#100 million to 119 million record ...

. After ''Xanadu'' Garrison was a frequent collaborator with choreographer and later director

.Interview with Mick Chang
at Salsa Power, June 8, 2001. In 1997, Garrison choreographed ''

Selena Selena Quintanilla-Pérez (; April 16, 1971 – March 31, 1995) was an American singer-songwriter. Known as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Tejano Music", her contributions to music and fashion made her one of the most cel ...

'', the biographical film about Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, the

Tejano Tejanos ( , ) are descendants of Texas Creoles and Mestizos who settled in Texas before its admission as an American state. The term is also sometimes applied to Texans of Mexican descent. Etymology The word ''Tejano'', with a ''J'' instead ...

singing star whose life was tragically cut short. She was also the choreographer for the 2004 film '' Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights'', set in late-1950s Cuba, and for ''

The Skeleton Key ''The Skeleton Key'' is a 2005 American supernatural folk horror film directed by Iain Softley and starring Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands, John Hurt, Peter Sarsgaard, and Joy Bryant. The screenplay by Ehren Kruger follows a New Orleans hospice n ...

'', a supernatural thriller released in 2005. In 2001, she directed the Golden Eagle awards ceremony. In 2007 and 2008, Garrison was a judge in the British

reality TV Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 199 ...

competition, '' Dirty Dancing: The Time of Your Life''. An on-line 'Filmography' for Miranda Garrison lists forty-eight entries for film (34) and TV (14), twelve as an actor and/or a dancer 1979–2005, and thirty-six for choreographic work 1987–2009.''Miranda Garrison: Filmography''
at Hollywood.com.

References

External links

* * ''Dirty Dancing'', The E! True Hollywood Story, first aired September 3, 2000 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Garrison, Miranda Living people 1950 births American film actresses American choreographers 21st-century American women