Sheryl Cooper (, ) is an American dancer,
stage performer, and the wife of the
shock rock
Shock rock is the combination of rock music or heavy metal music with highly theatrical live performances emphasizing shock value. Performances may include violent or provocative behavior from the artists, the use of attention-grabbing imagery ...
singer
Alice Cooper
Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...
. In addition to regularly performing on tour with her husband, she teaches, choreographs, produces, and directs children's dance and theatre in the
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...
area. She also is an executive board member of Alice Cooper's Solid Rock
teen center A teen center is a community center serving adolescent
Adolescence () is a transitional stage of human physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to th ...
s.
Biography and touring career
Sheryl Cooper was born Sheryl Goddard in
Denver
Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
, Colorado.
[Graff 2023, p. 94] At age 3, her family moved to
Connecticut
Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
while her father studied at
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
.
They then re-located to the
Pasadena
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...
area of California.
She began dancing at a young age, training in
classical ballet
Classical ballet is any of the traditional, formal styles of ballet that exclusively employ classical ballet technique. It is known for its aesthetics and rigorous technique (such as en pointe, pointe work, turnout (ballet), turnout of the legs, ...
until age 16, when she switched to
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
.
Part of her schooling included an apprenticeship with
Joffrey Ballet
The Joffrey Ballet is an American dance company and training institution in Chicago, Illinois. The Joffrey regularly performs classical and contemporary ballets during its annual performance season at the Civic Opera House, including its annual ...
.
Sheryl met Alice in 1975 at the age of 18, when she auditioned as a dancer for his "Welcome to My Nightmare" tour. She was studying jazz at
Citrus College
Citrus College is a public community college in Glendora, California. The Citrus Community College District, which supports the institution, includes the communities of Azusa, Claremont, Duarte, Glendora, and Monrovia.
Citrus Union High Scho ...
when she became aware that Alice Cooper was holding auditions for two female and two male dancers for a one-and-one-half year contract which included a world tour, a
television special
A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of en ...
, and stage appearances.
With her classical music background, she was unfamiliar with rock music.
"I knew everything about
Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...
,
Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of ...
,
Schumann
Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...
,
Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...
– but nothing about rock and roll. I could tell you who
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
were, and that was about it."
When she found out about the auditions for Cooper's tour, she responded "Wow. Alice Cooper. Who is she?"
"I thought I was auditioning for some blond, female folk singer."
Around 3,000 women auditioned for the roles, and after two days, Sheryl was successful in landing a position as one of the dancers.
At the time, Cooper's combination of rock and theater and the inclusion of dancers was unprecedented.
At first, the two did not get along well.
The first time she touched him, she was teaching him how to stretch and she hurt him.
However, one night during the tour, Goddard joined other musicians and dancers at Cooper's hotel suite after a concert to eat pizza and watch horror movies.
She found herself so engaged in conversation with Cooper that she failed to notice everyone else gradually leaving the room. When she got up to leave, he jokingly asked if she would kiss him goodnight. Sheryl granted him the request, more passionately than she expected.
They dated for 12 months and married on March 3, 1976, in
Acapulco, Mexico
Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicircular bay, Acapulco has been a port since the ear ...
.
In the second half of the 1970s, Alice became deeply consumed by alcoholism, going to rehab twice, in 1976 and 1979. Sheryl attempted to intervene for him.
In the early 1980s, Alice also developed a cocaine addiction so severe that he has no memory of recording, or touring for, three albums from that period. Sheryl initiated divorce proceedings in November 1983.
Alice finally committed to sobriety that year,
and Sheryl reconciled with him months later in 1984.
Since the start of her career in 1975, Sheryl frequently tours with her husband as a dancer, choreographer, and backing singer,
although she went on hiatus when their children were young. Some performances have involved acts where Alice kills her or fails in his attempt to do so.
A longstanding act is her portraying a sadistic ghoulish nurse (sometimes alongside their daughter
Calico
Calico (; in British usage since 1505) is a heavy plain-woven textile made from unbleached, and often not fully processed, cotton. It may also contain unseparated husk parts. The fabric is far coarser than muslin, but less coarse and thick than ...
performing a similar character), a character who often beheads him.
The beheadings are then followed up by her holding up and sometimes kissing the severed head while the band plays "I Love the Dead".
In 1987, when Alice returned to touring after recovering from addiction, Sheryl portrayed a giant spider. Recent acts have seen her as a devil, a ghost, and a
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette (; ; Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last List of French royal consorts, queen of France before the French Revolution and the establishment of the French First Republic. She was the ...
-style character which helps apprehend Alice and sends him to the guillotine.
When her daughter Calico was hired by Alice in 2001 to perform instead of herself in the ''
Brutal Planet
''Brutal Planet'' is the fourteenth solo and twenty-first studio album overall by American rock musician Alice Cooper, released in 2000. Musically, it sees Cooper tackling a much darker and heavier approach than on previous albums, with many s ...
'' tour, Sheryl instructed Calico in dancing while using a bullwhip, the "bullwhip girl" being a character Sheryl had previously portrayed.
Additional work and projects
Cooper has instructed dance and choreography for decades. In the early 1980s, she taught at two Valley Profile for Dance studios in
Paradise Valley, Arizona
Paradise Valley is a desert and mountain town in Arizona east of state capital Phoenix. The town is known for its golf courses, spectacular mountain views, numerous upscale resorts and restaurants, natural beauty with desert landscaping and gor ...
.
In 1998, she was a choreography instructor for CC Dance.
Since the mid-1990s, she and Alice have written, produced, and performed at the Hopi Variety Show, a talent show for Hopi Elementary School.
In 1995, Sheryl and Alice, along with their friend Chuck Savale, founded Alice Cooper's Solid Rock, a non-profit foundation for
inner-city
The term inner city (also called the hood) has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Soc ...
teens in Arizona.
After finding a benefactor, Genesis Church, the first center was opened in 2012, a second center opened in 2020, and the forthcoming opening of a third was announced 2023.
An annual fundraiser for the non-profit, Alice Cooper's Christmas Pudding, is held every December in the form of a variety show and contest.
In 2003, Cooper opened a 500-student dance school called Destiny Dance International. She then closed the school in 2007 to teach weekly at a
Scottsdale location and devote more time to Solid Rock.
She and her friend Lisa Savale co-founded a women's
aerobics
Aerobics is a form of physical exercise that combines rhythmic aerobic exercise with stretching and strength training routines with the goal of improving all elements of fitness (Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, Muscle, muscular strength, and ...
ministry at their church, Camelback Bible Church.
Family
Sheryl and Alice have three children –
Calico
Calico (; in British usage since 1505) is a heavy plain-woven textile made from unbleached, and often not fully processed, cotton. It may also contain unseparated husk parts. The fabric is far coarser than muslin, but less coarse and thick than ...
, Dashiel, and Sonora – and four grandchildren.
Since 1985, she and Alice have lived in
Paradise Valley.
Discography
Videography
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Sheryl
1950s births
Living people
Year of birth uncertain
20th-century evangelicals
21st-century evangelicals
American evangelicals
American female dancers
American nonprofit executives
American women choreographers
American choreographers
American women philanthropists
American women theatre directors
Christians from Arizona
Christians from California
Christians from Illinois
Citrus College alumni
American dance teachers
Dancers from California
Dancers from Colorado
Dancers from Connecticut
Dancers from Illinois
Founders of charities
Dancers from Chicago
People from Denver
People from Paradise Valley, Arizona
People from Pasadena, California
American women nonprofit executives
American women theatre managers and producers