Joanie Spina (August 4, 1953 – August 17, 2014) was an American
dancer
Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoi ...
,
choreographer
Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...
,
magician and director who achieved prominence through her work with the illusionist
David Copperfield
''David Copperfield'' Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work, see is a novel in the bildungsroman genre by Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from inf ...
.
Early life and beginnings of career
Spina grew up in the town of
Woburn, near
Boston, Massachusetts. She first began dancing as a child but gave up when she was just 11. Later in life, at the age of 26, while working in a menial bar job, she returned to dance as a means to lose weight.
Taking
ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
and jazz classes helped her decide that her vocation lay in the performing arts.
Joanie then began acting and taking voice classes as well. Although told she was too old to be attempting to begin a career as a performer she persevered on the basis that she could at least teach. In the following two years she danced with a few local companies in the Boston area and then moved to New York City.
Magic career
In January 1985, while looking for the next step in her career, Spina answered an advert for a dancer in a show with "an international stage and television star".
The star turned out to be magician David Copperfield, and he hired her. She worked for Copperfield for the next eleven years, until 1996, spending eight and a half of them as his lead assistant. She also became his choreographer and co-director.
Her work included choreographing ten of Copperfield's nineteen
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
television specials
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 ent ...
, beginning with "''The Magic of David Copperfield VIII: Walking Through the Great Wall of China''" (March 14, 1986), in which she was credited as assistant choreographer, and his show "''Dreams and Nightmares''", which ran at the
Martin Beck Theatre
The Al Hirschfeld Theatre, originally the Martin Beck Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 302 West 45th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1924, it was designed by G. Albert Lansburgh in a Moorish and ...
for 25 days between December 5 and 29, 1996. Among the well-known routines Spina contributed to were Copperfield's "Brazilian Water Levitation", included in 1991's special, and his signature "
Flying" illusion, created by
John Gaughan John Gaughan (born 1940) is an American manufacturer of magic acts and equipment for magicians based in Los Angeles, California. His style of work is classic, not based heavily on machinery and technology.
Great illusionists have noted his work, su ...
and included in 1992's special.
In 2000 Spina left Copperfield's team and developed her own solo magic act, which she performed in locations including
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
,
Atlantic City
Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...
and the
Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...
. She also withdrew from performing and began to concentrate on a directing career. Her clients in this role have included
Mark Kalin and Jinger,
Princess Tenko
(born ; June 29, 1959), best known under the stage name of Princess Tenko and formerly , is a Japanese pop singer turned magician specialising in grand illusions.
Biography
She was born Mariko Itakura in Arai, Niigata on June 29, 1959. At a yo ...
, Tim Kole (the son of
André Kole),
Melinda Saxe
Melinda is a feminine given name.
Etymology
The modern name ''Melinda'' is a combination of "Mel" with the suffix "-inda". "Mel" can be derived from names such as Melanie meaning "dark, black" in Greek, or from Melissa (μέλισσα) meaning ...
, Jeff Hobson,
Juliana Chen, The Spencers, Dirk Arthur, and Lawrence & Priscilla.
During Spina's later years, she lived in Las Vegas and traveled extensively to work on various projects. In addition to her directing work she launched a video-making business, "Roxie Video Productions".
Spina also penned a column for the periodical
MAGIC Magazine
''MAGIC'', also known as ''The Magazine for Magicians'', was an independent magazine for magicians that was based in Las Vegas, Nevada. A creation of Stan Allen, it debuted in September 1991, with its first issue featuring Lance Burton on the cove ...
in which she demonstrated techniques for magicians to improve their choreography and staging. Her columns appeared from January 2011 as video lessons on the iPad edition of the magazine.
Death
Joanie suffered from
pulmonary fibrosis
Pulmonary fibrosis is a condition in which the lungs become scarred over time. Symptoms include shortness of breath, a dry cough, feeling tired, weight loss, and nail clubbing. Complications may include pulmonary hypertension, respiratory failu ...
and had been treated for cancer.
In 2014 she moved from Las Vegas to
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
to await a lung and liver transplant.
Spina died on August 17, 2014, at the age of 61.
References
External links
Joanie Spina at the Richard De La Font agency accessed August 24, 2014.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spina, Joanie
1953 births
2014 deaths
Deaths from pulmonary fibrosis
People from Boston
American female dancers
Dancers from Massachusetts
American choreographers
American magicians
21st-century American women
Academy of Magical Arts Special Fellowship winners