Molly E. Molloy (Massachusetts, April 4, 1940 – New York, June 15, 2016) was an American dancer, choreographer and teacher who worked internationally. She was based in Paris, New York and London and was the originator of the Molloy Technique of Jazz Dance, a form of Modern American Jazz which she notably taught to choreographer

Arlene Phillips Dame Arlene Phillips (born 22 May 1943) is an English choreographer, talent scout, television judge and presenter, theatre director, and former dancer, who has worked in many fields of entertainment. For many years, she was most noted as the c ...

and her troupe

Hot Gossip Hot Gossip (1974–86) were a British dance troupe who made television appearances and in 1978 backed Sarah Brightman on her single "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper". Formation Arlene Phillips moved to London to learn and teach developin ...

Early life

Family tree

Molloy was a fourth-generation dancer, but the first woman. Her great-grandfather was a dancer of Irish dancing as well as tap. Her grandfather was part of a dance team who did

Irish dancing Irish dance refers to a group of traditional dance forms that originate in Ireland, encompassing dancing both solo and in groups, and dancing for social, competitive, and performance purposes. Irish dance in its current form developed from vario ...

, tap and clog. Molloy's grandparents and all of their brothers and sisters all played musical instruments, and most of them danced. Her father (one of six children) along with his twin brother was a member of the "Molloy Twins" or "Molloy Boys," and worked in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

and variety theater.

Childhood

When Molloy was five, the family moved to New York. Against her mother's wishes, her father and uncle took her all over New York to their agents. But at her mother's insistence, Molloy trained in New York at the Metropolitan Opera Ballet School on full scholarship and was a protégée of

Antony Tudor Antony Tudor (born William Cook; 4 April 1908 – 19 April 1987) was an English ballet choreographer, teacher and dancer. He founded the London Ballet, and later the Philadelphia Ballet Guild in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., in the mid-1950 ...

at eight years old. She went on to study at the

High School of Performing Arts The High School of Performing Arts (informally known as "PA") was a public alternative high school established in 1947 and located at 120 West 46th Street in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, from 1948 to 1984. In 1961, the school was m ...

and by the age of 14, was dancing professionally.

Choreography/Direction

Theatre

When it came to theatre, from 14 May 1986 to 8 April 1989, Molloy was the Choreographer for

Chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

, the musical by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Tim Rice at the Prince Edward Theatre in London.

Cabaret

She choreographed cabaret numbers at the legendary

Crazy Horse Crazy Horse ( lkt, Tȟašúŋke Witkó, italic=no, , ; 1840 – September 5, 1877) was a Lakota war leader of the Oglala band in the 19th century. He took up arms against the United States federal government to fight against encroachment by wh ...

theater in Paris from 1983 until her death. Molloy also choreographed 'La Difference' and 'One of a Kind', the Yvonne Constant Shows, as an artistic consultant from 1997 onwards. She choreographed many revues at the Paradis Latin in Paris from its re-opening in 1977, working with owner/producer Jean Kriegel and director Jean-Marie Riviere as well as dancers from all over the world. From November 2005 to September 2008, Molloy was the choreographer of 'Paradis d'amour' at Le Paradis Latin in Paris. She became the choreographer for L'Ange Bleu after one of her students at La Salle Pleyel in Paris introduced her to the French cabaret producer and director Jean Marie Riviere.

Circus

She worked with Gifford's Circus, too, as the English Tour Dance Director on "Yasmine" in 2010 and Caravan in 2008.

Dance

In 2005, Molloy choreographed on the World Tour of 'Celtic Tiger', the

Michael Flatley Michael Ryan Flatley (born July 16, 1958) is an Irish-American dancer. He became known for Irish dance shows ''Riverdance'', '' Lord of the Dance'', ''Feet of Flames'', and ''Celtic Tiger Live''. Flatley's shows have played to more than 60 milli ...

Show. From 2012, Molloy worked with Andy Black to choreograph 'Follow The Faun' which ran from 31 October to 12 November in London's Above the Arts Theatre.

Cinema

Molloy was also involved in film choreography for the French cult classic, ''

La Cité de la peur ( "The City of Fear"), also known as ("The Les Nuls Movie"), is a 1994 French comedy film written by and starring Chantal Lauby, Alain Chabat and Dominique Farrugia of the comedy group Les Nuls, and directed by Alain Berbérian in 1994. The m ...

,'' which was released in 1994. She masterminded the famous scene in which the protagonists played by Gérard Darmon and Alain Chabat dance "''La Carioca".'' She also worked on the sets of the thrillers Tati Danielle (1990) and Agatha (1979).

Concerts, tours and TV specials

Molloy was the UK choreographer for Kylie Minogue's ITV Special and a TV Special in France named Sheila (TV Special) and Patricia Kaas. She also worked for Johnny Hallyday as the European Tour choreographer on his Heart and Fist tour. Molloy also choreographed the Summer Concert in Holmenkollen Oslo Philharmonic.

Teaching

Molloy taught at the Royal Ballet School London and the

Paris Opera Ballet School The Paris Opera Ballet () is a French ballet company that is an integral part of the Paris Opera. It is the oldest national ballet company, and many European and international ballet companies can trace their origins to it. It is still regarded a ...

where she was Professor Emeritus, as well as teaching the Oslo Dance Ensemble.

Jazz teaching

Molloy taught jazz in many dance schools around the world including Pineapple Dance Studios in London, London Studio Center, Italia Conti, Broadway Dance Center in New York, Steps on Broadway in New York as a Guest Teacher, DanceWorks, Jazz Fests in Costa Rica as a Guest Teacher, the Boston Youth Moves Master Classes, the Salle Pleyel and Paris Centre.

Death

Molly Molloy died of lung cancer, aged 76, in June 2016 in New York City.