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

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 ...

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 Smuin Contemporary Ballet, formerly known as Smuin Ballet,

in San Francisco.

Biography

Born in

Missoula, Montana Missoula ( ; fla, label=Salish language, Séliš, Nłʔay, lit=Place of the Small Bull Trout, script=Latn; kut, Tuhuⱡnana, script=Latn) is a city in the U.S. state of Montana; it is the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, Missoula Cou ...

, 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 male or female. The position is similar to that of '' soloist''; however, p ...

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, it is recognized as one of the world's leading classical ballet companies. Through 2019, it had an annual ei ...

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 Franc ...

, for which he served as co-

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

from 1973 through 1985. In 1994 he founded

Smuin Ballet Smuin Contemporary Ballet, formerly known as 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 a ...

Washington Ballet The Washington Ballet (TWB) is an ensemble of professional ballet dancers based in Washington DC. It was founded in 1976 by Mary Day, and has been under the artistic directorship of Julie Kent since 2016. Septime Webre was artistic director for ...

Pacific Northwest Ballet Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) is a ballet company based in Seattle, Washington, in the United States. 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 dan ...

, 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 Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

credits included '' Little Me'' (1962) as a dancer, ''

Anything Goes ''Anything Goes'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap ant ...

'' (1987) as a choreographer, and ''

Sophisticated Ladies ''Sophisticated Ladies'' is a musical revue based on the music of Duke Ellington. The musical ran on Broadway in 1981–83, earning 2 awards and 8 nominations at the 35th Tony Awards. Production ''Sophisticated Ladies'' opened on Broadway at th ...

'' (1981) and '' Shogun: The Musical'' (1990) as choreographer and director. He also choreographed the 1995 West End production of ''

Mack and Mabel ''Mack and Mabel'' (often stylized as Mack & Mabel) is a musical with a book by Michael Stewart and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman. The plot involves the tumultuous romantic relationship between Hollywood director Mack Sennett and Mabel Norma ...

''. 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 neigh ...

'', '' A Walk in the Clouds'', '' 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, Vincent Span ...

''. 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

* *

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 Emmy Award winners Artists from Missoula, Montana Tony Award winners 20th-century American ballet dancers