Born Today:
Riccardo Cocchi

Italian ballroom dancer Riccardo Cocchi (1977-) began dancing in his parents’ studio and at first preferred standard styles, competing since the age of eight. He switched to Latin styles in 1998 and began dancing with partner Yulia Zagoruychenko (1981-) in 2007, and they won ten Latin Dance World Championships in a row before retiring in 2019.

Also Born Today: Teacher and author Ruth Beckford (1925-2019) danced with the Katherine Dunham company and wrote Dunham’s biography. Later, she founded a recreational modern dance program with the Oakland, CA Parks and Recreation Department and she helped to found the Oakland Dance Association. Ballerina Lupe Serrano (1930-2023) danced with American Ballet Theatre from 1953-1971 and directed the Pennsylvania Ballet School from 1975-1983. Choreographer K. Sivasankar (1948-2021) created dances for Telugu and Tamil cinema beginning in 1975, specializing in dances for female dance stars. His credits include over 800 films and he died of COVID.

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Movie: Annie released in 2014

TV Premiere: Hairspray Live! airs in 2016