July 30
Born Today:
Margo Sappington
Choreographer Margo Sappington (1947-) danced with the Joffrey Ballet in the 1960s and performed in Promises, Promises (1968) on Broadway. Near the end of the decade she wrote, choreographed, and performed in the outrageous off-Broadway revue Oh! Calcutta! (1969) and later in the 1970s she choreographed the musical revival of Where’s Charley? (1975). In the 1990s, she embarked on a series of projects with famous folk - she choreographed a section of the Joffrey ballet Billboards (1993), scored with music by Prince (1958-2016), in 2001 she collaborated with the Indigo Girls folk singers and the Atlanta Ballet to create The Indigo Girls Project, and in 2009 she created the ballet Common People for the Milwaukee Ballet, set to Has Been, an album by the actor William Shatner. The last project was made into a documentary, William Shatner’s Gonzo Ballet (2009), which is worth seeing for the title alone.
Also Born Today: Dancer Katharine Sergava (1910-2005) is best known for playing Dream Laurey in Oklahoma! (1943) on Broadway and for dancing with the Mordkin Ballet. Singer Kate Bush (1958-) also dances and has featured modern dance and ballet in her single Running Up That Hill (1985) and the album concept film The Line, the Cross, and the Curve (1993).