- Anna Pavlova (31 January 1881- 23 January 1931)
She was a famous Russian ballet dancer of the late 19th and the early 20th century. Anna Pavlova is best known for altering the ideals for ballet dancers. She is also credited for creating the modern pointe shoe. Pavlova is a legend well-known for her famous dance “The Dying Swan” and because she was the first ballerina to travel around the world.
- Alvin Ailey, Jr. (January 5, 1931 – December 1, 1989)
Alvin Ailey was an American contemporary dancer and choreographer, he born in Rogers, Tex. Dancer recognized for choreography using Lester Horton, ethnic African, and Afro-Caribbean methods. In 1958 he established his own dance company the “Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater”, which showcased the work of other black choreographers.
- Mikhail Nikolaevitch Baryshnikov (born January 28, 1948)
He is a Soviet-born Russian American dancer, choreographer, and actor. He is recognized as the best living male ballet dancer. He has had roles in film, as he starred in the last period of Sex and the City.
His successes as a dramatic actor on stage, cinema and television has facilitated him become possibly the most widely known modern ballet dancer.
- Michael Joseph Jackson (born August 29, 1958)
Pop star of the 1980s, Michael Jackson impressed audiences with eye-popping dance moves, especially one called the "moonwalk." Michael showed an incredible ability for rhythm and dance at a very young age. He becoming a pop icon and named the "King of Pop”.
- Samuel George “Sammy” Davis, Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990)
Samuel George was an American dancer, singer, multi-instrumentalist. Sammy Davis was an entertainer remembered principally for his tap dancing talent. He began tap dancing at the age of four.
- Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991)
Martha Graham was an American dancer and choreographer. She is identified as the pioneer of modern dance. She dared to initiate new, modern dance moves to the world. Graham invented a new language of movement, and used it to expose the passion, the fury and the ecstasy common to human experience. She danced and choreographed for over seventy years, and throughout that time was the first dancer ever to execute at The White House, the first dancer ever to travel abroad as a cultural ambassador, and the first dancer ever to obtain the highest civilian award, the Medal of Freedom.
- Fred Astaire (Frederick Austerlitz) (May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987)
Fred Astaire was a well-known American film and Broadway dancer; he was an American Academy Award-winning film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and successive film career extended a total of seventy-six years, throughout which he made thirty-one musical films. He is recognized for starring with Ginger Rogers in musical films.
- Gregory Hines (February 14, 1946 – August 9, 2003)
Gregory Hines was an American dancer principally known for his exceptional tap dancing aptitudes. He was a Tony Award-winning American actor, singer, dancer, and choreographer. He performed in various dance movies, including White Nights and Tap.
- John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954)
John Travolta is an Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe Award-winning American actor, dancer, and singer; he is well-known with his slick dance moves, increased fame through his dancing roles in Saturday Night Fever and Grease, Pulp Fiction, Hairspray, and Battlefield Earth.
- Eugene Curran “Gene” Kelly (August 23 1912 – February 2, 1996)
Gene is an American dancer, actor, director, singer, producer, and choreographer; he is remembered for his highly vigorous and athletic dancing technique, his good looks and the pleasant characters that he played on screen. He is well-known for his performance in Singin' in the Rain.
- Patrick Swayze (born August 18, 1952)
Patrick Swayze is a famous American dancer, actor, and songwriter. His well-known movie characters have been the romantic guides in the 1987 film “Dirty Dancing”, and the 1990 film “Ghost”.
- Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev (March 17, 1938 – January 6, 1993)
Russian-born dancer and was a dancer, mainly known for his work in ballet.
He is remembered by many critics as one of the best male dancers of the 20th century, beside Vaslav Nijinsky and Mikhail Baryshnikov.
- Marie Anne de Cupis de Camargo (15 April 1710, Brussels – 1770)
She was born in Brussels, Belgium, of Spanish descent. Ballerina accredited with the 90-degree turnout and entrechat-quatre. Her originalities incorporated shortening her costume so that her unusually complicated footwork could be seen by the audience. She also extended her technique by eliminating the heels of her slippers. She wore long, adjusted undergarments that became the basic ballet tights. Extremely popular, she had many gourmet dishes named for her by the chef Escoffier. She was principally related with the Paris Opera.
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