 | This article needs more citations. (October 2013) |
Onna White | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 24, 1922 Inverness, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Died | April 8, 2005 (aged 83) |
| Occupations | Choreographer and dancer |
| Spouse |
Larry Douglas
(m. 1948; div. 1959) |
| Children | 2 |
Onna White (March 24, 1922 – April 8, 2005) was a Canadian choreographer and dancer whose work spanned Broadway and film. She received eight Tony Award nominations and an Academy Honorary Award for her choreography of Oliver!.
White was born in Inverness, Nova Scotia, and grew up in a musical family. She began taking dance lessons at the age of twelve. At sixteen, she joined the San Francisco Opera Ballet, where she remained for seven years and became a principal dancer.
In 1947, White moved to New York and joined the original Broadway production of Finian's Rainbow as a replacement dancer. She served as dance captain for Hold It! (1948) and later performed in Guys and Dolls and Silk Stockings. Her work on Finian's Rainbow began an association with choreographer Michael Kidd. While dancing in productions choreographed by Kidd, she began assisting him, and he encouraged her to work independently as a choreographer.
White choreographed the 1955 Broadway revivals of Guys and Dolls and Finian's Rainbow, followed by the 1956 Off-Broadway production of Carmen Jones. Her first original Broadway production as choreographer was The Music Man (1957), which earned her the first of eight Tony Award nominations. Her later Broadway credits included Take Me Along (1959), Irma La Douce (1960), Half a Sixpence (1965), Mame (1966), 1776 (1969) and I Love My Wife (1977).
White also choreographed the film adaptations of The Music Man, 1776 and Mame, as well as Bye Bye Birdie, Oliver!, The Great Waltz and Pete's Dragon.
White's choreography was closely tied to character, story and the abilities of individual performers. In a 1991 profile, the Los Angeles Times described her as a meticulous planner known for both large-scale dance sequences and work tailored to the needs of particular characters and dramatic situations. Actress Bea Arthur, who worked with White on Mame, said that White's choreography continued the dramatic action rather than interrupting it for a musical number.
White also emphasized adapting movement to performers rather than imposing a fixed style. In a 2003 interview for American Masters, she described listening closely to a show's score and allowing its rhythms to influence the choreography, while using ballet training as a technical foundation. She frequently worked with performers who did not consider themselves dancers; recalling 1776, White described finding movement that its largely non-dancing cast could perform comfortably.
She married actor Larry Douglas in 1948, who was an understudy to Robert Preston in The Music Man; they divorced in 1959. They had two children: Jeanne and Stuart. In 1964, Douglas married Susan Luckey, who played the role of Zaneeta in the film of The Music Man.
White died at her home in West Hollywood, California, on April 8, 2005, at the age of 83.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted White an Academy Honorary Award for Oliver! (1968), one of the rare occasions that the Academy recognized choreography in film. Other recipients include Gene Kelly for "career achievements", Jerome Robbins for "choreographic achievement on film", Michael Kidd (White's mentor) for "services to the art of dance in the art of the screen" and Stanley Donen for "body of work". Fred Astaire's was much earlier, and was for his body of work.
Contemporary reviews also highlighted the film's musical staging. Variety credited White's dance ensembles as an important part of the production.
The Academy's citation for White's Honorary Award read: "To Onna White for her outstanding choreography achievement for Oliver!."
