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Gotta Dance Gala to Honor Hollywood Hoofers

Cyd Charisse

The ninth annual Gotta Dance! gala, subtitled "A Dance Tribute to Hollywood," will be held on Monday, October 27 at 7pm at City Center (131 West 55th Street between Seventh and Sixth avenues) to benefit Career Transition for Dancers.

Directed by Randy Skinner, the show will pay tribute to dancing film stars. Among the scheduled hosts and performers are Leslie Browne, George Chakiris, Marge Champion, Cyd Charisse, Arlene Dahl, Jacques d'Amboise, David Elder, Karen Lynn Gorney, Cynthia Gregory, Maurice Hines, Mary Tyler Moore, Bebe Neuwirth, Fayard Nicholas, Marni Nixon, Robert Osborne, Elizabeth Parkinson, Rosie Perez, Jane Powell, Lynn Redgrave, Ann Reinking, Donald Saddler, Russ Tamblyn, Esther Williams, and the Williams Brothers.

The evening's entertainment will include Keith Roberts and Sandra Brown in a sequence from The Red Shoes and Les Ballets Grandiva in their version of "The Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat." Maurice Hines will present "The Cotton Club: A Tribute to the Nicholas Brothers," to be performed by Floyd and Faruma Williams in memory of the piece's choreographer, Gregory Hines (Maurice's brother), who died earlier this year.

Among the numbers being created especially for the gala are a Saturday Night Fever sequence that will showcase Movin' Out's John Selya, choreographed by Andy Blankenbeuhler; a tribute to dancing couples choreographed by Artie Phillips, starring David Elder; and the evening's finale, choreographed by Skinner and featuring Marni Nixon, Kate Levering, and two dozen Broadway dancers. As part of the event, awards will be presented to Fayard Nicholas, Turner Entertainment Co., and (posthumously) to Donald O'Connor. Also, Cyd Charisse will receive the Movado Dance Award for recognition of her contributions to dance.

Show-only tickets range in price from $45-$95 and are still available at the City Center box office, through Citytix at 212-581-1212, or via the website www.citycenter.org. For gala tickets ranging from $550-$1000 and including an auction, dancing at Cipriani 42nd Street and a post-performance black-tie supper with the stars, call 212-582-8270.

 

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