Personal tools
You are here: Home DanceBreak Foundation Board of Directors Marge Champion
Document Actions

Marge Champion

Last modified 02/14/2008 05:18 PM

Successors to Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Marge and Gower Champion were legendary in the 50's for their ballroom dancing in night clubs, television and MGM musicals. Born in Hollywood, Marge grew up in the center of the dance and movie world. Her father Ernest Belcher was the Dean of the West Coast dancing masters and staged many dance sequences for the movies. He trained Shirley Temple, Cyd Charisse, Gwen Verdon...and Marge.

Marge Champion
Marge Champion

Marge began her career with Walt Disney as the live action model for "Snow White", the Blue Fairy in "Pinocchio", and the Hippopotamus Ballerina in the "Dance of the Hours for "Fantasia", which she also choreographed. She appeared in "The Castles" with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and on Broadway in "Beggar's Holiday", famous for its Duke Ellington/John Latouche score.

During their collaboration, Marge and Gower Champion staged the dances for the Broadway musical revues, Lend an Ear and Make a Wish. Their film appearances included "Mr. Music" with Bing Crosby, "Show Boat", "Lovely to Look At", "That's Dancin'!" and "That's Entertainment Part II" and on television "Toast of the Town", "The Dinah Shore Show", and "The Marge and Gower Champion Show."

After their divorce in 1973, Ms. Champion co-authored two books, Catch The New Wind and God is a Verb and was the choreographer for Whose Life is it Anyway?, The Day of the Locust, and for which she received an Emmy Award. With her late husband, film director Boris Segal, Marge continued her work in choreography and as a dialogue coach for "Masada", "The Diary of Anme Frank", "Lute Song", and Kiss me Kate at the Berkshire Theatre Festival. In August 1991 Marge Champion received the LEGENDS OF THE DANCE AWARD at Florida State's Triple Crown Ballroom Dance Championship, the largest ballroom dance championship in America.

Marge Champion served an eight-year stint as a member of the nominating committee of the Antoinette Perry (Tony) Awards and consequently saw every show produced on Broadway from 1991 to 1998. Massachusetts in 1997 honored Ms. Champion with its Commonwealth Award, citing her "leadership as a true patron of the arts, not only as a financial donor, but equally important, in lending her national reputation, time and vision to...cultural organizations in the Berkshires and to young artists at the beginning of their careers." Ms. Champion sits on the Executive Committee of the Williamstown (MA) Theatre Festival, teaches master classes at the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, and is a member of the Advisory Board of the Berkshire Theatre Festival.

In 2001 Marge returned to the Broadway stage in Stephen Sondheim's Follies where she once again danced with her long time friend and dance partner Donald Sadler.

In 2002 Marge was honored with the American Choreography Award for Career Achievement. The American Choreography Award was created in 1994 and is now recognized as the highest standard of achievement in choreography throughout the entertainment industry.

Photograph by Ben Strothmann