Henry LeTang

Infobox actor
name = Henry LeTang

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imagesize = 180px
caption =
birthname =
birthdate = birth date|1915|06|09
birthplace = New York City, New York, USA
deathdate = death date and age|2007|04|26|1915|06|09
deathplace = Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
othername =
occupation = Choreographer, dancer
spouse =
yearsactive =
website =
academyawards =
tonyawards = Best Choreography
1989 "Black and Blue"

Henry LeTang (June 19 1915 - April 26 2007) was an American theatre,
film, and television choreographer and a dance instructor.

Biography

Born in the Harlem neighbourhood of Manhattan, LeTang was the second son of Clarence, born in Dominica, and his wife Marie, who emigrated from St. Croix. The couple owned and operated a radio and phonograph repair shop. All their children were musically inclined; in addition to his interest in dance, LeTang played the violin. At the age of seventeen, he opened his first studio, one small room with a piano. Over the ensuing decades he taught and/or worked with a multitude of entertainment personalities, including Lena Horne, Betty Hutton, Billie Holiday, Eleanor Powell, Lola Falana, Peter Gennaro, Leslie Uggams, Joey Heatherton, Chita Rivera, Ben Vereen, Debbie Allen, Hinton Battle, Savion Glover, and the Hines brothers, Maurice and Gregory.

LeTang devised dance routines for the Broadway musicals "My Dear Public" and "Dream with Music" in the mid-1940s, but his first credit as a full-fledged choreographer was the 1952 revue "Shuffle Along" with Eubie Blake. Twenty-six years later, he would receive Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations for his work on "Eubie!", a song-and-dance tribute to the musician. Additional credits include "Sophisticated Ladies" (1981), which earned him a second Tony nomination, and "Black and Blue" (1989), which finally won him the prize. LeTang's screen credits include Francis Ford Coppola's "The Cotton Club" (1984) and "Tap" (1989). For television he choreographed "The Garry Moore Show" for seven years, staged the "Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon" numerous times, and created dance routines for George Balanchine and Milton Berle. His last project was the Showtime bio-film "Bojangles" in 2001.

The Oklahoma City University Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Arts Management [http://www.okcu.edu/dance_amgt] , headed by Dean John Bedford and dance department chairman Jo Rowan, presented LeTang with a Living Treasure in American Dance Award in 1995 and with an Honorary Doctor of Performing Arts in American Dance degree in 2002. In the years prior to his death, he resided in Las Vegas, Nevada, teaching master classes from his home studio and travelling several times a year to hold classes in New York City.

LeTang died of natural causes in Las Vegas, Nevada at the age of 91.

References

*cite web | author= | title=Henry LeTang | url=http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/2937/Henry_LeTang_a_pioneer_hoofer__/ | work=African-American Registry | date=2008 | accessdate=2008-08-13

External links

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