the chorus line style of dancing was introduced in

“She got used to me,” he says with a laugh. “The boys all dance with her individually, and so, all of a sudden, my turn came and I sweep her in my arms and she goes, ‘Oy God, who are you?’ And I said, ‘I’m the new boy.’ And she went, ‘Oy! No one told me,’” Avian recalls. His second night as part of the cast, he went on, stepping into “Henry Street” with Streisand.

The show was one week into its run Avian had never swung before, but he took the job. When Avian danced with Streisand… In 1964, Larry Fuller, the dance captain for Broadway’s Funny Girl, needed a male swing.

The tour was about to move on to its next city and the hospital wouldn’t release her and the Wall was nearing completion… “The day we’re leaving Berlin, Michael Bennett and I sneak into the hospital, sneak into her room, throw her stuff in her bag, throw her clothes on and sneak her out of the hospital to the train that was leaving Berlin!” Partners in crime. Next thing, she’s in the hospital with a concussion.” “That particular performance, it didn’t move upstage and she got kicked in the head. “While we were in Berlin, during the ‘Cool’ number, the drugstore set is supposed to move upstage so they could do the dance,” Avian explains. Bennett had begun dating Avian’s best friend. Their friendship solidified in Germany as the Berlin Wall was going up. “It established the beginning of our working relationship for 25 years,” says Avian. The two dancers performed in the international tour of West Side Story.

READ: 13 Choreographers Every Broadway Fan Should KnowĪvian and Bennett Met Doing West Side Story, and a Lifelong Partnership Was Born But, ahead of the book’s release, Avian agreed to give Playbill a sneak peek by walking down memory lane. Come February 6, he shares those wild tales in his new memoir, Dancing Man: A Broadway Choreographer’s Journey.

“In my heart, I’m still that.” Yet, as his résumé reveals (in addition to the above, it includes associate choreographer of Coco, Company, Seesaw, Ballroom, and producer of Dreamgirls) the history of theatre and, therefore, the current state of the art would not be the same without him.įrom making his debut in Broadway’s original West Side Story to performing alongside Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl, Avian’s life in the theatre has been a fascinating one. “I’m just an old Broadway gypsy,” he says. And, after Bennett’s death, Avian choreographed-on his own-such iconic musicals as Miss Saigon, Sunset Boulevard, and Putting It Together not to mention directing and choreographing productions of A Chorus Line around the world.īut Avian began as a dancer. Avian modestly refers to himself as “the second banana,” but Avian was unquestionably Bennett’s partner in crime. Do you know the name? Do you know A Chorus Line? Promises, Promises? Follies? The Broadway dancer and choreographer created all of these alongside Michael Bennett as his associate choreographer, or, in the case of A Chorus Line, his co-choreographer.

The chorus line style of dancing was introduced in