Career
Sappington joined the Joffrey Ballet in 1965 at the personal invitation of founder Robert Joffrey. In 1969 she co-wrote, choreographed, and performed in the original off-Broadway musical Oh! Calcutta!, and in 1971 choreographed Weewis, her first ballet. In 1975, in recognition of her work in the Broadway revival of the play Where's Charley?, she received nominations for both a Tony Award for Best Choreographer and a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Choreography. In 1983, as the first American choreographer working with Beijing's Central Ballet of China, Sappington created their ballet Heliotrope. In 1988, her ballet Virgin Forest, inspired by Henri Rousseau's jungle paintings, was created for the Milwaukee Ballet and was the subject of an award-winning documentary by PBS. In 1993, as a section of the Joffrey's evening-length performance Billboards, she created and danced in Slide, as scored by musician Prince.
In 2001, with the participation of the group The Indigo Girls, Sappington created a piece called The Indigo Girls Project for the Atlanta Ballet. In 2005, for Charles Strouse's Real Men at the Coconut Grove Playhouse, she created and danced a role in the premiere. Also in 2005, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award presented to her by the Joffrey Ballet in recognition of her service to the arts. In 2007 Sappington created a ballet called Common People, set to William Shatner's album, Has Been, which was performed by the Milwaukee Ballet. Shatner attended the premiere and filmed the event, footage of which became Gonzo Ballet, a feature film to be released in 2009.
In the United States, her choreography has been used by companies such as the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Carolina Ballet, the Joffrey Ballet, the Houston Ballet, the Harkness Ballet, the Milwaukee Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and the Pennsylvania Ballet, and internationally by companies including Aterballetto and Nederlands Dans Theater. She has also choreographed for many opera productions, including Aida, Samson and Delilah, and La Gioconda for the San Francisco Opera.
Read more about this topic: Margo Sappington
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