Jack cole choreographer biography for kids
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Jack Cole: The 'scary' dancer who made Marilyn sparkle
Arts reporter, BBC News
He's been called the father of American jazz dancing.
But Jack Cole was also the man who gave Marilyn Monroe her dance moves.
Jack cole choreographer biography for kids
Another Cole pupil, Chita Rivera - star of the original Broadway West Side Story - recalls him as a demanding choreographer but, more than 60 years on, says she'll never have cause for complaint.
Rivera is one of the few people still to have memories of dancing with Cole in his prime.
She's been a Broadway star since 1957, when she created the role of Anita in West Side Story.
A year before that she'd appeared with Cole on TV on Sid Caesar's comedy show.
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They performed an extended and powerful version of the jazz standard the Beale Street Blues.
"Jack was extraordinary," Rivera says. "The style he created was like nothing else you'd seen. He could be exciting and scary and maybe you did