Onna White - Dancing on the Street
by Claire J Rottenberg
Onna
White,
choreographer of numerous Broadway musicals and
the movie version of "Oliver!," introduced large
street scene choreography to the big screen. She
created lively dances that involved large numbers
of dancers in natural environments. Her work on
"Oliver!" in 1968 earned her a special Academy
Award.
White started dancing as a preteen and then
progressed to joining the San Francisco Ballet
Company. At the age of 25, in 1947, she made her Broadway
debut as
a dancer in "Finian's Rainbow." This musical began
an eight-year mentoring relationship between White
and her predecessor, Michael Kidd. From 1947 to
1956, White appeared as a dancer in six Broadway
musicals, four of which were choreographed by
Kidd. In 1955, she got her first job as a
choreographer on a revival of "Guys and Dolls," a
musical originally choreographed by Kidd. She
followed this that same year with her second job
as a choreographer on another Kidd revival,
"Finian's Rainbow."
White got her first job as the choreographer of an
original Broadway musical, "The Music Man," in 1957.
Her work on this project earned her the first of
eight Tony nominations. Although White's career as a
choreographer spanned 24 years with several major hit
Broadway musicals, such as "Half a Sixpence," "Mame"
and "1776," she surprisingly never won a Tony
award.
In 1962, White went to Hollywood to choreograph the film
version of "The Music Man." She
followed this a year later with "Bye Bye Birdie."
White then returned to Broadway to choreograph
four musicals. When she once again worked on a
film musical in 1968, it was her most known and
acclaimed film, "Oliver!" Her work on the Academy
Award winning film resulted in unique and
energetic choreography that used large groups of
dancers in street scenes, an approach that was new
to film media. Interestingly, similar type scenes
were choreographed a year later by Michael Kidd in
the film version of "Hello, Dolly!" White received
an honorary Academy Award for her exceptional
choreography for "Oliver," 28 years before her
mentor Kidd received his honorary Academy
Award.
After "Oliver!," White continued to work as a
choreographer on both Broadway and film musicals.
From 1969 to 1978, she choreographed seven Broadway
musicals and four movie musicals, including "1776"
and "Mame." She retired as a choreographer after her
last Broadway musical, "Working," in 1978. White died
in 2005 at the age of 83.