Dancers Lost 2025
JANUARY
3 - Born in 1938, Micaela Flores Amaya, performing under the name La Chunga, was a cousin of Carmen Amaya (1913-1963), and began dancing a barefoot style of flamenco at the age of six. She inspired painters Dalí and Picasso, among others, and even exhibited her own paintings.
6 - Contemporary dancer Volodymyr Rakov (born in 1994) won the 2013 Everybody Dance! competition in Ukraine. He later volunteered for the Armed Forces after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and was killed in action.
7 - Contemporary dancer Carolyn Brown (born September 26, 1927) was one of the original company members and performed with Merce Cunningham (1919-2009) between 1953-1973.
12 - Choreographer Lynn Taylor-Corbett (born December 2, 1946) is best known for her work in the Broadway musical Swing! (1999) and the movie Footloose (1984).
14 - Square and round dancer Virginia “Ginny” Crapo (born March 17, 1938) along with her husband Denis, a renowned dance cuer, choreographed over 150 round dances and won the prestigious McNutt Award for their contributions to round dance in the Pacific Northwest.
15 - Ballet dancer Vsevolod Nemolyaev (born February 22, 1937) later directed the Bolshoi Theatre.
18 - Dancer Lewis “Butter” Neal participated in the Washington DC and national swing dance community with partner Leslie Mallory (1957-2023) and Neal penned the book The Art of Hand Dancing: that saved my life (2020).
23 - Kathryn Mihelick chaired the Kent State University dance program from 1978-1988 and founded the liturgical group, Leaven Dance Company in 1992.
29 - Ice dancer Alexandr “Sasha” Kirsanov (born August 17, 1978) was in the Potomac River mid-air plane collision. During his career, he competed with various partners on behalf of the United States, Azerbaijan, and Russia.
FEBRUARY
2 - Childhood dance star Kay Ann Wilhelm (born April 4, 1934) studied with Fred Kelly (1916-2000), the brother of Gene Kelly (1912-1996). She toured nationally and with the USO and later taught dance out of a studio in her home.
4 - Mariah Celisse Lefford (born February 13, 2002) was a young, talented dancer who spent years choreographing and competing at Kinetic Arts and graduated with a minor in dance from the University of Colorado in Boulder.
14 - Dancer Sara Luzita (born August 11, 1922) performed with Ballet Rambert and also specialized in Spanish dance.
16 - Cabaret dancer Yolanda Montes, known as Tongolele (born January 3, 1932) was known as the “Queen of Tahitian Dance” in Mexico during the 1940s-1950s. She also appeared in films, including Nocturne of Love (1948) and later in Isle of the Snake People (1971) with horror actor Boris Karloff.
17 - Ballerina and teacher Katharyn Horne (born June 20, 1932) danced with an early version of American Ballet Theatre (ABT) and the Metropolitan Opera Ballet in the 1950s-1960s, later relocating to Nebraska to run the Omaha Ballet until 1980.
18 - Christian Holder, brother of Geoffrey Holder (1930-2014) was born in Trinidad on June 18, 1949 and grew up in a dancing family and performed with the Joffrey Ballet from 1966-1979, later choreographing, designing costumes and creating visual artwork.
19 - Dancer and teacher Julia Janet Juarez (born December 18, 1940) competed in ballroom competitions from 1974-2006 in California, Texas, and Georgia. She excelled in West Coast swing, ballroom, line dance, and clogging.
20 - Dancer Harriet Berg (born December 6, 1924) taught modern dance and folk dance at the Wayne State University dance program in the 1950s and founded multiple performing groups in the Detroit metro area, including Renaissance Dance Company and the Isadora Duncan Dance Ensemble, and supported the dance community throughout Michigan.
20 - Dance teacher Stacy McCoy (born October 17, 1965) choreographed and taught at Dance Reach with Mary Rose in Ohio, inspiring the next generations of dancers.
22 - Indian Odissi dancer Mayadhar Raut (born July 6, 1930) helped to resurrect the dance form in the 1950s to earn its status as one of the respected classical dance forms.
25 - Ballet dancer and choreographer Milko Šparemblek (born December 1, 1928) performed with the Croatian National Theatre, Maurice Bejart (1927-2007), and later choreographed and made 40 ballet films.
26 - Dancer Sonia Chapa Gomez (born January 9, 1967) was the Artistic Director of the Ballet Español dance company at the University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley, and directed a professional company as well that performed internationally with Ricky Martin, Rocio Durcal, and Maria Elena Beltran.
MARCH
8 - Dance teacher Carmela Cristina Lampasona (born November 19, 1950) operated her studio, Dance World, from 1973-2000 in Virginia, inspiring countless dancers over almost three decades.
16 - Born in 1948 or 1949, Indian dancer and film star Bindu Ghosh appeared in multiple Tamil-language films from 1960 into the early 1990s..
17 - Dancer and teacher Diane Russon Chatwin (born on May 16, 1934) taught at Brigham Young University and mentored students at Ariel Theatre in Utah.
18 - Ballet dancer Perry Brown (also known as Dr. Ballet) was born June 2, 1956 and performed with the Los Angeles Ballet, becoming a principal dancer in 1982. Brown later earned an MFA from Texas Christian University (TCU) and spent his career choreographing for stage productions, film, and television.
18 - Dance teacher Janice Rae Hovsepian (born October 22, 1942) founded the Janice Rae Studio of Dance in Pennsylvania, inspiring dance students for over 40 years.
19 - Dancer Chantel Bellews was born circa February 1991 and performed as part of the TV series, Britain’s Got Talent and in musicals in the UK.
26 - Ballet dancer Ray Barra (born January 3, 1930) performed with American Ballet Theatre from 1953-1959 and with the Stuttgart Ballet beginning in 1959, working with choreographer John Cranko (1927-1973) before retiring after an injury in 1966 and serving as a ballet master for several European ballet companies.
29 - Dance teacher Rose C. Norton was born August 8, 1932 and founded: "Miss Rose" founded Rose's School of Dance in 1964, instructing students and choreographing local musicals for over 50 years in New York state.
31 - Cuban folk dancer and teacher, Silvina Fabars (born on February 22, 1944) performed worldwide with the National Folkloric Ensemble and later taught in multiple universities and assisted with establishing folk dance groups in Venezuela and other countries.
APRIL
1 - After studying and performing abroad, Jamaican dancer Bert Rose (born circa May 1939) returned to Jamaica to help found the National Dance Theatre Company, and his choreography for NDTC blended modern dance with Jamaican folk dance forms in the early 1970s.
3 - Julianna Sannino, also known as JJ, was born August 12, 2004, and performed with the dance company at Sacred Heart University.
8 - Indian folk dancer Ram Sahay Pandey (born March 11, 1933), practitioner of Rai dance, a one-maligned form of dance he helped to revive and redefine.
9 - South Korean ballet dancer Moon Byung-nam (born circa 1961) performed with the Korea National Ballet from 1984-1992, later choreographing and serving as ballet master.
12 - Indian kathak dancer and pioneer, Kumudini Lakhia (born May 17, 1930) urged practitioners of the dance form to include groups of performers rather than only solo dancers, and to utilize contemporary stories in the repertoire.
13 - French ballet dancer Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux (born April 9, 1943) danced with the Paris Opéra Ballet and replaced an injured dancer in a Balanchine ballet, joining the New York City Ballet in 1970 for the next decade. He later led the Charlotte Ballet and the Chautauqua Institution’s School of Dance and was married to fellow Balanchine dancer, Patricia McBride (1942-).
19 - Dancer Julian Benson (born February 26, 1971) known as “Captain Sparkle” for his custom-made sparkle jackets, served as a judge on the Irish version of Dancing with the Stars from 2017-2020, and he also supported Cystic Fibrosis patients and charities.
20 - Ballet dancer George Lee (born February 18, 1935) may have been the first Asian dancer to perform with the New York City Ballet. He also performed in the original Broadway version of Flower Drum Song (1958). While performing in Las Vegas, he trained to be a casino card dealer and pursued the career for 40 years.
28 - Dancer Carol Werkmeister (born April 9, 2025) was a Chicago-based ballroom dancer who, along with her partner Vito Bertucci, was part of the oldest dancing duo in the country.
MAY
10 - South African choreographer David Thatanelo April (born 1969), taught at the University of Pretoria School for the Arts who supported the blending of Contemporary and African dance forms and cross-disciplinary collaboration.
19 - Yuri Grigorovich (born January 2, 1927) helmed the famed Bolshoi Ballet from 1964-1995, steering the direction of Russian ballet for over three decades.
19 - Celebrated soloist, Yuri Vladimirov (born January 1, 1942) danced with the Bolshoi Ballet from the 1960s-1980s and served as a master rehearser from 1987 onward. He was married to fellow dancer Nina Sorokina (1942-2011).
22 - Choreographer Edie Cowan (born April 14, 1942) was in original Broadway productions of Funny Girl (1964) and Annie (1977) and she staged the original off-Broadway version of Little Shop of Horrors in the 1980s.
25 - Tadashi Endo, born in 1947, was a Butoh dancer who founded the MAMU Butoh Center in Germany.
25 - Israeli dancer/choreographer Yair Vardi (born May 29, 1948) danced with Batsheva Dance Company and later directed the Suzanne Dellal Centre for Dance and Theatre in Tel Aviv.
28 - Australian dancer Lesley Lewis, was a vital part of the square and round dancing community, along with her partner Doug Lewis in the Newport Ocean Waves organization, located in New South Wales.
30 - Best known as the voice of Abuelita in the movie Coco (2017), actress Renée Victor (born July 25, 1938) began her career as a dancer and singer performing worldwide before beginning her film and TV career.
JUNE
Early June - Dancer and teacher Sandra Neels (born September 21, 1939) performed with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company between 1963-1973 and later assisted in the restaging of his works. She choreographed over 200 original works and served as a dance professor at Winthrop University in South Carolina, also writing about teaching dance in both book form and for dance-related magazines.
1 - Dancer and beloved teacher Honey Lou Funkhouser (born December 28, 1931) founded a dance studio in Warrenton, Virginia and choreographed musicals for the local high school.
3 - Bharatanatyam dancer and teacher Anita Menon studied in India with guru Chitra Visveswaran and relocated the the United States in 1994, founding the Anjali School of Dance in Portland, Oregon, later teaching in Sacramento, California and Houston, Texas.
3 - Ballet dancer Valery Panov (born March 12, 1938) performed with the Kirov Ballet from 1964-1972 and was allowed, along with his wife Galina, to relocate to Israel in 1974. Panov worked with the Berlin Opera Ballet, and the Royal Ballet of Flanders, later founding the Ashdod Art Centre and Panov Ballet Theatre in Israel.
13 - Dancer Mary Ann LaJoie-Sandroff performed with Sadler’s Wells Ballet, Detroit City Ballet, and Muriel Abbott Dancers in Chicago, later founding the Center of Creative Dance and publishing books on dance instruction.
16 - Choreographer Dave Scott (born August 15, 1972) is best known for his work on movies You Got Served (2004) and Step Up 2: The Streets (2008) and for working with So You Think You Can Dance for several seasons.
16 - Dance educator Jody A. Dombrowski (born May 9, 1967) taught and mentored countless students at multiple dance studios in the Northeastern United States, including Nolte Academy.
19 - Dancer and scholar Dr. Naomi Jackson (born 1964) taught at Arizona State University for 30 years and published multiple books including Dance and Ethics (2022), and Dance, Human Rights, and Social Justice (2008).
29 - Indian classical dancer Thiyam Suryamukhi Devi (born June 1, 1935) is best known for contributions to Manipuri-style dancing, promoting and preserving it around the world.
JULY
6 - Dancer Carla Maxwell (born October 25, 1945), quite rightly called “The Keeper of the Flame,” performed with the José Limón Dance Company starting in 1965 and soon stepped into the role of Artistic Director from 1977-2015, preserving the works of the choreographer and steering the company following the death of its namesake in 1972.
11 - Ballet dancer Romayne Grigorova (born 1927) performed with the Royal Ballet and Ballet Rambert in the 1940s before accepting the position of Ballet Mistress for the Opera House at the Royal Opera house and choreographed a number of ballets for the organization.
12 - Champion of dance Charlie Reinhart (born 1930) served as director of the American Dance Festival for over 40 years and as Artistic Director of the Kennedy Center and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, creating space for dancers and dance audiences to interact. His efforts at the National Endowment for the Arts founded the Dance Touring Program and the Artists-in-Schools program, and the depth and breadth of his unending mentorship and support of dance artists and arts administrators can be appreciated in this Dance Magazine obituary.
16 - Indian Kathak dancer Mangala Bhatt (born 1963) founded the dance academy Aakruti Kathak Kendra with her husband, Kathak dancer Ragav Raj Bhatt and combined Kathak with dance forms flamenco, modern dance, and ancient martial art kalaripayattu.
19 - Choreographer Charles Augins (born September 17, 1943) is best known for choreographing the hit stage show Five Guys Named Moe (1991) in London’s West End, which quickly moved to Broadway and was nominated for best musical in 1992.
19 - Australian student ballet dancer Layla-Maria Grubb (born April 8, 2007), who studied at Village Nation and danced with the JLC Dance Company, passed unexpectedly following a hospital visit for a suspected seizure.
22 - Peter DeAngelis (born September 8, 1977) was passionate about Greek dance culture and founded the Kleftes Dance Group in the Denver metro area, blending traditional dances and dances with a modern spin in his programs.
23 - Estonian dancer and teacher Ants Tael (born July 19, 1936) is best known for being a judge on the country’s version of the television show Dancing with the Stars between 2006 and 2010.
27 - Moroccan-born American dancer and choreographer Hassan Oakrim (born circa 1939) taught traditional Moroccan dances at the off-off-Broadway La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club.
27 - Dancer and schoolteacher Lisa René Aiello (born November 20, 1969) studied and taught dance throughout her career as an educator, and exercise instructor, and she also choreographed musicals for local schools and community groups.
AUGUST
2 - Beloved dance teacher Mimi Connell (born October 25, 1941) spent over six decades working with the Eleanor Connell School of Dance in New Jersey, founded by her parents, and choreographed musicals for the Hunterdon Hills Playhouse for three decades.
5 - Dance philanthropist Glorya Kaufman (born January 23, 1930) donated to the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and the Juilliard School in New York City. In California, she donated to the University of Southern California to establish the Glorya Kaufman School of Dance and International Dance Center, which began enrolling students in 2015.
10 - Dancer Linda Hodes (born June 3, 1931) danced with the Martha Graham Dance Company from 1947-1958 and assisted the formation of the Batsheva Dance Company in Israel in the 1960s, and was responsible for maintaining Graham’s repertoire there. In the mid-1970s she relocated to New York to work as rehearsal director for both the Graham company and Paul Taylor Dance Company.
11 - Indigenous Australian dancer and choreographer Noel Tovey (born December 25, 1934) relocated to London, where he performed in the saucy musical Oh! Calcutta in the West End in the early 1970s. He also championed the rights of LGBT elders and was the artistic director for the Indigenous welcoming ceremony at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
12 - Nicaraguan dancer and choreographer Irene López (born April 5, 1945) is best known for work that celebrated and preserved local folklore.
17 - Dancer and co-founder of the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company in Utah (1964), Shirley Ririe (born 1929) inspired thousands of students at the University of Utah, where she and Joan Woodbury (passed November 1, 2023) shared a position, both championed the National Endowment for the Arts Artists-in-Schools program, and built a modern dance program, supported in part by their mentor, choreographer Alwin Nikolais (1910-1993).
24 - Dancer and choreographer Rodney Frank Reiner (born September 19, 1953) is best known for choreographing Country Music Association television specials, music videos for Hank Williams, Jr. and Crystal Gayle, and for serving the Tennessee Arts Commission.
SEPTEMBER
2 - Australian ballet dancer Garth Welch (born April 13, 1936) performed with the Borovansky Ballet and with companies in Scotland and Chile in the 1950s before returning to join the Australian Ballet in the early 1960s and choreographing for multiple companies across the country.
2 - Dancer Dona S. Rosenblatt (born April 13, 1946) is best known for founding the Rimonim dance company in Dallas, a performing group dedicated to celebrating Jewish culture and arts.
6 - Scottish-born dancer and teacher Georgina Finlay (born April 20, 1932) was known for her contributions to preserving and sharing Scottish country dance in Canada and internationally through the Finlay Dancers group.
13 - Dancer and author Sandra Noll Hammond (born December 21, 1935) co-founded the the University of Arizona dance program and was a Baroque dance specialist, authoring multiple articles and several books on ballet basics.
14 - Indian dancer Sarada Hoffman (born June 14, 1929) specialized in Bharatanatyam, studying under Rukmini Devi (1904-1986) in the 1940s, later performing with the Kalakshetra group and teaching at the eponymous institute until 1996.
15 - Elegant burlesque dancer April March (born Velma Fern Worden on June 18, 1935) headlined between 1952-1978, performing first in Dallas and then across North America. She returned to performing in the 2010s, mentoring the next generation of classy burlesque performers.
18 - Choreographer Diane Martel (born May 7, 1962) directed dance documentaries and many dance videos from the 1990s to the 2020s, for popular music artists such as Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Nas, Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé, Miley, Cyrus, and Mariah Carey, including the holiday-themed All I Want for Christmas is You (1994).
26 - English choreographer Paul Roberts (born 1972) is best known for his collaborations with singer Harry Styles for his music videos, but he also worked with Mariah Carey, Paul McCartney, Katy Perry, and Annie Lennox.
30 - Dancer Joshua Allen (born March 13, 1989) is best known for being the 4th season winner of the television show So You Think You Can Dance, later appearing in movies Step Up 3 (2010) and Footloose (remake 2011) and in various TV shows.
OCTOBER
6 - French dancer/choreographer Patrice Bart (born July 30, 1945) performed with the Paris Opera Ballet beginning in 1972 and later served as ballet master and deputy director of the company from 1989 until his retirement in 2014.
6 - Dancer and playwright Thom Fogarty (born circa 1955) performed with Ping Chong (1946-) and Jane Comfort (1946-) and provided dance education opportunities to school children in the New York City metro area for over 30 years. After he retired from dancing, he wrote and produced plays.
7 - Dancer Ann James McCauley (born June 20, 1952) performed with Nancy Spanier Dance Theatre and taught and choreographed for the Denver Center for Performing Arts and managed the Community Dance Collective.
15 - Indian dancer Madhumati (born May 30, 1938) performed in many Bollywood films between 1960-1984, dancing in the classical styles, including Bharatanatyam and Kathak.
18 - Dancer and arts curator Margaret Tedesco (born April 25, 1952) began her career as a dancer and choreographer in Los Angeles and in San Francisco, where she pursued a second career as a visual artist and curator.
18 - Hip hop dancer Derrek Burbridge (born May 13, 1981) aka “D-Wreck” worked in the Cincinnati regional area, served as a national judge for Hip Hop International, and appeared on MTV’s Best Dance Crew, among other performances.
24 - Filipino dancer and choreographer Anna Feliciano (born circa 1960) is best known for choreographing for local television shows in the 1990s.
30 - Dancer Valerie Shelton Tabor (born September 20, 1973) majored in dance, and ended up becoming a lawyer instead. However, she returned to dance in Dallas, creating the performing arm of Contemporary Ballet Dallas, founded in 2005.
NOVEMBER
14 - Dancer Drina Iveagh Gott (born November 8, 1932) won the Highland Dance competition in Canada and later choreographed musicals in her local Baltimore community.
19 - Azerbaijani dancer Roza Jalilova (born May 17, 1929) danced with the Azerbaijan State Philharmonic Society Dance Ensemble in the 1940s and 1950s, later leading the dance ensemble (1965-1974). She created her own ensemble Gulistan in 1991, the first Azerbaijani dance group to perform in the United States.
19 - Los Angeles native and Mexican dancer Teresa de Sevilla (born April 5, 1929) specialized in flamenco dance and appeared in films beginning in the 1940s and 1950s before retiring from film and living in seclusion.
23 - Indian dancer Kumari Kamala (born June 16, 1934) performed Bharatanatyam-style dance in films beginning in the 1940s, appearing in almost 100 films. The film Nam Irubar (1947) assisted with the revitalization of Bharatanatyam, and in 1953 she was invited to perform for Queen Elizabeth II during the coronation festivities.
27 - Ballet dancer Roman Larkin Jasinski, son of ballerina Moscelyne Larkin (1925-2012) and dancer Roman Jasinsky, performed with the Tulsa Ballet and later served as the artistic director, carrying on his parents’ legacy in Oklahoma.
28 - Dance educator Marjorie Stephens Merrill McDaniel (born November 6, 1924) taught dance at the University of Utah and at Weber State University, and appeared in the original production of musical Promised Valley (1947) by choreographer Helen Tamiris (1902-1966), commissioned by the state of Utah for its centennial celebrations.
29 - Dance educator and director, Gretta Assaly (born June 16, 1939) is best known for choreographing the Disney show Out of the Box in the late 1990s.
29 - Filipino musician and dancer Alonzo Saclag (born August 14, 1942) championed the dances and music of the Kalinga people and he founded the Kalinga Budong Dance Troupe to help preserve and share the culture of his ancestors.
DECEMBER
2 - Hip-hop and jazz dancer Donyelle Jones (born July 3, 1979) was a finalist on the television show So You Think You Can Dance during season two and danced in a music video with Missy Elliott.
2 - Dancer and lawyer Angela M Bennett, Esq. (born October 11, 1952) studied dance at the University of Missouri Kansas City Conservatory dance department and directed the Black Exodus dance troupe in college. She went on to study law and continued to support dance organizations such as the Alvin Ailey American Dance Company during her law career.
4 - Dancer Jennifer Potts (born December 4, 1951) performed with Houston Ballet and Atlanta Contemporary Dance Company before relocating to North Carolina and becoming a founding partner of the Ballet School of Chapel Hill, teaching there for nearly four decades.
9 - Viral sensation known as the "Dancing Nana,” Shirley Cohen Goodman danced well into her 90s. Born March 14, 1923, Goodman founded her own dance school and taught tap and line dance for many decades, later appearing on Good Morning America when she was 96.
15 - Dancer Angie Allendorf Price (born April 1, 1967) directed the Washburn University Dancing Blues for over 30 years and founded the Infinity Dance Studio in Topeka, Kansas. She also choreographed many musicals for multiple local high schools.
2 - Dancer Criscilla Anderson (born March 25, 1980) choreographed for the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders and danced with pop stars Britney Spears and Rihanna. She starred in a reality show Country Ever After on Netflix.
11 - South African dancer and rap artist Junior King is best known for his presence on TikTok and for collaborating with fellow artist Kay Medusa on music videos.
15 - Artist, model, and dancer Blair Laden (born March 16, 1926) explored the dancing side of her personality starting in 1984 while performing with groups such as Perceptual Motion, Abiogenesis Movement Project, Evanston Dance Ensemble, and Meredith Monk (1942-).
17 - Dutch choreographer Hans van Manen (born July 11, 1932) created more than 150 contemporary ballets for companies worldwide, including the Dutch National Ballet, Netherlands Dans Theater, and the Royal ballet.
19 - Dance teacher Sharon Evans-Rose (born November 9, 1940) danced with the Charleston Ballet before returning to West Virginia with her husband, dancer Jerry Rose, and opening the Beckley Dance Theatre School.
30 - Dancer Carmen de Lavallade (born March 6, 1931) studied with modern choreographer Lester Horton (1906-1950) and danced with Alvin Ailey (1931-1989) and performed well into her 80s. She is the cousin of ballerina Janet Collins (1917-2003) and married dancer Geoffrey Holder (1930-2014).
