Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Choreographer for ‘Footloose’ and Broadway’s ‘Swing!,’ Dies at 78

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Renowned choreographer Lynne Taylor-Corbett, who trained Kevin Bacon in acrobatic dance sequences for his role in ‘Footloose’, and garnered two Tony nominations for her work on ‘Swing!’, has sadly passed away at the age of 78.

On January 12th, Taylor-Corbett passed away due to breast cancer in Rockville Centre, New York, as reported by her son, Shaun Taylor-Corbett, to The New York Times.

Previously a dancer with the Alvin Ailey dance company, Taylor-Corbett additionally held the position of Broadway choreographer for several productions. These include ‘Shakespeare’s Cabaret’ in 1981, ‘The Boys of Winter’ in 1985, ‘Chess’ in 1988, ‘Sally Marr … and Her Escorts’ in 1994, ‘Titanic’, which ran from 1997 to 1999, ‘Jackie’ during the same period, and ‘Swing!’ from 1999 to 2001. Notably, Taylor-Corbett contributed songs for these shows as well as directed them.

Or in a more concise way:

Taylor-Corbett was once a dancer with the Alvin Ailey dance company and later served as a Broadway choreographer for productions such as ‘Shakespeare’s Cabaret’, ‘The Boys of Winter’, ‘Chess’, ‘Sally Marr … and Her Escorts’, ‘Titanic’, ‘Jackie’, and ‘Swing!’. She also wrote songs and directed these shows.

“Swing!” – an exuberant portrayal of dance during the big band epoch – boasted no dialogues and garnered five Tony nominations, among which were ‘Best Musical’ and both ‘Best Choreography’ and ‘Best Direction of a Musical’, for Taylor-Corbett.

Back in 1984, Bacon admitted that he wasn’t much of a dancer when he teamed up with Taylor-Corbett to portray Ren McCormack, a character who strives to lift the dance ban in a small Texas town, in the movie “Footloose,” which was helmed by Herbert Ross.

He shared that he underwent extensive gymnastics and dancing practice. Mornings often found him discovering muscles he hadn’t known existed, which were sometimes sore. He described the experience as both demanding and thrilling.

Taylor-Corbett’s filmography encompasses titles such as “The In Crowd” from 1988, “My Blue Heaven” with Ross in 1990, “Vanilla Sky,” directed by Cameron Crowe in 2001, and Nora Ephron’s “Bewitched” from 2005.

In Taylor-Corbett’s own words, as shared with the Times, her goal as both a dancer and choreographer revolves around being comprehensible. She believes dance should not be a mental exercise exclusive to performers, but rather an experience shared by both dancers and spectators. Her aim is for the dancers to express something profound and for the audience to grasp the same essence.

Born in Denver on December 2, 1946, Lynne Aileen Taylor was one of six sisters. Her dad, Travis, worked as a high school vice principal, while her mom, Dorothy, was a skilled pianist and music educator.

At seventeen years old, she relocated to New York for enrollment at the School of American Ballet. Simultaneously, she held a job as an usher at Lincoln Center, the base of operations for the New York City Ballet.

In the late 1960s, Taylor-Corbett traveled to Africa and the Middle East as a company member of Ailey for two consecutive seasons. Additionally, they performed on Broadway in the play “Promises, Promises“, which premiered in 1968, co-created by Neil Simon and Burt Bacharach.

Or,

Taylor-Corbett spent the late 1960s touring Africa and the Middle East as part of Ailey’s dance company for two seasons. They also made their Broadway debut in “Promises, Promises“, a production by Neil Simon and Burt Bacharach that opened in 1968.

1972 marked a shift in her dance career as she, along with other dancers, established the Theater Dance Collection, leading her to focus more on choreography. A decade later, she made a significant breakthrough with “Great Galloping Gottschalk”, a ballet inspired by the compositions of Louis Moreau Gottschalk from New Orleans.

Since 1987, Susan Taylor-Corbett has been responsible for choreographing and directing over a dozen off-Broadway musicals. Among these productions are the 1992 version of “Eating Raoul”, the 2009 show “My Vaudeville Man!”, and last year’s Native American themed musical, “Distant Thunder”.

Besides her son, survivors also include her siblings: Sharon, Kelly, Janny, Leslie, and Kathleen. Memorial donations on her behalf can be sent to the Amas Musical Theatre, earmarked for the upcoming production of “Distant Thunder“.

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2025-01-20 20:25