Anita Mann

In her three-and-a-half-hour interview, Anita Mann talks about her early years and her favorite dancers growing up. She speaks of appearing as a dancer in the feature films Bye Bye Birdie and The T.A.M.I. Show, where she worked with James Brown and met fellow dancer Toni Basil. She speaks of dancing on the ABC series Shindig!, and of working with Elvis Presley on several projects, including Elvis: The '68 Comeback Special. She recalls dancing with Davy Jones on The Monkees, and working as the assistant choreographer on The Lucy Show and Here’s Lucy with Lucille Ball. Mann discusses dancing for and choreographing the Academy Awards, and choreographing Cher’s solo variety show Cher. She speaks of working on several projects with Jim Henson, including The Fantastic Miss Piggy. She details her time as choreographer on Solid Gold, including what she looked for in a dancer on the show, the process of creating dance steps for the show and keeping them fresh, and being nominated for two Emmys for her work. She concludes with a discussion on how the business has changed since she started, and by giving advice to aspiring choreographers. Nancy Harrington conducted the interview on April 5, 2018 in Santa Monica, CA.