 | Transcending Boundaries: My Dancing Life Donald Cohen McKayle was born in Manhattan, New York on July 6, 1930. In 1947, he received a scholarship to the New Dance Group, a company dedicated to promoting social change. Three years later he was on Broadway as part of the ensemble in the musical revue Bless You All. He became one of the first choreographers to weave the African-American experience into the fabric of modern dance. He was a professor of dance at the University of California, Irvine, for almost 30 years. He formally retired from the university in 2010, but he continued to teach and to work with the ensemble. He was the first black man to direct and choreograph a Broadway musical. Raisin won the 1974 Tony Award for best musical. He was nominated for both his roles as director and as choreographer. He received several other Tony nominations during his lifetime. He also choreographed movies like Bedknobs and Broomsticks, the 1980 remake of The Jazz Singer, and Minstrel Man. His memoir, Transcending Boundaries: My Dancing Life, was published in 2002. He died on April 6, 2018 at the age of 87. (Bowker Author Biography) |
