Chorus line
A chorus line is a large group of dancers who together perform synchronized routines, usually in musical theatre. Sometimes, singing is also performed.
![](../I/m/Rice_%26_Barton's_Big_Gaiety_Spectacular_Extravaganza_Co._-_Gaiety_Dancers.png)
Theatrical poster from 1900 showing an early chorus line.
Chorus line dancers in Broadway musicals and revues have been referred to by slang terms such as ponies, gypsies and twirlies. A chorus girl or chorine is a female performer in a chorus line (i.e. the chorus of a theatrical production as opposed to a choir).
Musicals
- A Chorus Line (1975) - centers on a chorus line audition in Broadway
Famous chorus lines
![](../I/m/WLA_filmlinc_Radio_City_Music_Hall_4.jpg)
A relief on the exterior of Radio City Musical Hall, New York City
![](../I/m/Modern_chorus_line.jpg)
A modern chorus line
- Gaiety Girls (started in England during the 1890s)
- The Rockettes (U.S. act founded in 1925)
- Tiller Girls (international act starting in the 1890s)
- Ziegfeld girls
Famous performers
Performers who started out dancing in chorus lines include:
- Josephine Baker[1]
- Lucille Ball[2]
- Tallulah Bankhead
- Joan Blondell
- Betty Boothroyd[3]
- Louise Brooks[1]
- Ada "Bricktop" Smith
- Karin Booth
- Patricia Barry
- Constance Bennett
- Jeanne Crain
- Ruth Chatterton
- June Clyde
- Ellen Corby
- Imogene Coca
- Joan Crawford[4]
- Bette Davis
- Constance Dowling
- Doris Dowling
- Marion Davies
- Marlene Dietrich
- Myrna Dell
- Ja'Net DuBois
- Myrna Loy
- Yvonne De Carlo
- Alice Faye
- Rhonda Fleming
- Paulette Goddard[1]
- Betty Grable
- Rita Hayworth
- June Haver
- June Havoc
- Audrey Hepburn
- Patricia Heaton
- Dorothy Mackaill
- Ann Miller
- Eve Miller
- Jeanette MacDonald
- Miriam Hopkins
- Lena Horne[1]
- Adele Jergens
- Dorothy Jordan
- Ruby Keeler[4]
- Phyllis Kennedy
- Dorothy Lamour
- Dorothy Mackaill
- Dorothy Malone
- Shirley MacLaine
- Jessie Matthews
- Virginia Mayo
- Florence Mills
- Marilyn Monroe
- Vera Miles
- Nita Naldi
- Noreen Nash
- Julie Newmar
- Aida Pierce
- Jean Porter
- Marjorie Reynolds
- Ginger Rogers
- Jean Rogers
- Ruth Roman
- Amzie Strickland
- Barbara Stanwyck[1]
- Inger Stevens
- Joan Shawlee
- Gwen Verdon
- Tyra Vaughn
- Jane Wyman
- Marie Windsor
- Shelley Winters
References
- Cantu, Maya. American Cinderellas on the Broadway Musical Stage: Imagining the Working Girl from Irene to Gypsy, p. 49 (Palgrave Macmillan 2015).
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2017-10-30.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "Profile: 'Call me Madam'". BBC News. 2000-10-23. Retrieved 2012-09-09.
- Cantu, Maya. American Cinderellas on the Broadway Musical Stage: Imagining the Working Girl from Irene to Gypsy, p. 18 (Palgrave Macmillan 2015).
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