For so many of us, Thanksgiving is a special day. But, for Tiger Martina (left, executing a complicated dance move), Thanksgiving 2011 was a most special day, and an estimated 45 million people shared it with him both in person and via television. For, this Thanksgiving, Martina created the choreography for a float in the 85th annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The Buffalo-born dancer/choreographer created the dance that was performed on the Office Max Elf Yourself float.
Martina began dancing as a small child in Cheektowaga, a suburb of Buffalo, New York. "My mother and two older sisters danced and they taught me," he says. He put on shows in the family garage. "I'd go to the gas station," he recalls, "buy penny candy to give out and get people to come to my shows."
He continued his dance education while in school and, in 1982, won the prestigious title of Mr. Dance of America, awarded annually by Dance Masters of America the leading organization of dance artists and educators.
After he graduated high school with high honors and was in Who's Who In American Students, Martina took off for New York City. When he went to his first class he was offered a job in a show called Outrageous at Bally's Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City. That show moved to Las Vegas, playing the Copa Room at the Sands Hotel, where it was retitled Sizzle. Next, it was on to Reno and a show called Rage. It was there he met Paula Abdul and, at her request, moved to Los Angeles. Once there, he worked often with Abdul (he's at the left in the photo with her below) and continued to meet people in the dance community.
"I had to go with what came my way," Martina says, "and that move was the exact opposite of all my training in modern and Broadway dance. I was just floating from one thing, one job, to another. I didn't know then that I could do what I love -- be in a show and have a life. But, I was lucky. Everything just kept connecting and connecting."
Those connections led to him meeting the great choreographer Michael Kidd, winner of five Tony Awards for his work on Broadway and an honorary Oscar for his film work that included the choreography for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. He was a dancer in the 1989 Academy Awards that Kidd choreographed. He worked as dancer and assistant choreographer in Paula Abdul music videos, commercials and did choreography and toured with her at the height of her popularity as a singer.
Martina appeared on TV in, among others, Colombo, Cop Rock and It's A Living. In Las Vegas, Martina began to choreograph shows at the major hotels -- the fabled Sands and Stardust, among them, and worked extensively in Lake Tahoe and Reno.
Tiger Martina's list of credits encompasses work with Liza Minnelli, Ellen DeGeneres, with Cheyenne Jackson at New York's 92nd Street Y in a celebration of the music of Burt Bacharach.
He moved to New York in 2003 and, there, has continued to dance (Billy Joel's Movin' Out for Twyla Tharp on Broadway), toured with Liza Minnelli and was in Liza's at the Palace on Broadway (photo at right).
Martina recalls that, "My first night as a professional choreographer was the night my mom passed away. It was awful" but he notes he could always take refuge in dance.
"People downplay the importance of dance," he says. "Dance is a huge part of spirituality. People's feelings and instincts come out through dance. It's very telling. Who we are is expressed in how we move. We see so much in body language. It's a beautiful way for people to become enlightened and know something about another person."
Passionately interested in history, Martina finds one of his latest completed projects, as well as one work-in-progress, stoke that passion. The first is Vegas! The Show now at the Saxe Theater at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas.
Vegas! The Show, one of the very best in the city, is a trip through the entertainment history of Las Vegas. It encompasses the work of Louis Prima and Keely Smith, Sonny and Cher, Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Elvis, Wayne Newton, Tom Jones, Lena Horne and the showgirls who are a signature part of the entertainment scene there.
Martina says he particularly likes Vegas! The Show because "there's a point of view, a theatricality behind it, but there's a lot of respect for what came before that set today's things in motion."
The show stars Eric Jordan Young, an actor-singer with an impressive background. The latter includes a one-man show called Sammy and Me that Martina choreographed.
The work-in-progress is a Broadway-bound piece he's writing with his partner, the very gifted composer-lyricist-performer Lance Horne. The show is called The Strip, and it is in keeping with Martina's fervent wish to "do theater that has something to say, that will open up people's minds. In this fluffy business, people think responsible theater is easily dismissed, but that's the direction I'd like to take."
It was through Lance Horne that Martina began to work for Macy's four years ago. "He wrote a song and they asked him if he knew a choreographer. He brought me in and they asked me if I had a group of kids I wanted to work with. The story he was assigned to tell through dance, and to the music of Mannheim Steamroller, was of the work the elves have to do preparing for Christmas.
Martina brought in the David DeMarie Dance Studio from Clarence, New York, another Buffalo suburb where he'd studied as a child. He created the choreography but until the morning of the parade, never actually saw the float.
Two days before the event, the dancers gathered for rehearsal. "They actually withstood two hours of torrential rain outside in front of Macy's," Martina says, "and then danced their butts off. We have a short rehearsal period tomorrow and one hour before the parade starts Thursday when they finally saw the float for the first time."
"I only hope," he says, "that this Thanksgiving Day experience pales in comparison to what is to come in life for each and every one of them and that each of these students looks back at this experience as a time when they learned that they can achieve any goal with the same hard work and dedication they had working on this project.
"I am already amazingly proud."
The day after Thanksgiving, Martina again reflects, "The parade was amazing and the kids were great! Even up to the last-minute -- like on any television show -- I had to make changes based on the float when I finally saw it. The kids handled it like pros.
"You know," he continues, "I had really underestimated the power of what, through using those students, I would give to them and to the alumni of the David DeMarie Dance Studio.
"When I got home from the parade I had so many messages from students past and present. They thanked me for giving the opportunity to the students but, more so, for the national recognition to the school and -- even more important -- the recognition to our beloved founder David. He was a trailblazer and a man who was as much a community leader as he was a father figure to all he taught."
He adds, "You know, there was no grand scheme to get glory and congratulations. I just hoped we'd succeed and be blessed with a solid performance. We did and we were. It's funny how a simple gesture can give so much joy to so many people. For me, I am just grateful the dancers were willing to trust and follow me. "
Photos: Courtesy of Tiger Martina