Richard Gere and Mitzi Gaynor to Be Honored at Swellegance Gala March 7 in Boston

Richard Gere lit up the big screen with his dance moves in Chicago and Shall We Dance, Mitzi Gaynor wowed television audiences with her sizzling, 70's variety spectaculars and in such film classics as Les Girls and South Pacific- and now both are coming to Boston to be honored at Swellegance, the Boston Youth Moves annual fundraiser on Saturday, March 7th at the Westin Copley Place.

Honorary Event Chair and Broadway legend Chita Rivera will be on hand joining Event Emcee and WCVB-TV (Channel 5) on-air personality, JC Monahan.

The Golden Globe winning Gere will receive the first-ever Boston Youth Moves Image Award for heightening the visibility of dance, in particular for male dancers. In recognition of her body of work and commitment to dance, Gaynor will be the 2009 recipient of the ninth annual Boston Youth Moves Lifetime Achievement Award, which will be presented by Rivera.

Swellegance is the annual Boston Youth Moves, creative black tie fundraising gala that features an evening of dancing, dining, complimentary champagne and performances by the talented BYM students. This year's event will also feature a unique silent auction, live music by the Mark Greel Band and a special performance by Kirven J. Boyd, principal dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Boyd, a graduate of the BYM program, will perform a work created by Matthew Rushing, soloist with the Ailey company. Cocktails begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Westin Copley Place Hotel in Boston's Back Bay on March 7th. Tickets can be purchased by contacting Boston Youth Moves at (617) 523-1355.

A humanitarian and actor, Gere is known for his roles in such films as Unfaithful, An Officer and a Gentleman, Days of Heaven, American Gigolo, Pretty Woman, Primal Fear and Internal Affairs. He recently finished filming Amelia opposite Hillary Swank and Ewan McGregor and Brooklyn's Finest with Don Cheadle and Ethan Hawke.

Born in Philadelphia, Gere won a gymnastic scholarship to the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, where he majored in philosophy. While in college, Gere caught the acting bug and left school after two years to pursue acting.

As an accomplished pianist and composer, Gere sang and danced his way onto the big screen in 2002 in the Academy Award winning film Chicago as infamous lawyer Bill Flynn, for which he won a Golden Globe Award as Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy. Other dance roles have included the musical Grease in London's West End as well as the films The Cotton Club and Shall We Dance with Susan Sarandon and Jennifer Lopez. He currently lives in New York with his wife, Carey Lowell, and their son.

Mitzi Gaynor, a Golden Globe winning actress, singer and dancer, has 17 films to her credit. She starred in the Academy Award winning film classic Les Girls, The Joker is Wild and received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in the unforgettable blockbuster adaption of Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific.

Gaynor's television specials, including Mitzi...Roarin' in the 20's and Mitzi...Zings Into Spring, were groundbreaking song and dance spectaculars, earning her 17 Emmy nominations and six Emmy wins over a decade, establishing her as one of television's preeminent stars.

As a live performer, Gaynor has toured top concert halls, nightclubs and performing arts centers both in the U.S. and Canada. She is currently touring the country in her new one-woman song and dance extravaganza, Razzle Dazzle! My Life Behind the Sequins.

To purchase tickets for Swellegance or for more information, call Boston Youth Moves at the Jeannette Neill Dance Studio at (617) 523-1355 or visit www.bostonyouthmoves.org. BYM is sponsored in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Boston Youth Moves

Co-founded in 1990 by Jim Viera and Jeannette Neill, Boston Youth Moves provides ongoing dance education to help encourage young people to explore their limitless potential for artistic expression and realize personal success. Boston Youth Moves offers classes in many diverse disciplines of dance including jazz, ballet, modern and tap, as well as classes in various ethnic styles. The faculty of Boston Youth Moves aim to spark an interest in dance and the performing arts, not only as a career option, but also as a form of self-discipline and artistic expression. For more information on Boston Youth Moves, visit www.bostonyouthmoves.org.

 

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.

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