Emmy-Winning Choreographer Phil Black Has Passed Away

On the morning of June 5 at the Actors Fund Nursing Home in Englewood NJ, the Jazz and Tap teacher Phil Black passed away after fighting Parkinson's disease for over 20 years.

For over 40 years there wasn't a Broadway dance musical produced that didn't have at least half of its dancers trained by Phil. Until moving to BDC in the early '90s his studio on the corner of 50th st. and Broadway was a second home to thousands of aspiring professional dancers. It used to be said that if you could do his advanced class you were good enough to dance on Broadway.

Well respected by artists like Chita Rivera and Ben Vereen, Phil trained veteran performers such as Greg Burge, Jennifer Lopez, Goldie Hawn, Irene Cara, Danielle Brisboise, Cynthia Onrubia, Charlotte d'Amboise, and Eddie Mecca. As a choreographer he won 2 Emmy awards, one for The Tap Dance Kid and the other for Unicorn tales, he staged and choreographed the 1964 Worlds Fair as well as many commercials.

Until the end of the night club era he was constantly in demand as a choreographer and performer. In addition to having lines at famous nightclubs like Jack Silverman's International, where he also performed with stars like Judy Garland, and Brooklyn's Town and Country, Phil performed with Flip Wilson and vaudeville duo Smith and Dale in "Old Bucks and New Wings" and co-starred with Mickey Rooney in "Sugar".