Actress, Dancer, Choreographer Ann Reinking Dies At 71

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Ann Reinking, pictured holding her Tony Award for best choreography for the musical Chicago in 1997, died on Saturday, her family said in a statement.

Richard Drew/AP

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Richard Drew/AP

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The actress, dancer and choreographer is pictured during a performance of Chicago as it became the second longest running show in Broadway history in 2014 in New York City.

Walter McBride/Getty Images

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Walter McBride/Getty Images

The actress, dancer and choreographer is pictured during a performance of Chicago as it became the second longest running show in Broadway history in 2014 in New York City.

Walter McBride/Getty Images

A mainstay in Broadway musicals for decades, Reinking was both a muse and lover to Fosse.

That relationship was a pivotal plot line — though somewhat fictionalized — in FX’s recent limited series production, Fosse/Verdon. Fosse was married to Gwen Verdon. Reinking consulted on the project, serving as a personal sounding board to actress Margaret Qualley, who portrayed the famous dancer.

«I was really nervous because I wanted to do right by her,» Qualley told IndieWire of the experience. «I looked up to her for so long, was so familiar with her. More than anything, I wanted her to like it. I didn’t even know her yet, but I was already thinking about that.»

On Monday, choreographer Christopher Dean, whom Variety reports teaches Reinking’s niece, mourned the death of the actress.

«The lights on Broadway are forever more dim this morning and there is one less star in the sky,» he wrote in Facebook post. «The good news is that heaven has the very best choreographer on earth now.»

• choreography
• Broadway musical
• theater
• dance
• broadway