Phil LaDuca has performed with, choreographed, sang, danced with, or designed for virtually every major star over the last forty years.
LaDuca is the most recognied name in dance shoes, but before the shoes there was Phil LaDuca, the performer. Phil went from classical Ballet and Contemporary dance, on to Broadway as a song and dance man, to ‘hoofing’ with the biggest stars onstage and on the big screen.
Phil began his early stage career singing in rock bands...read more
Phil LaDuca has performed with, choreographed, sang, danced with, or designed for virtually every major star over the last forty years.
LaDuca is the most recognied name in dance shoes, but before the shoes there was Phil LaDuca, the performer. Phil went from classical Ballet and Contemporary dance, on to Broadway as a song and dance man, to ‘hoofing’ with the biggest stars onstage and on the big screen.
Phil began his early stage career singing in rock bands in Chicago before switching gears to a dance career. He studied classical ballet with premier Ballet masters, Bentley Stone and Walter Camryn, Jazz with Lou Conte and Hubbard Street Dance Company, and Contemporary with Joel Hall Dancers.
On Broadway, he appeared in Brigadoon for Agnes DeMille as a lead sword dancer (along side Jerry Mitchell), the Pirates of Penzance with Kevin Kline, and was the original understudy for the Gene Kelly role in Singin’ In the Rain for Twyla Tharp. Phil also toured in Camelot with Richard Harris, along with staring on tour in the lead role, of Bill Snipson in Me and My Girl.
While in New York, Phil first performed with American Dance Machine under the legendary Lee Theodore, working with such greats as Bob Fosse, Jerome Robbins, Ona White, Danny Daniels, Patricia Birch, Ann Reinking, and Chita Rivera. Later, he began choreographing, directing, and teaching master classes around the world – choreographing Jazz pieces in Amsterdam (with Mia Michaels), in St. Petersburg where he was dubbed the Godfather of Jazz , the first American Jazz dance teacher in St. Petersburg, Russia (where in his honor they have opened up the “Phil LaDuca Broadway Dance Center”), as well as choreographing several pieces in Vienna for the Wien Opern Haus.
Phil created the internationally acclaimed LaDuca Shoe Line, becoming the “Shoemaker to the Stars.” Along with being the first Shoe commentator for Miss America in 2015, Phil is most proud of being bestowed a Drama Desk Award 2017 for “Proving that character comes from the ground up, the designer’s innovative flexible dance ensures that hoofers on any stage remain on point”.
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