March 15, 2025 • 15 mins
In this episode of The Rest of the Story on "Hey, Dancer!", we dive into the life of Paula Kelly — whose skill was so revered that Bob Fosse declared her the best dancer he had ever seen.
From captivating audiences in "Sweet Charity" alongside Shirley MacLaine to shining on the stage of London’s West End, Paula's journey through the arts is both inspiring and monumental.
Discover how she transitioned from Juilliard to impactful roles on stage, film and television, and her dedication to teaching the next generation.
I also share a personal story about my encounter/connection with Paula, which unexpectedly got me emotional while recording this podcast.
Watch this ep on YouTube to see Paula dance!
Check out my Return to Dance docuseries!
Support my Instagram — where I post daily dance inspo, insights and fun! @backtogreat
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hey there, welcome to my weekly series The Rest of the Story on my podcast.
(00:07):
Hey dancer, I'm your host Miller Daurey and I'm very happy to have you here.
I've got a lot of gratitude for your presence.
So thank you for listening.
Take a moment if you will to rate and review, follow, subscribe, like, comment, share, wherever
you're watching or listening.
That really does help the algorithm wherever you're watching or listening.
(00:29):
It lets them know, oh, there's more engagement than only listening.
Let's spread this podcast around.
Let's spread the dance love.
That's how it works.
So again, thanks in advance.
Today is a new one in the sense that I actually have a connection, a story with this week's
subject.
(00:50):
That's never happened before.
So make sure you stick around till the end because I'm going to tell you all about it.
All right, let's get to it.
She's born in 1942, Jacksonville, Florida, one of three sisters in a tight-knit working
class family.
Her dad is a liquor store clerk, her mom in retail and at just six months old, they join
(01:11):
the second great migration, a time when many African Americans migrated northward and westward,
making better economic opportunities and escaping racial discrimination with New York being
a significant destination for many.
And they land in Harlem's Sugar Hill.
Home is a cramped walk-up on 150th Street.
(01:34):
It's a lively nook, jazz pours from windows and legends like Billy Holiday are playing live
nearby.
Junior High, she sings and choir.
A teacher hears promise in that voice of hers and nudges her to audition for Fiorello
H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art.
(01:54):
Manhattan's performing arts jewel.
Later, the fame school.
Guess what?
She nails it.
Picks music, eyeing a singing career.
But a summer camp shifts her course.
I went to a summer camp which had a wonderful dance program and got interested in that.
She'd recall.
(02:14):
Senior year, she's set.
I was in my last year in high school when I began to think of becoming a dancer, she said.
But what really cemented dance for her?
Well, it might have been the time her dad scraped enough cash so that she could go see West Side
story on Broadway, from the balcony, there she is, sitting and watching Chida Rivera do
(02:40):
her thing.
This is it, she decides.
Dance is her call.
She's late to it though.
No early ballet or tap lessons like most young dancers, so she digs in.
A scholarship gets her to Juilliard, 1960, training under Martha Hill, the Academy's first
(03:00):
director of dance.
She's there, dawn to midnight, working her tail off, feeling the need to prove herself,
fueled by chicken, mustard greens and shitterlings, southern roots her mom keeps warm for her when
she gets home from studying.
Year 2.
A pro gig pulls her.
A friend's tip lands her on tour with Harry Belafonte, her first stage.
(03:25):
She's back at Juilliard by 1961 shifts to fine arts, but leaves in '64.
Now sources argue to chuget a degree or not.
We don't know for sure, but what we do know for sure is her drive is clear.
That year, Broadway calls, a new musical starring Barbara Cook, something more, where she
(03:46):
starts in the chorus.
And soon, she's a soloist with top dance companies, such as Martha Graham and Alvin Ailey.
By 1966, choreographer Donald McHale spots her, and he books her for TV specials, dancing
for Gene Kelly's New York New York, where they literally performed a duet together.
(04:07):
She also books specials with Sammy Davis Jr. and Harry Belafonte.
In 1967, she auditions and lands "Sweet Charity" in Vegas, at Caesar's Palace.
She's Helene, a sharp-tongued taxi dancer holding her own next to Juliet Prouse, already
a film star from GI Blues, the show hops to London's West End, and she goes to, lighting
(04:31):
up the stage and eventually wins the London Variety Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Bob Fossy stepping up for his first film, spots her there, and pulls her into the 1969
screen version of "Sweet Charity."
My gosh, she's only 26, it's her film debut.
(04:53):
The idea of adjusting stage moves for the camera scared the wits out of her, and now there
she is, starring alongside Shirley McLean and Shida Rivera, the dancer she'd watched
in awe from the balcony years before, a full circle thrill she called "almost too much
to comprehend."
(05:14):
It's a rush, she slinks through Big Splendor.
Lifts there's gotta be something better than this.
Walter Kerr, iconic theater critic, later calls her "cool and angular" a presence.
That year, introduced by Sydney Patee, she solos on the Oscars stage in Chidi Chidi Bang Bang
(05:35):
for minutes, starting alone then with UCLA's band, "Horayr Oscars Spotlight."
For anyone, much less a dancer, a spotlight she owns.
Dance is her heartbeat.
In 1973, she's at the Tony Awards, dancing with Gwen Verden and Donna McKecney, a trio of
legends, cementing her mark.
(05:58):
From here, she's teaching at Maffundi Institute, a Black Cultural Arts Center in Watts, California,
post 1965 riots.
It's for black kids who'd miss out otherwise, she says, guiding them from ballet to Bougalou,
rebuilding a scarred community.
The 70s tilt to acting, the Andromeda strain, uptown Saturday night, but dance pulls back.
(06:23):
In 1972, her standout role in "Don't bother me, I can't cope," a musical review, earns
her an LA drama critic's circle award.
81s "Cephisticated Ladies" pairs her with Gregory Hines.
TV grabs her.
Nightcourt.
84.
She's a series regular.
The women of Brewster Place, a mini series in '89.
(06:46):
Guess what?
She's nominated for an Emmy for both.
Acting.
Glows.
Hines a household presence, but dance stays her core.
Quote, "The only time I feel complete expression is when I'm dancing.
Then I have no problems, no worries, no hangups, I feel I could do anything."
(07:08):
Fossy.
Years on.
Dubs her.
The best dancer I've ever seen.
By 1999, she retires, leaves the stage and screen goes quietly.
A decade later, in 2009, she's back, crowns at Ebony Repertory Theater, moving at 67
years old, still sparking.
(07:30):
Harlem's daughter carved her own path through dance and never stopped.
Her name, Paula Kelly.
And now you know the rest of the story.
Well, dance fan, you know there's always so much that I want to include in these episodes,
but for the sake of time and just for what I'm doing with this particular series, it's
(07:52):
to just to truncate and to give you as much as possible to leave an impression of this
extraordinary dance legend's life.
You know, under five minutes, maybe seven or eight minutes depending.
And there's always so much I could share.
And today I'll share just a little bit more.
You know her acting really was impressive.
(08:12):
She was on lots of shows like Sanford and Sun, police woman, the Golden Girls, which I
really remember her from.
I love that show and she played a housekeeper who did Voodoo and she was just so good.
And just to give you an idea of how talented she was, Lee Daniels, who you might know,
(08:33):
who's a very famous director, screenwriter, producer.
Well, I didn't know this until I did research on Paula Kelly.
He was a talent manager in his early days in the 80s and guests who he managed, Paula Kelly.
And he's on record as calling her quote, our Meryl Streep.
He felt that her talent was ultimately too big for the roles she landed.
(08:58):
And because of her skin color, it didn't get the opportunities that should have made her
on the level of an acting legend.
And I don't know.
I think that's very powerful because oftentimes when we think of a triple threat, right, someone
who can do the three things, acting, singing, dancing, usually it's somebody who can do those
(09:19):
three things really well.
Often it's one of those things amazingly and the other two pretty good.
It's rare when somebody is gifted at each individual thing, acting, singing, dancing.
Paula Kelly was that anomaly.
(09:40):
She truly was a genius at each of the three.
And before I get to how I know her or my connection with her, don't forget, take a moment.
Please rate the show, review it if you enjoyed this episode and you're watching on YouTube.
Give it a like, comment, share with your dance fam, names like Paula Kelly need to be known
(10:01):
and click on the link in the show notes so that you can see the extraordinary footage of
this extraordinary woman.
Okay, so what is my connection with Paula Kelly?
Well, in my return to dance docuseries and on this podcast I have talked about from time
to time, the fact that I won a dance award when I was a teenager.
(10:21):
It was the most prestigious award for best dancer in California, the Music Center Spotlight
Awards and there were three judges and who was one of the judges?
Well, Ms. Paula Kelly.
Interestingly, one of the other judges was Juliet Prous, who I also mentioned in this particular
(10:42):
podcast because they start together in sweet charity in Vegas, if you recall me saying earlier,
and Juliet Prous went on to be a huge film dance star.
Anyway, I performed a solo on the stage of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and that's another
interesting thing I did not realize, a connection that I have with Paula Kelly is that when I
(11:06):
mentioned earlier that she performed a solo at the Oscars to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, it
was on that same stage.
That is so neat.
Anyway, I just remember my mom freaked out because my mom knew who Paula Kelly was and
my mom always knew the dance greats, which I like to think is in my blood because of that.
(11:28):
I'll never forget this and I looked it up because I didn't have it readily available, but
Paula Kelly spoke to the LA Times about me at the time when they did a feature on me winning
this competition and here is this little excerpt from the LA Times.
One of the competition judges, actress dancer Paula Kelly said, "Dare" has the singular
(11:54):
quality of being able to totally shape the story he's telling.
End quote.
"Oh my god, that makes me really emotional, reading that out loud.
To know that this legend, you know, watched me, her eyes watched me as a dancer and that
(12:15):
she said that to the LA Times is just extraordinary.
I mean, and it's interesting, I guess I never really thought about this, but I talk often
about in my return to dance project, my social media, how the art of telling a story I feel
has been lost a lot in dance today.
(12:37):
And the fact that Paula Kelly pulled that out from what she saw of me, you know, dancing,
I don't know.
It's just so meaningful to me.
It is so powerful.
I just, yeah, so I just wanted to mention that and wow, just the honor of knowing that this
(12:57):
woman saw me dance, wow, I mean, right?
Wow.
Okay, I'm obviously having a hard time formulating my words right now.
That was a moment.
And I think I just said this, but share this episode with your dance fam.
You know, dancers need to know the legends who paved the way for us.
They really do.
There's a really amazing clip on YouTube, which you must check out with James Earl Jones introducing
(13:24):
her and talking to her at the Mofundi Institute, which I mentioned earlier.
And I just, I love so much that Paula Kelly always gave back, you know, that she, it was important
to her even when she was still very, very young to teach the new generation.
Oh my gosh.
So I've stopped the podcast and I'm, I hit record again because I just remembered something
(13:49):
else that I totally forgot that I went to go see Paula Kelly.
I don't know when I want to say it was late 90s early 2000s in Los Angeles.
She was performing a one woman show like a nightclub act thing.
And I don't remember much else about the performance except that I was there.
(14:10):
I don't know if I was even with anybody, but I remember watching her and just watching
her with so much love, you know, from this intimate audience setting.
And oh my gosh, it's just so crazy how memory works because I haven't thought about this in
years.
She, I just remember going up to her afterward and telling her who I was and she remembered.
(14:33):
And we hugged and it was this lovely moment.
Wow.
Okay.
So in my life, I have crossed her path at least two times.
How lucky am I?
Okay.
Until next week.
Hey there, welcome to my weekly series The Rest of the Story on my podcast.
(00:07):
Hey dancer, I'm your host Miller Daurey and I'm very happy to have you here.
I've got a lot of gratitude for your presence.
So thank you for listening.
Take a moment if you will to rate and review, follow, subscribe, like, comment, share, wherever
you're watching or listening.
That really does help the algorithm wherever you're watching or listening.
(00:29):
It lets them know, oh, there's more engagement than only listening.
Let's spread this podcast around.
Let's spread the dance love.
That's how it works.
So again, thanks in advance.
Today is a new one in the sense that I actually have a connection, a story with this week's
subject.
(00:50):
That's never happened before.
So make sure you stick around till the end because I'm going to tell you all about it.
All right, let's get to it.
She's born in 1942, Jacksonville, Florida, one of three sisters in a tight-knit working
class family.
Her dad is a liquor store clerk, her mom in retail and at just six months old, they join
(01:11):
the second great migration, a time when many African Americans migrated northward and westward,
making better economic opportunities and escaping racial discrimination with New York being
a significant destination for many.
And they land in Harlem's Sugar Hill.
Home is a cramped walk-up on 150th Street.
(01:34):
It's a lively nook, jazz pours from windows and legends like Billy Holiday are playing live
nearby.
Junior High, she sings and choir.
A teacher hears promise in that voice of hers and nudges her to audition for Fiorello
H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art.
(01:54):
Manhattan's performing arts jewel.
Later, the fame school.
Guess what?
She nails it.
Picks music, eyeing a singing career.
But a summer camp shifts her course.
I went to a summer camp which had a wonderful dance program and got interested in that.
She'd recall.
(02:14):
Senior year, she's set.
I was in my last year in high school when I began to think of becoming a dancer, she said.
But what really cemented dance for her?
Well, it might have been the time her dad scraped enough cash so that she could go see West Side
story on Broadway, from the balcony, there she is, sitting and watching Chida Rivera do
(02:40):
her thing.
This is it, she decides.
Dance is her call.
She's late to it though.
No early ballet or tap lessons like most young dancers, so she digs in.
A scholarship gets her to Juilliard, 1960, training under Martha Hill, the Academy's first
(03:00):
director of dance.
She's there, dawn to midnight, working her tail off, feeling the need to prove herself,
fueled by chicken, mustard greens and shitterlings, southern roots her mom keeps warm for her when
she gets home from studying.
Year 2.
A pro gig pulls her.
A friend's tip lands her on tour with Harry Belafonte, her first stage.
(03:25):
She's back at Juilliard by 1961 shifts to fine arts, but leaves in '64.
Now sources argue to chuget a degree or not.
We don't know for sure, but what we do know for sure is her drive is clear.
That year, Broadway calls, a new musical starring Barbara Cook, something more, where she
(03:46):
starts in the chorus.
And soon, she's a soloist with top dance companies, such as Martha Graham and Alvin Ailey.
By 1966, choreographer Donald McHale spots her, and he books her for TV specials, dancing
for Gene Kelly's New York New York, where they literally performed a duet together.
(04:07):
She also books specials with Sammy Davis Jr. and Harry Belafonte.
In 1967, she auditions and lands "Sweet Charity" in Vegas, at Caesar's Palace.
She's Helene, a sharp-tongued taxi dancer holding her own next to Juliet Prouse, already
a film star from GI Blues, the show hops to London's West End, and she goes to, lighting
(04:31):
up the stage and eventually wins the London Variety Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Bob Fossy stepping up for his first film, spots her there, and pulls her into the 1969
screen version of "Sweet Charity."
My gosh, she's only 26, it's her film debut.
(04:53):
The idea of adjusting stage moves for the camera scared the wits out of her, and now there
she is, starring alongside Shirley McLean and Shida Rivera, the dancer she'd watched
in awe from the balcony years before, a full circle thrill she called "almost too much
to comprehend."
(05:14):
It's a rush, she slinks through Big Splendor.
Lifts there's gotta be something better than this.
Walter Kerr, iconic theater critic, later calls her "cool and angular" a presence.
That year, introduced by Sydney Patee, she solos on the Oscars stage in Chidi Chidi Bang Bang
(05:35):
for minutes, starting alone then with UCLA's band, "Horayr Oscars Spotlight."
For anyone, much less a dancer, a spotlight she owns.
Dance is her heartbeat.
In 1973, she's at the Tony Awards, dancing with Gwen Verden and Donna McKecney, a trio of
legends, cementing her mark.
(05:58):
From here, she's teaching at Maffundi Institute, a Black Cultural Arts Center in Watts, California,
post 1965 riots.
It's for black kids who'd miss out otherwise, she says, guiding them from ballet to Bougalou,
rebuilding a scarred community.
The 70s tilt to acting, the Andromeda strain, uptown Saturday night, but dance pulls back.
(06:23):
In 1972, her standout role in "Don't bother me, I can't cope," a musical review, earns
her an LA drama critic's circle award.
81s "Cephisticated Ladies" pairs her with Gregory Hines.
TV grabs her.
Nightcourt.
84.
She's a series regular.
The women of Brewster Place, a mini series in '89.
(06:46):
Guess what?
She's nominated for an Emmy for both.
Acting.
Glows.
Hines a household presence, but dance stays her core.
Quote, "The only time I feel complete expression is when I'm dancing.
Then I have no problems, no worries, no hangups, I feel I could do anything."
(07:08):
Fossy.
Years on.
Dubs her.
The best dancer I've ever seen.
By 1999, she retires, leaves the stage and screen goes quietly.
A decade later, in 2009, she's back, crowns at Ebony Repertory Theater, moving at 67
years old, still sparking.
(07:30):
Harlem's daughter carved her own path through dance and never stopped.
Her name, Paula Kelly.
And now you know the rest of the story.
Well, dance fan, you know there's always so much that I want to include in these episodes,
but for the sake of time and just for what I'm doing with this particular series, it's
(07:52):
to just to truncate and to give you as much as possible to leave an impression of this
extraordinary dance legend's life.
You know, under five minutes, maybe seven or eight minutes depending.
And there's always so much I could share.
And today I'll share just a little bit more.
You know her acting really was impressive.
(08:12):
She was on lots of shows like Sanford and Sun, police woman, the Golden Girls, which I
really remember her from.
I love that show and she played a housekeeper who did Voodoo and she was just so good.
And just to give you an idea of how talented she was, Lee Daniels, who you might know,
(08:33):
who's a very famous director, screenwriter, producer.
Well, I didn't know this until I did research on Paula Kelly.
He was a talent manager in his early days in the 80s and guests who he managed, Paula Kelly.
And he's on record as calling her quote, our Meryl Streep.
He felt that her talent was ultimately too big for the roles she landed.
(08:58):
And because of her skin color, it didn't get the opportunities that should have made her
on the level of an acting legend.
And I don't know.
I think that's very powerful because oftentimes when we think of a triple threat, right, someone
who can do the three things, acting, singing, dancing, usually it's somebody who can do those
(09:19):
three things really well.
Often it's one of those things amazingly and the other two pretty good.
It's rare when somebody is gifted at each individual thing, acting, singing, dancing.
Paula Kelly was that anomaly.
(09:40):
She truly was a genius at each of the three.
And before I get to how I know her or my connection with her, don't forget, take a moment.
Please rate the show, review it if you enjoyed this episode and you're watching on YouTube.
Give it a like, comment, share with your dance fam, names like Paula Kelly need to be known
(10:01):
and click on the link in the show notes so that you can see the extraordinary footage of
this extraordinary woman.
Okay, so what is my connection with Paula Kelly?
Well, in my return to dance docuseries and on this podcast I have talked about from time
to time, the fact that I won a dance award when I was a teenager.
(10:21):
It was the most prestigious award for best dancer in California, the Music Center Spotlight
Awards and there were three judges and who was one of the judges?
Well, Ms. Paula Kelly.
Interestingly, one of the other judges was Juliet Prous, who I also mentioned in this particular
(10:42):
podcast because they start together in sweet charity in Vegas, if you recall me saying earlier,
and Juliet Prous went on to be a huge film dance star.
Anyway, I performed a solo on the stage of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and that's another
interesting thing I did not realize, a connection that I have with Paula Kelly is that when I
(11:06):
mentioned earlier that she performed a solo at the Oscars to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, it
was on that same stage.
That is so neat.
Anyway, I just remember my mom freaked out because my mom knew who Paula Kelly was and
my mom always knew the dance greats, which I like to think is in my blood because of that.
(11:28):
I'll never forget this and I looked it up because I didn't have it readily available, but
Paula Kelly spoke to the LA Times about me at the time when they did a feature on me winning
this competition and here is this little excerpt from the LA Times.
One of the competition judges, actress dancer Paula Kelly said, "Dare" has the singular
(11:54):
quality of being able to totally shape the story he's telling.
End quote.
"Oh my god, that makes me really emotional, reading that out loud.
To know that this legend, you know, watched me, her eyes watched me as a dancer and that
(12:15):
she said that to the LA Times is just extraordinary.
I mean, and it's interesting, I guess I never really thought about this, but I talk often
about in my return to dance project, my social media, how the art of telling a story I feel
has been lost a lot in dance today.
(12:37):
And the fact that Paula Kelly pulled that out from what she saw of me, you know, dancing,
I don't know.
It's just so meaningful to me.
It is so powerful.
I just, yeah, so I just wanted to mention that and wow, just the honor of knowing that this
(12:57):
woman saw me dance, wow, I mean, right?
Wow.
Okay, I'm obviously having a hard time formulating my words right now.
That was a moment.
And I think I just said this, but share this episode with your dance fam.
You know, dancers need to know the legends who paved the way for us.
They really do.
There's a really amazing clip on YouTube, which you must check out with James Earl Jones introducing
(13:24):
her and talking to her at the Mofundi Institute, which I mentioned earlier.
And I just, I love so much that Paula Kelly always gave back, you know, that she, it was important
to her even when she was still very, very young to teach the new generation.
Oh my gosh.
So I've stopped the podcast and I'm, I hit record again because I just remembered something
(13:49):
else that I totally forgot that I went to go see Paula Kelly.
I don't know when I want to say it was late 90s early 2000s in Los Angeles.
She was performing a one woman show like a nightclub act thing.
And I don't remember much else about the performance except that I was there.
(14:10):
I don't know if I was even with anybody, but I remember watching her and just watching
her with so much love, you know, from this intimate audience setting.
And oh my gosh, it's just so crazy how memory works because I haven't thought about this in
years.
She, I just remember going up to her afterward and telling her who I was and she remembered.
(14:33):
And we hugged and it was this lovely moment.
Wow.
Okay.
So in my life, I have crossed her path at least two times.
How lucky am I?
Okay.
Until next week.
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