Famous Dancers Every Kid Should Know

Quick answer

Tap legends Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Gregory Hines, and Savion Glover, Hollywood stars Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, Broadway innovator Bob Fosse, hip hop pioneers Don "Campbellock" Campbell and Michael Jackson, modern dance founders Martha Graham and Alvin Ailey, and ballet greats Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov make up a solid starter list of famous dancers for kids. Each one changed how people dance, and each has a story a child can actually connect with, whether your dancer loves tap shoes, sneakers, or pointe shoes.

If your child has started asking "who is the most famous dancer ever?", this guide gives you a name from every major style, why that person mattered, and one fun fact worth sharing on the drive to class. For ballet's leading ladies, we keep a separate full list in our guide to famous ballerinas, so this article focuses on tap, jazz and Broadway, hip hop, modern, and a few groundbreaking men of ballet.

Key takeaways

• Tap has a clear family tree kids can follow: Bill Robinson (1878-1949) made it a headline act, Gregory Hines revived it in the late 20th century, and Savion Glover carried it into movies like Happy Feet.

• Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly turned dance into movie magic; their films are still some of the easiest ways to get a child excited about dance history.

• Hip hop's founding dancers, like locking creator Don "Campbellock" Campbell, invented their moves on street corners and TV shows, not in studios, a detail that surprises most kids in a formal dance class.

• Modern dance exists largely because Martha Graham and Alvin Ailey built new ways to move and new companies to carry them.

• Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov proved male ballet dancers could be headline stars; for the great ballerinas, see our separate famous ballerinas guide.

Famous dancers at a glance

Famous tap dancers

Tap is the easiest style for kids to trace through history because each generation clearly learned from the last.

Bill "Bojangles" Robinson (1878-1949) rose from street performing in Richmond, Virginia to become a top vaudeville star, and Britannica credits him as "probably unmatched for ingenuity in creating new steps," especially his famous stair dance. Kids may recognize him from 1930s films with child star Shirley Temple, including The Little Colonel (1935). According to Britannica, he could run backward nearly as fast as most people run forward.

Gregory Hines (1946-2003) started performing as a small child and became, in Britannica's words, "a major figure in the revitalization of tap dancing in the late 20th century." He won the 1992 Tony Award for Jelly's Last Jam and starred in the movie Tap (1989) alongside a young Savion Glover. He shows kids that a "classic" style can come roaring back.

Savion Glover (born 1973) took over the lead in Broadway's The Tap Dance Kid in 1984, then choreographed and starred in Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk, winning a Tony Award for choreography in 1996.

Famous Hollywood and Broadway dancers

Old movie musicals are a low-effort, high-reward way to show kids these dancers in action, since most clips are short and joyful.

Fred Astaire starred in beloved musical comedies with Ginger Rogers, including The Gay Divorcee, Top Hat, and Swing Time, and is regarded by many as the greatest popular-music dancer of all time. His trademark was making difficult steps look effortless, a goal every young dancer can relate to.

Gene Kelly (1912-1996) combined an athletic style with classical ballet technique in a way that transformed the movie musical. Show your child the title number from Singin' in the Rain (1952): one man, one umbrella, a flooded street, and pure happiness. An American in Paris (1951) is another good pick for a rainy-day watch.

Bob Fosse (1927-1987) danced first, then became one of Broadway's most influential choreographer-directors. He won his first Tony for The Pajama Game (1954) and went on to a record eight Tonys for choreography across shows like Sweet Charity and Pippin, plus an Academy Award for directing Cabaret (1972). His style, with its hats, turned-in knees, and small sharp moves, still shapes jazz classes today.

Debbie Allen (a 2020 Kennedy Center Honoree) is the modern bridge between Broadway, TV, and the classroom. She played dance teacher Lydia Grant in the 1980s series Fame, and earned three Emmy Awards for choreography and has choreographed the Academy Awards a record 10 times. For kids in dance class, she is proof that a dancer can grow into a choreographer, director, and teacher who opens doors for others.

Famous hip hop and street dancers

Hip hop's founders were mostly teenagers and young adults inventing moves at parties, on street corners, and on TV dance shows, which is a great reminder for kids that new styles can come from anywhere. Breaking, one of those original street styles, even made its Olympic debut at the Paris 2024 Games.

Don "Campbellock" Campbell created locking, often called the first street dance of hip hop culture. According to his official biography, he perfected his signature "Campbellock" in dance clubs, won contest after contest with it, became a featured dancer on the TV show Soul Train, and founded the influential group The Lockers. His official bio notes that stars like Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson later worked his moves into their own routines, which kids find satisfying: the inventor came first.

Michael Jackson (1958-2009) is what Britannica calls a singer, songwriter, and dancer who "revolutionized pop music with his mesmerizing performances." His moonwalk, that gliding backward walk, is still one of the first moves kids try to copy, and the Thriller video remains a Halloween dance staple. He also borrowed from street dancers like Campbell, which is a nice way to show kids how styles pass between artists.

Famous modern dancers

Modern dance can be abstract, so anchor it in the two founders whose companies still perform today.

Martha Graham (1894-1991) is described by Britannica as the most influential figure in American modern dance. Britannica notes that she "gave modern dance new depth as a vehicle for the intense and forceful expression of primal emotions," and she founded the Martha Graham Dance Company, which still tours. Her famous work Appalachian Spring, with music by Aaron Copland, is a friendly entry point for kids because the music often shows up in school concerts.

Alvin Ailey (1931-1989) founded his own company in 1958, and his signature 1960 work Revelations, set to African American spirituals, is still performed by his company decades later. Britannica calls him "the best-known American choreographer abroad from the 1960s through the '80s." Many families can see Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater live on tour, which makes him one of the easiest legends on this list to experience in person.

Famous male ballet dancers (and where to find the ballerinas)

We keep this section short on purpose: our full guide to famous ballerinas covers legends like Anna Pavlova, Maria Tallchief, and Misty Copeland in depth. Here, meet two men who changed what male dancers could be.

Rudolf Nureyev (1938-1993) defected from the Soviet Union during a 1961 tour to Paris and became a global star, famously partnering Margot Fonteyn at the Royal Ballet. Britannica credits him with reviving "the prominence of male ballet roles" and widening the audience for ballet, with leaps compared to the legendary Vaslav Nijinsky.

Mikhail Baryshnikov (born 1948) trained in the Soviet Union, joined the Kirov Ballet, and defected while on tour in Toronto in 1974. Britannica calls him "the preeminent male classical dancer of the 1970s and '80s." He danced with and later directed American Ballet Theatre, and he reached movie audiences in White Nights (1985), where he danced opposite tap star Gregory Hines. If your child wants to see the ballets these stars performed, our list of 10 classic ballets to know pairs well with this section.

How to bring these dancers to life for your child

1. Watch one short clip per week. A two-minute video of the stair dance, the moonwalk, or Singin' in the Rain lands better than a documentary marathon.

2. Match the dancer to your child's class. Tap students meet Robinson, Hines, and Glover first; hip hop kids start with Campbell; ballet kids start with Nureyev, Baryshnikov, and the ballerinas guide.

3. Let them copy a signature move. Trying a slow-motion moonwalk or a Fosse hat trick in the living room turns history into play, and comfortable practice clothes like a simple leotard or tee make it easier to move freely.

4. Explore a new style together. If a dancer sparks curiosity about a style your child has not tried, our overview of popular types of dance explains what each one looks and feels like.

FAQ

Who is the most famous dancer in the world?

There is no single official answer, but Michael Jackson is probably the most recognized dancer among kids worldwide thanks to the moonwalk and Thriller, while critics often put Fred Astaire at the top for popular-music dance. For classical ballet, Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov are the names most people know.

Who are some famous dancers in history?

Bill "Bojangles" Robinson (tap, 1878-1949), Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly (Hollywood musicals), Martha Graham (modern dance), Bob Fosse (Broadway jazz), Alvin Ailey (modern dance), and Rudolf Nureyev (ballet) are among the most historically important. Each one either invented a new way of moving or brought dance to audiences who had rarely seen it.

Who are famous male ballet dancers?

Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov are the two most famous, and both are often mentioned alongside Vaslav Nijinsky, whose legendary status was built decades earlier with the Ballets Russes in the 1910s, long before either Soviet-trained star was born.

Who made tap dancing famous?

Tap dancing traces back to a 19th-century blend of British and Irish step-dance and West African rhythmic traditions, and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Gregory Hines, and Savion Glover each carried it forward for a new generation.

Who are famous hip hop dancers?

Don "Campbellock" Campbell, who invented locking and founded The Lockers, is one of the most important founding figures, and Michael Jackson popularized street-influenced moves like the moonwalk for a global audience. Today, competitive breakers carry the style forward, and breaking appeared at the Olympics for the first time at Paris 2024.

About the Stelle Team

Stelle is a mom-trusted dancewear & athleisure brand best known for girls’ ballet and dance essentials since 2015. Every article is created and reviewed by the team behind the products, drawing on what we hear from dance teachers, studio owners, and dance parents every day. Learn more about Stelle.