GAZZARRI DANCERS. COM

MARIA POGEE  is an Argentinian beauty, originally hailing from Buenos Aires.  The beautiful photograph above shows her in 1966 shortly after HOLLYWOOD A GO-GO ended. 

Of all the dancers who appeared on the show, none has a resume as extensive and impressive in the dance field as MARIA.  She appeared on the show from approximately the beginning of October 1965, and was there until the show ended in February 1966.  She appeared in several stellar performances, including the Bobby Fuller 4 "sixguns" routine.  MARIA was one of the most graceful and athletic dancers to appear on the show, and she had a notable career in dance both before and after her time on  HOLLYWOOD A GO-GO.  She has worked in films, the theatre, television, and Broadway productions as a dancer, an actress, a choreographer, and as a director.

She was seven years old when she began her dance training at the world-famous school of the Theatre Colon.  By the late 1950's she was dancing ballet with different companies.  In 1958 she joined the Lobato Dancers and began appearing on weekly television variety shows in Buenos Aires, Argentina as a dancer and performer.  In 1959 she began to travel with the same company and by April 1960 they were performing in America.  By the end of 1961 she had left the dance troupe to work in production shows and nightclub acts with such notables as Juliet Prowse, Sammy Davis Jr., and Shirley MacLaine.   
 
MARIA got her job as a GAZZARRI DANCER through her friendship with JACQUI LANDRUM, whom she had worked with previously for Larry Maldonato in 1963.  JACQUI was now involved in the choreography for the show, and when MIMI MACHU broke her ankle in September 1965, JACQUI brought in MARIA to replace her.  MIMI was back on the show very quickly, but in a more stationary position with her dancing.  In the meantime though, MARIA got to showcase her go-go skills.

In the 1960's and 70's, besides her time on HOLLYWOOD A GO-GO, MARIA appeared on numerous television shows and specials with stars such as Danny Kaye, Bob Hope, John Wayne, Bing Crosby, Sonny & Cher, and Red Skelton.  She appeared as Tiger Lily in the Broadway production of Peter Pan co-starring with Sandy Duncan.  This ever-popular show ran for 554 performances from September 6, 1979 through January 4, 1981.  You can see them performing together at the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vvdFqZzFSY .  This performance was taped at the 1979 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.

She has also appeared in several other theatrical productions, and additionally in five movies as an uncredited dancer and several more as an actress.  You can view her filmography below.

MARIA has choreographed and/or directed several dozen productions and television shows around the world.  The list is too long to reproduce here, and I suggest that you visit her wikipedia biography at this link  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Pogee  to see how extensive and impressive her career has been.  Most recently MARIA was a judge on NBC's 2009 TV show "Superstars of Dance".

Today MARIA lives in Las Vegas and spends her time writing books, painting, and enjoying yoga.


                         MARIA  POGEE FILMOGRAPHY:

1962  GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS                                    as uncredited dancer

1965  WHERE THE BOYS MEET THE GIRLS                as uncredited dancer

1966  NOT WITH MY WIFE, YOU DON'T                    as uncredited dancer

1966  SHAKESPEARE ON THE ROCK                         as Desdemona

1970  BEDKNOBS & BROOMSTICKS                          as uncredited dancer

1972  WACKY TAXI                                                  as Maria

1976  THE ENTERTAINER                                         as Genie

1976  NEW YORK, NEW YORK                                   as uncredited dancer

1977  ONCE UPON A BROTHERS GRIMM  (TV)            as The Cat

upper  left:   MARIA in a 1965 photo taken in Hawaii
upper right:  this photo shows MARIA in 1976
bottom left:  photo of MARIA from 1973
bottom right: 1974 photo of MARIA

MARIA and John Astin co-starred in the 1972 movie "Wacky Taxi".  John was also a guest on HOLLYWOOD A GO-GO episode # 48, which originally aired on November 20, 1965.

The recent photo on the left is from 2009 and shows Maria on the "Superstars of Dance" program acting as the Argentinian judge.  Additionally, we have two more recent photos below.

The above photo, taken in February 2011, shows MARIA and Tommy Roe.  They had inadvertently run into each other at a yoga meeting - their first meeting in 46 years!  Shortly after she had arrived on HOLLYWOOD A GO-GO in the autumn of 1965 SAM had MARIA do the introduction for Tommy in Spanish for his performamce of "The Nitty Gritty."  You can find this performance on our video links page.

Canvavita is a unique art form created by MARIA that utilizes dried flowers from her own garden.  The flowers are put through several time consuming and detailed processes which involve applying multiple layers of lacquer and paints (acrylic and watercolor) in a specific order.  The results are quite amazing !  MARIA has had her works professionally photographed and printed onto cards.  You can see a small selection below.  Currently there are ten cards in her collection and sets can be purchased by contacting this website.