It was indeed two other dancers, Michon Peacock and Tony Stevens, who had the idea of starting a company made up of Broadway dancers, but they approached Bennett about working with them early on; he was not only invited to the all-night tape session but was instrumental in planning it and in deciding which dancers to invite. He also ran the session and led the conversation, asking the questions each dancer answered as they went around the room.
Also, once the show became a hit, even though Bennett had, as you state, released himself from any financial obligation to the dancers by having them give him the rights to their stories for $1, he did initiate an agreement by which the dancers in the original cast and from the tape sessions received royalties during the run of the Broadway production and touring companies. |
