NEW YORK, NY.- Cat Glover, a dancer and choreographer for Prince who added a frenetic flair to the artist’s late 1980s ensembles, and who danced onstage with him during his “Sign o’ the Times” tour, has died at her home in Los Angeles. She was 62.
Her death was confirmed by Hayley Drinkall, a former manager, who did not say when she had died or cite a cause.
Amid the fevered and color-saturated sets of Prince’s music videos and stage shows, Glover often appeared to break through a cloud of fog or a group of dancers with her own rhythms and energy. The grace that Prince, a perfectionist in his productions, allowed Glover was palpable in their appearances together.
In the video for “I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man,” Glover is featured as the main character of Prince’s sonic arc as she circles him onstage, her emotions shifting between bemused and charmed.
In the music video for the 1987 single “U Got the Look,” which Glover choreographed, a raucous club scene ends with a female dancer who appears to be Glover dragging Prince high up on the stage, culminating in a shot of the two standing at the same level. While she flexes her arm and Prince wails on his guitar, the pair appear herculean while backlit by smoke and fire.
The production for “Look” would be nominated for “Best Choreography in a Video” at the 1988 MTV Video Music Awards, losing to Janet Jackson’s “The Pleasure Principle.”
“Everyone dances the same,” Glover said in a 1987 interview with Video Soul. “So why not do something unusual?”
Catherine Vernice Glover was born July 24, 1962, in Chicago, according to her manager, and began to dance when she was 5. Her musical tastes were eclectic, and she explored punk and ska, but after discovering Prince’s music, he became a constant throughout her life. She would listen to his albums to lift her mood, she said in a 2013 interview with The Beautiful Nights Blog, and tried several times to meet him when he passed through Chicago.
Glover moved to Los Angeles, where she worked in sales in Beverly Hills. In the late 1980s, Patrick Allen, a friend, suggested that they try out as dancers on the talent show “Star Search.” The two competed in 1986 under the name Pat and Cat, advancing to the finals. In a twist of fate, they lost to a group who did a routine to the Prince song “Baby I’m a Star.”
Her routine caught the attention of a dancer on the talent show who was dating Prince, and she invited Glover to meet the musician. They ended up at a club together, and Prince eventually asked Glover to dance.
“He started doing dance steps and I started doing them; whatever he did, I did. I think he noticed that, so he started doing them more and I started doing them more,” Glover told Beautiful Nights. “That’s the night it all started.”
Her talents were becoming widely noticed. Prince soon offered her a spot in his band, and the next day David Bowie asked if she would join his Glass Spider tour. She declined Bowie’s offer, but suggested her friend as a replacement.
Over the next several years, Glover became an intricate, bombastic part of Prince’s universe. In 1987, she was featured prominently onstage during the “Sign o’ the Times” tour and in a subsequent concert film. She also helped to choreograph Prince’s 1988 “Lovesexy” tour and was featured as a backup singer and rapped for the album’s song “Alphabet St.” Before her verse, Prince is heard shouting “Cat, we need you to rap.”
Glover’s survivors include three daughters and a son.
She left Prince’s group in 1989 after a disagreement and pursued a solo career. That same year she released the album “Catwoman,” and continued to perform her “Cat Scat” routine — a series of quick, contracting motions.
She moved to London to record “Catwoman” and continued choreographing dance routines. Although her life would forever be linked to Prince’s career, her passions remained with what she was able to express on the stage.
“My approach to choreography is from the heart: be yourself, let go and just feel the music,” Glover told Beautiful Nights. “The music is the important thing, just feel it.”
This article originally appeared in
The New York Times.
