BIOGRAPHY.

Cissy King
A native South-Westerner, Cissy grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico. You could say that she began her “show biz” career at the age of 2 1/2 when she toddled into her first dancing class, but she didn’t get serious until she was 3.

She began ballroom dancing early and won many local and regional competitions. When competitive 'American Smooth Style' ballroom dancing was transforming to 'International Style', Cissy studied with the highly esteemed Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance (ISTD, London) and achieved their highest level. Cissy was chosen to demonstrate the 'International Style' ballroom with the world's
authority, Alex Moore, of London. When she was fourteen, Cissy teamed with her brother, John, to win three consecutive United States National Championships, including The North American International Dance Championship in New York City. That year, Dance Magazine named John & Cissy King Ballroom Dance Couple of the Year..

In her freshman year at The University of New Mexico, Cissy was a competitive diver and gymnast, cheerleader and a Chaparral (UNM dance team member). An audition for a summer job took Cissy to Dallas to become a regular performer at Six Flags Over Texas. She was asked back the next summer to choreograph for the live-show department, however, while defending her national title at The Star
Ball that Thanksgiving at the Hollywood Palladium, Cissy met former Mouseketeer Bobby Burgess, of The Lawrence Welk Show. He immediately asked her to audition. After a guest appearance on The Lawrence Welk Show, Cissy was welcomed into the Welk Musical Family in 1967. That summer, Cissy was dancing with Bobby at Harrah’s in Lake Tahoe as the Welk show’s newest performer. In her twelve years of weekly performances on The Lawrence Welk Show,
Cissy established herself as a multi-faceted talent and has been a favorite with the fans ever since.

Cissy received The Dance Masters of America Award for
“Outstanding Contribution to Dance”. Other recipients of this award have been Fred Astaire, Eleanor Powell, and Bob Fosse. She has made many personal guest appearances on TV variety and talk shows including The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, The Merv Griffin Show, The Mike Douglas Show and The Dick Cavett Show.

In 1978, Cissy returned to direct and choreograph live shows for all of the Six Flags Theme Parks. She worked with them for many years. Every show she executed at Six Flags was credited as the “favorite ride” in the park.

She produced her own nightclub act, Cissy King & Two Fellas, and played ‘Bonnie’ in Anything Goes. She also staged and directed numerous live shows including the award winning West Coast premier (Los Angeles) of Studs Terkel’s Workin’; directed University of New Mexico’s Centennial Gala Celebration; staged and directed the premiere of Where’s Billy? (the Kid); and was Associate Producer/Choreographer of a music video for country singer, Kip Callahan in 2007 .

Cissy recently played ‘Louise’ in Always…Patsy Cline for Musical Theatre Southwest (Albuquerque, NM) and The Lawrence Welk Theatre (Escondido, CA) where she received rave reviews. You may catch Cissy nearly every week on the PBS Syndication of The Lawrence Welk Television Show and, when time permits, she may be found touring the US & Canada with the Stars of The Lawrence Welk Show.