Fosse & Verdon – sweet and sour partnership

The toxic marriage and thrilling creative partnership of superstar choreographer Bob Fosse who won an Oscar for Cabaret in 1972 and Broadway star and fellow choreographer Gwen Verdon is the subject of a lush eight part BBC/FX drama. It’s co-produced by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who created Hamilton. Her contribution to their ground breaking work was not fully recognised in her lifetime and she stuck by him despite his being a serial adulterer with an increasingly unstable temperament who was an alcoholic and addicted to pills.

Despite having rickets and leg braces as a toddler, she became an extraordinary dancer, acquired four Tony awards and taught Lana Turner, Rita Hayworth and Marilyn Monroe to dance. Her star was in the ascendant when she met and married him and she became his muse and co-choreographer as well as his wife for some years.

Born 13 January 1925 9.57 am Los Angeles, she was an ambitious Sun Capricorn square Mars in Aries; with a fragile Neptune and Moon in Virgo in her 6^th house of health; and a charming, creative and successful 10^th house Venus, Mercury and Jupiter. She had a healing and introverted Water Grand Trine of an 8^th house Saturn in Scorpio trine a 4^th house Pluto in Cancer trine a maverick Uranus on her Ascendant, so she’d be used to a difficult emotional life from childhood. But she had the drive to propel herself to great heights with her Pluto opposition her fortunate Jupiter.

He was born 23 June 1927 10.29 pm Chicago; and had a performing and entertaining 5^th house Cancer Sun square a lucky and adventurous Jupiter Uranus in his financial 2^nd. His ultra-charming and sociable 7^th house contained a passionate Venus, Mars and Neptune in Leo, perhaps one reason why he found commitment in relationships and monogamy difficult. His rigid, self-righteous Saturn in Sagittarius in his 10^th and Pluto in his 6^th would make him tricky to work with and not co-operative.

Her Moon fell in his 7^th house of relationships and his Sun in her domestic 4^th house – and her Venus was trine his Aries Moon – so there were some good placings. But her Saturn squared his Mars Venus so she would put a damper on some of his high jinks and exuberance.

Their relationship chart was very complicated with a tight, controlling and transformative composite Sun square Pluto; an innovative Saturn trine Uranus; a frivolous Venus trine Jupiter and an over-hopeful Jupiter opposition Neptune; and a needs-space Moon square Uranus.

They separated in 1971 when tr Uranus in Libra opposed their composite Sun and squared the composite Pluto. But they never divorced and she was with him when he died of a heart attack in 1987. She died in 2000.