Judy Chabola; Choreographer of TV Events

Judy Chabola, an award-winning choreographer and stage director of televised extravaganzas ranging from the Olympics to the Super Bowl to the Emmy, Grammy and Academy awards, has died. She was 47.

Chabola died Sunday in Los Angeles of breast cancer, said her assistant, Kristen Patterson.

It was the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles that converted the educator and drill team instructor into an international special events mastermind. Chabola volunteered to help with dance routines for the opening and closing ceremonies in the Coliseum.

“I was encouraged to get more involved in the business, and after a few years I left education and developed a career in stadium events,” Chabola told the Atlanta Journal in 1996 when she was co-choreographer of the opening and closing ceremonies at the summer Olympics in Atlanta.

That assignment won a Bob Fosse Award in choreography for her and her co-creator, Kenny Ortega. Chabola and Ortega were also nominated for an Emmy.

Chabola choreographed the opening and closing ceremonies for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, the 1992 and 1994 soccer World Cup opening and closing ceremonies, and 10 Super Bowl halftime shows. She worked on more than 100 special events and television broadcasts, including Emmy, Grammy, OScar, Billboard and Essence award programs.

She became known for her adeptness in organizing and synchronizing the movements of thousands of individuals who often came from many countries and spoke a variety of languages.

Born in Meadville, Pa., Chabola moved to the Venice Beach area as a toddler. At the local schools, she became a pompom girl, a cheerleader and a flag twirler. Attracted to teaching when she taught a blind girl to dance, Chabola earned degrees at Santa Monica College, where she led the drill team, Cal State Long Beach and California Lutheran College.

She taught special education students, coached drill teams and became a judge of drill team contests. At the time she volunteered to help with the 1984 Olympics, Chabola was special events coordinator for the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Survivors include her parents, June and Joe Chabola; her brother, Jerry; her sister, Jackie; and several nieces and nephews.

Viewing will begin at 4 p.m. with a memorial tribute at 7 p.m. Friday at Gates, Kingsley & Gates funeral home, 4220 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City. The funeral is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Saturday at St. Mark’s Church, 940 Coeur D’Alene Ave., Venice.

The family has asked that memorial donations be made to the UCLA Cancer Research Center or to the Hola Chabola Orphanage Outreach Foundation.