Madonna (12 page)

Two more of Linda Alaniz’s photographs of Madonna during her time as a dance student at the University of Michigan.

Madonna has always enjoyed showing off – especially her underwear. Here she poses for her then boyfriend, Mark Dolengowski.

Madonna in 1978 with her dance coach, friend and mentor Christopher Flynn, the man who would first push her on to the path to stardom. Here, having convinced her that she should leave college and pursue her dreams in New York, Flynn drives Madonna to the airport.

In New York Madonna auditioned for, and was accepted by, the highly respected Pearl Lang Dance Company. As well as pushing herself to the limit in the punishing classes, Madonna ran three miles every day.

Madonna in May 1979, posing before a medieval cross in the Cloisters, a branch of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. The photograph shows that her use of religious iconography began long before ‘Like A Prayer.’

Madonna in the summer of 1979, on the roof of the converted synagogue where she lived with her boyfriend, musician Dan Gilroy.

Realizing that she was but one among many talented dancers in New York, Madonna turned her back on the world of professional dance and redirected her energies into a music career, guided by Dan Gilroy. The photo shows her first band, The Breakfast Club: Angie Smit, Ed Gilroy, Dan Gilroy and Madonna.

After Angie Smit left The Breakfast Club, Madonna appointed herself the band’s lead singer. However, her need to be the focus of the group led in part to the breakdown of her relationship with Dan Gilroy.