Choreographer Steps Into Spotlight : Dance: Onna White, whose works included ‘Mame,’ ‘Music Man’ and ‘1776,’ will be honored at Gypsy Awards.

Sitting in her West Hollywood home, veteran choreographer Onna White recounts the time she went to the Bel-Air for a luncheon meeting with Bette Davis several years ago. As the seven-time Tony Award nominee entered the dining room, Davis rose from her chair and boomed dramatically, “For this lady I stand.” White remembers with a laugh: “Everyone in the place craned their necks and said, ‘Who the hell is that lady?’ ”

On Sunday at the Beverly Hilton International Ballroom, that lady will be honored by those who know her work best--the members of Professional Dancer’s Society, who will present her and co-honoree Debbie Reynolds with the society’s fifth annual Gypsy Awards.

Although she has had a prolific bicontinental career in New York, Los Angeles and London, on stage and in film, White, now in her 60s and divorced from singer-actor Larry Douglas, says she is “not prone” to publicity. So while her body of work includes some of the most acclaimed shows of a now-legendary musical era, she has never been as well known as choreographic peers Jerome Robbins, Michael Kidd, Bob Fosse and Michael Bennett.

She began her professional career in 1947 when, fresh from San Francisco Ballet, the young Nova Scotian danced in “Finian’s Rainbow” and later in “Guys and Dolls” and “Silk Stockings.”

In the 1950s, encouraged by choreographer-director Kidd, she moved into choreography and ultimately earned Tony nominations for such Broadway hits as “Irma La Douce,” “Music Man,” “Mame” and “1776.” When the latter three shows were made as films, she choreographed them, as well as “Bye Bye, Birdie,” “The Great Waltz” and “Pete’s Dragon.” In 1968 she won an honorary Oscar for “Oliver,” only the fourth choreographer to be so honored.

After a lifetime in show business and at least 17 Broadway shows, White’s conversation is laced with anecdotes. She remembers trying vainly to teach Robert Preston to turn cartwheels for “Music Man,” building up Janet Leigh’s leg muscles (“the skinniest legs I’d ever seen”) for the film “Bye Bye, Birdie” and holding a nervous Lucille Ball’s hand while she recorded her songs for the film version of “Mame.”

Often responsible for large-scale, intricate dance routines, she is known for her meticulous planning and ability to choreograph for the specific needs of character, plot and situation. She says she especially enjoys working with non-dancers.

“ ‘1776’ was a challenge,” she says, “because I worked with 27 non-dancing actors and they were scared to death. I had to find out how far I could go with them, and once they felt comfortable they loved to move. ‘Mame’ and ‘Music Man’ were not difficult. They were big, but I’m good at big. ‘Irma La Douce’ was a little harder because I worked with 17 men and a girl. In ‘Who’ll Buy?’ from ‘Oliver!’ I worked with 276 dancers and I had eight people in corners giving cues. And ’70 Girls 70’ was my favorite--I loved working with the old biddies--they were so cute and cooperative.”

Bea Arthur, who worked with White in the stage and movie “Mame,” and will appear at Sunday’s tribute, says: “She can make anybody look good and think they’re good. Besides that, she’s so involved with the script, she’s one of those rare people who continues the action rather than stopping it to do a musical number.”

Today, the energetic White is eager to work, but rues the dearth of good musical material. She says: “I’ve got a pile of Broadway scripts now, and they’re terrible. And I don’t want to direct any video dancing stuff because I don’t have the feeling for it.”

She occasionally watches MTV to keep up on current choreographic styles and is enthusiastic about Michael Jackson. “He has an incredible body and sensuous, beautiful moves,” she says. “It’s not emotional work but I’m awe-struck.”

As for rap, she says, “I thought it was fun and interesting at first, with all that acrobatic street dancing, but now it just annoys me because I can’t quite understand what they’re saying. Meredith Willson did it years ago in ‘Music Man,’ anyway.

“There are no more homey, down-to-earth shows like that.

“I love the young choreographers, they’re my friends. They like impromptu stuff and spectacle, and sometimes I like it, but I’m not crazy about it. They’re geared for television and videos. We based everything on ballet and tap, but they’re into a different psyche and I don’t understand it. . . . It’s an entirely different world and genre. You’re trained for the period you’re living in, and my era is gone.”