Mark was born in Nebraska, but raised in the heart of Kentucky. His family can attest to his showing early signs of showmanship. They were coerced weekly into watching or participating in one of his spectacular extravaganzas.

Mark’s first dance training didn’t start until college. He entered Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, with the intention of becoming a doctor, but after his first dance class, he changed his mind and his major.

His first professional job was in 1977 in a show at Disneyland called “Starbound,” created for the opening of Space Mountain. Halfway through the run the project was canned, and the entire cast was fired because the crowds waiting for the new ride were so large no one could get past them into the theatre.

Mark danced for a year at the Lido de Paris at the Stardust Hotel in Las Vegas, followed with a year touring with Mitzi Gaynor. Next came movies and television with such productions as Pennies from Heaven, Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Hart to Hart, Lily Tomlin: Sold Out, I Love Liberty, From Raquel with Love, Barry Manilow: One Voice, and his favorite, John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together.

Mark then began working as a choreographer and director and although he has lost count by now, he guesses he has directed and/or choreographed over 350 productions nationally and internationally.

In 1998, Mark’s first book, The Tap Dance Dictionary was published by McFarland & Company, Inc.,Publishers, and this was followed by Tap Roots: The Early History of Tap Dancing in 2002, The Wicked Waltz and Other Scandalous Dances in 2009, and The Man Who Made the Jailhouse Rock: Alex Romero, Hollywood Choreographer in 2013. Mark has also been in demand as a dance history lecturer at various universities, libraries, and lecture halls, and as a dance history consultant for documentaries, podcasts, radio interviews, and magazine articles.

Mark helped create the dance department at La Salle High School in Pasadena, California, and served as an adjunct professor at Occidental College and U.C. Irvine for several years. He was part of the core faculty at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Hollywood for thirty years where he was head of the movement department.

Mark now lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with his partner William, their cat Ray, and their dogs Joyful and Nora. He collects dance books and antique postcards.