Dance Magazine: Sign up for a musical theater dance class and you’ll likely see a familiar mix of isolations and high kicks, shoulder rolls and chassés. But that might not prepare you for the actual dancing showing up on today’s Broadway stages, which no longer fits into any neat Michael Bennett–or Jack Cole–inspired boxes.
6 comments:
In addition to the points the article discusses about the evolution of dance and choreography in musicals, I’ve also seen a lot more experimentation lately with movement even in straight plays. The article makes a very true point that dance has taken a turn in musicals to convey theme or atmosphere more than simply to progress the story or have big showstopping numbers, and this also connects to the very high expectations being placed on Broadway dancers today to be able to move in a variety of ways. There is a high emphasis on personal skill and capacity to keep up with a high volume of impressive steps, even though certain mediums like big tap numbers are less common. I think it’s great that choreographers are taking inspiration from other genres and backgrounds and turning an eye towards bringing in younger audiences as well. I’m excited to see how these styles continue to evolve.
I was interested in reading this article because musical theater dance is the style of dance and I’ve always considered it to be my favorite. However, musical theater dance really encapsulates so many different styles of dance, depending on the show that they are for. For example, in Music, such as anything goes, you’ll find a lot of tap dance but more like cats there’s a lot of balletic movement. Musicals are also changing a lot. We’re getting a lot more scores that sound more like pop music or exploring different genres rather than the more traditional kind of musical theater sound that you would think of. In this article, it was interesting to hear about the experience of the choreographer Hades Town. I’ve seen the show three times, and I really understood how he said that choreography is more of a tool of literal storytelling rather than a dance break in a song
Broadway dance as a dance style has always fascinated me, as I didn’t really think “broadway dance” would have a specific style, as the style of dance changes each show to fit the musical better. But overall, I would say many of the choreographies pull from ballet, but there are also shows that pull more from tap, or even hip hop, or fosse. There are some more of the classical shows that I’ve seen, and the choreography has stayed mostly the same, such as Cats, Matilda, Aladdin, and Chicago. The newer shows that are just coming up have much newer and unique choreographies. While they are interesting to look at, I feel like sometimes its just not as memorable as some of the more classical productions’ choreographies. I like paying a lot of attention to the dancers when watching a show, because I like to see how each one of them develops the choreography to be their own, and its also interesting to see the slight change in style
I am not going to lie this might have been my favorite article I have read this semester. I find choreography for theatre today so fascinating. Especially as I have many friends who are professional dancers in New York, taking classes that centers around combinations and jazz. I think its so interesting how more movement is being incorporated into shows and less dancing. Well I wouldn't say less dancing but I feel there is a big divide between “dancing musicals” and singing musicals.” I feel there are less spontaneous dance breaks but yet there is less park and bark. I think that in order to be a successfully marketable performer now you truly need to be able to do all three, acting, singing, and dancing. As the industry inevitably gets more creative and tries to do things that have never been done before, the performers need to be more flexible and ready for whatever might be thrown at them.
Broadway choreography is so exciting now. As casts get smaller, the lines between singer, actor, and dancer have been blurred and we’re getting innovative work because of it. The dance education industry needs to catch up with how the commercial dance industry is changing. Why we’re still choreographing competitive dance solos full of turns, aerials, scorpions, and acrobatic passes while ignoring movement quality is baffling to me. While well-roundedness is needed (take the acrobatics in Water for Elephants as example), movement quality must come first. Also the dance industry, from at least what I’ve experienced, still has an apprehension towards cross-training in singing and acting. This article highlights how ensembles, while still dance centered at times, must be able to do all three. My sister, who has a BFA in Dance, never was required to take acting or music classes in her collegiate education. Now that she’s exploring the theatre dance world, she’s having to build a book from scratch. There’s a place for just dancing, dance companies are wonderful and spectacular, but students are being done a disservice in not being taught multidisciplinary art.
I think the term Broadway choreography is evolving, there was a firm foundation built in flashy high kicks and And iconic Fosse dance moves, but because of the evolution of theater and the new ideas being presented over the last few years and presently, movement on stage has never looked so bold. The idea that Originally these dances were created with the greater audience's opinion and capitalism in mind and how that narrative is Shifting to be more focused on Artistic integrity and interesting ideas is what causes this visual shift that being said Broadway is still a for-profit business and there will always be an underlying motivation to please the greater population overall. The photos from Hadestown are always so exciting and compelling as I remember seeing it on Broadway last year and the choreography was one of the most encapsulating parts of the performance.
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