Well, dear readers, I mentioned in a post the other day that I’d found a wonderful clip on YouTube of the American Dance Machine doing Joe Layton’s brilliant choreography for Popularity from George M! The lead dancer was Wayne Cilento, and while he was technically proficient and did all the steps really well, I could only think of my friend Gene Castle, who originally performed the number and who, for me, gave one of the greatest dance solo performances I’ve ever seen on any stage anywhere. Why? They both did the same steps. They’re both excellent dancers. So, why was one absolutely breathtaking and stellar and why was one very good? And I’ve been puzzling out the answer to that ever since watching that clip and I have some thoughts about it. First of all, in days of old choreographers for Broadway musicals actually tailored numbers for the dancers they had. And Joe Layton crafted Popularity for Gene specifically – he played to all of Gene’s strengths and I have no doubt that Gene also contributed. And that’s the genius of all great Broadway choreographers – they didn’t work in a void. It was a collaboration. One need look no further than Donna McKechnie doing Turkey Lurkey Time or Tick Tock or The Music and the Mirror. Those numbers, or her part in them, was crafted for her specifically. I’ve seen several other people do the numbers over the years – they do the steps, they’re very good, but the steps were in Donna’s body, the dance came from the music and the plot and the choreography served a purpose and she acted those dances, not just did the steps or played at it. Others try hard, but what’s missing, especially these days, is the JOY, the sheer exuberant JOY of watching someone great DANCE as if there was nothing they’d rather be doing, as if it was the WORLD to them. Tommy Tune doing It’s Not Where You Start, It’s Where You Finish – an amazing thing to watch. There’s no one like that today. Yes, there are wonderful dancers, but nothing like that JOY, at least not that I’ve seen. I go to shows these days and the choreography is uninspired and therefore the dancers are uninspired. They’re professional, they do it, but the oomph factor simply isn’t there. Michael Bennett was especially wonderful at playing to his dancer’s strengths. He took what Gene Nelson was comfortable with and had been doing his whole career and he created a dance for The Right Girl in Follies that was everything Nelson did well, but with the edge that it all came out of the character he was playing. Watch the Prologue in the film of West Side Story – watch how that choreography tells the story, conveys the unbelievable emotions in those street gangs, from wanting freedom, to rivalry, to anger – and those dancers, every single one of them, is a singular sensation. They are separate characters. It’s breathtaking to watch and you FEEL what they feel as you watch. Then watch the revival that’s currently on Broadway – fine dancers all, doing all the steps, with seemingly no clew as to what the dance means, and what they’re feeling. I’ve been blessed to see some incredible dancers. The original company of A Chorus Line was filled with them. There’s never been anyone like Sammy Williams. He did that choreography better than anyone – one step, the finger-pointing step in Hello, Twelve is his – he came up with it. Again, the JOY of his dancing was electric and you couldn’t take your eyes off of him. But everyone in that show was amazing. Of course, we had dancing stars like Gwen Verdon and Chita Rivera and we will never see their like again, and even if someone were to come along and have that personality (which is what most dancers lack today), who are the choreographers who are going to understand those bodies and those strengths and then create specifically for them. Gwen had Bob Fosse, Chita had Jerome Robbins and Gower Champion and Fosse. Every dancer in Pippin was breathtaking and, more importantly, unique. I can see production after production of The Music Man but no one will ever top the JOY of Timmy Everett as Tommy Djilas in his solo section of 76 Trombones or he and Susan Lucky’s dancing in Shipoopi. I’ve seen almost every major production of Gypsy with every sort of Tulsa, and not one of them has come within a country mile of Paul Wallace’s dancing or interpretation because he inhabited those steps, he lived that dance and you saw what the character’s dreams were and it was pure unadulterated magic. I could go on and on because some of the most thrilling moments I’ve had in the theater are watching dancers, solo and ensemble, sharing their joy with the audience. Watching the original dancers in Hello, Dolly do The Waiter’s Galop or the title song was like nothing you’d ever seen. And each revival has recreated the steps but none has come close to matching that energy and JOY. Choreographers have simply lost the ability to understand what the function of dance IS and how to build a number so that the audience erupts in applause – watch Turkey Lurkey Time to see what I mean. Watch Tommy Tune’s Kickin’ The Clouds Away number from My One And Only – the sheer energy and happiness coming from those incredible dancers washes over the audience like a tidal wave. Watch the amazing Michael Kidd Seven Brides For Seven Brothers barn dance number and watch each of those seven brothers – each unique, each amazing, and all that dance stemming from character. And, of course, we don’t even need to talk about the JOY of Gene and Fred and Ginger and Bobby Van and Tommy Rall and Peter Gennaro and on and on. They WERE dance. They LIVED dance. They EMBODIED dance. Whatever one thinks of a film like Chicago, the one thing you do not come away with is any sense of the DANCE, of what it means for the characters doing the dance, because the editing is so hyperkinetic and ridiculous that you never ever get the chance to focus on anything, let alone the dancers doing the steps. They may as well have just used CGI dancers. Thankfully, a lot of these great dancers and numbers are on videos and on film for us to revel in and replay again and again and again to remind us of just what dance can make us feel and how it can illuminate and excite and just make us feel the joy and the passion and all that jazz.
Well, that was a rather long opening to the notes, wasn’t it? Now what? I guess I could say that I had a rather pleasantly pleasant day yesterday. I got up early, answered e-mails, had several telephonic conversations, did the long jog and then had a really productive and fun work session with the composer and lyricist of the long musical. After that, I was quite hungry and I toddled over to Hugo’s to have an early supper at around four o’clock. Then I picked up a package and some mail and then came home to a slew of e-mails. I’d asked for some fixes to a couple of tracks on the Holy Grail soundtrack, and those were done and that half of that CD is now approved. I made some changes to the editing road map of the other half of that CD, and sent those off. Then I sat on my couch like so much fish.
I wasn’t really in the mood to watch anything, but I did watch the first thirty minutes of Ghostbusters on Blu and Ray. I was never quite the fan of this film that most were, and while the transfer is very sharp the digital grain (I don’t care what you read on these DVD sites, what’s on screen in Ghostbusters is NOT natural film grain – people frankly don’t even know what that means or what they’re talking about – they read it somewhere and just like the title of these here notes the other day, it just propagates). I’ve seen most of this stuff on its initial release – was Ghostbusters grainy? Sure – it was the 80s, and film stocks were not brilliant and there is a lot of optical work in Ghostbusters, but ironically that’s not where the digital grain is, it’s in darker scenes indoors and it looks nothing like actual film grain and anyone who tells you it does is trying to sell you something. I see transfers all the time where there IS natural film grain – it’s very light and looks, well, natural, not like crawling digital bugs.
After that, I listened to some Beatles CDs (I’m about halfway through the big box set), and had a telephonic conversation, and listened to the Holy Grail master again, just because it makes me so happy.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below whilst we think of Gene Kelly’s dancing in Singin’ In The Rain, or Tommy Rall and Bob Fosse’s challenge dance in My Sister Eileen, or Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers brilliance in Pick Yourself Up.
I just did the entire Prologue of West Side Story in my sleeping shorts. It was very exciting and I had JOY.
Today, I shall have to ship about twenty packages, and then I have another work session and then dinner. And then I have dinner with Bert I. Gordon tomorrow, a lunch the next day, and lunch with Jason Graae on Friday and on and on it goes.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do the long jog, I must do errands and whatnot, I must have a work session and I must eat something amusing. Today’s topic of discussion: What is the greatest solo dance performance in a musical that you’ve ever seen (on stage and on film), and what are your most favorite group dance numbers from Broadway and film, the ones that just grabbed you and wouldn’t let you go? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst we’re all dancin’.