Choreographers; the Lords and Ladies of the Dance.
Monica Moore
- OnStage New Zealand Columnist
The impact of excellent choreography that tells the story, supports the singing and keeps the audience interested should never be taken for granted.
A great script, awesome music, an attractive set, costumes, an enthusiastic talented cast and there’s a great show in the making.
Right?
Wrong.
As a ‘green’ director in the early days I never fully recognised the significance of story telling through dance and movement until
I worked with someone who did.
Choreographer Crystal Pite in rehearsal with Pacific Northwest Ballet company dancers. Credit: Photo: Lindsay Thomas
She had an eye, an understanding and an attention to detail that I didn’t fully appreciate until I saw the first finished piece.
By creating bite-sized movements and then carefully and sequentially bringing them together to create a moving picture that not only supported the storyline and singing; it enhanced it.
She was able to bring together her creative ideas, making allowances for those who ‘were not born to dance’ yet she never compromised on the overall outcome.
I remember a song about a great adventure. In essence the lyrics were about the importance of friendship and solidarity as you travel through the unknown in life.
I had diagrams and instructions to have the cast moving in all different directions on different levels.
In that wonderful realm known as hindsight, what I’d planned was a cacophony of discordant movement, juxtaposed and suffocating the intention.
Fortunately this choreographer supreme ignored me and pulled everyone into a bunch indicating togetherness. A few simple moves in the right places and I could not only see but feel the message of the story coming through loud and clear.
Just like a florist, the cast members were ‘arranged’ and came together in something that could only be described as beautiful.
She teaches dance now and continues to choreograph.
Never under value the Lord or in this case Lady of the Dance.