Choreographing a musical

[zamedy]

Posted: 6/29/11 at 3:12pm

I love dancing, which makes me even more fascinated by the amazing choreography I see brought to life on stage. I've always wondered - what is the process like for a Broadway choreographer? How does he/she remember all the choreography for each song? Does he/she literally write down names for certain dance moves in the sheet music? How do they do so when they're staging a huge production number with the whole company? And is the officially choreography all written down somewhere for every single character since it is, I presume, trademarked and preserved for future productions? And finally.. does the choreographer choreograph the ENTIRE show, then teach it to assistant choreographers and dance captains, who then assist in teaching it to the rest of the cast and future replacements?

[backwoodsbarbie]

Posted: 6/29/11 at 3:22pm

Well for a professional production the choreographer will likely have an assistant who helps them in the process as well as a dance captain(s) to assist in rehearsals. If the director and choreographer are not the same person, there is normally a lot of collaboration there as well.

Every choreographer has a different system of notation. Some write out every movement in detail including drawings of formations, blocking, etc. But that is different depending on the situation. Many modern dance choreographers use a format called "Labanotation" for converting movement into words on a page but I'm not sure if that is prominent among Broadway choreographers. Of course it is easier in this day and age because rehearsals and performances can be videotaped for preserving material.

[morosco]

Posted: 6/29/11 at 4:31pm

I've always been fascinated by labanotation. To those who have never seen it here is what it looks like.

[iagowasframed]

Posted: 6/29/11 at 5:09pm

I don't choreograph on Broadway but I do choreograph broadway musicals. Labonation to me is just wild and digital video has rendered it moot(regardless of what the purist modern people will tell you).

I use my own form of short hand that I write all over the score, it includes steps directions and sometimes stick figures. The reality is that all of it gets changed anyway and it's just a starting point.

[Kristie-K2]

Posted: 6/29/11 at 6:23pm

Well in my day I choreographed alot of musicals, some amateur & professional...I would start with blocking the number in my mind, writing down notes and then when it came time to actually block the dance number I would make it up as I went along. It also depended if I was working with prefessionals or non-experienced dancers. I was famous for making the amateur dancer look professinal...

Then there is stealing a number from another choreographer and making it your own...I worked with the late Jimmy Taylor in Kiss Me Kate and in the "Two Darn Hot" number he made it into a disco-rock number which went over Great...Ten years later I choreographed "Kate" and I made the "Two Darn Hot" number into a rock-jazz number. It also went over very well.

Bob Fosse was my God...I was inspired by his work and used many of his movements in my work.

Those were the days my friend, I thought it would never end, but it did...

Posted: 6/29/11 at 9:13pm

Hang on--Too Darn Hot became a disco number? Wa the setting moved to the 70s?

[Kristie-K2]

Posted: 6/29/11 at 9:55pm

Yes, we even had white fringe on our costumes-It was wild...I did the production in the 80's