Dancing in Wicked....

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 5/4/05 at 4:45pm

Sorry for the 900324325295th Wicked thread but I wanted to know if you guys could help me with explaining some of the dance sequences in Wicked for me. I have a do a short paper on one of the shows I've seen but I've already forgotten some aspects of teh show *and I might see it tomorrow again but it's due while I'm going to the show!*

SO if anyone can help me, talk about the different ensemble dance sequences and the moods, technique in each one.

anything you can add would be very helpful! Or if anyone has any clips of the dances online they know of that would help but I don't think there are any!
Please help!

[peach]

Posted: 5/4/05 at 4:50pm

With the exception of Dancing Through Life and One Short Day, I'd consider most of the musical numbers in Wicked to include more "staging" than actual "dancing." There really isn't that much dancing in it at all (which is somewhat unfortunate in my book).

Are you looking for anything specific? There is also a thread going on a few posts down regarding the blocking and staging in Wicked which might be intereting for what you are working on.

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 5/4/05 at 4:54pm

I'm pretty much just looking for some opinions and facts about the role of dancing in the show. I know 99.9% is done by ensemble but that's ok. Maybe a break down of each song they dance in...and the style or a good way to describe it. :)

[whatyouown223]

Posted: 5/4/05 at 4:58pm

I find it interesting that Cilento sort of created an Oz feel. Like, people hold different, weird poses.

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 5/4/05 at 4:59pm

That's good...:) I'd agree with that.

[peach]

Posted: 5/4/05 at 5:06pm

Ditto that...there are some good quirky poses indeed!

Did you see PBS's "Broadway The American Musical" DVD? There are some good clips of the Wicked ensemble in rehearsal. For the most part they show that number that was cut and replaced with "Dancing Through Life" but a lot of the choreography seems to stay, at least in terms of the style.

Cilento seems to do a lot of funky head twists and body rolls - I'd call the style "quirky modern..." Yes, Oz-like indeed.

[Blue J]

Posted: 5/4/05 at 5:12pm

I'm not sure if this would help you at all, but this is from the Broadway: The American Musical DVD's extra segment on Wicked:

"I knew that the show needed to dance. I didn't know what the style of dance should be; I knew that the world would be a different world and a world that we've never experienced before. And I knew that anything that I did would have to a be a little bit strange. Michael Benett and Bob Fosse I think were the strongest influences on me. Michale Benett was a genius with choreographing the whole stage - just moving it around and making the whole thing dance. And then there's Bob Fosse who is meticulous about being very precise - about finger turns and hand turn and little wrist movements and almost doing nothing and being very, very specific about no one gave him dance steps. It was like what he came up with is what he gave you and thats what you did. Yes, it's built on classical dance, modern dance, contemporary dance. It's all of that stuff. But it needed to be twisted, so I was in a sense creating another vocabulary just for Wicked. I keep telling the dancers and the ensemble that you can't do anything you would be comfortable with doing in any other show. And if it is comfortable for you and if its something you naturally do, you have to second guess it and say 'No, this can't be right.' The moments of choreography are very short, very powerful. For me, the challenge was to interject pieces of choregraphy that snapped the audience back, entertained ,and moved the story along." - Wayne Cliento


Updated On: 5/4/05 at 05:12 PM

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 5/4/05 at 5:12pm

I've seen screen caps from the PBS thing..but I haven't seen it yet...
Yes! good point about teh poses and body rolls!

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 5/4/05 at 5:13pm

Wait. There was dancing in Wicked? I have seen it a couple of times and managed to miss it in every single one?

[One Song Glory]

Posted: 5/4/05 at 5:17pm

I've never seen the show so I wouldn't really know the dance moves. People just think I've seen it because I know a lot about it and plus: I can't dance.

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 5/4/05 at 5:27pm

One Song--that's part of my problem..I can dance...sorta...but I don't know anything about it!!!

[Thenardier]

Posted: 5/4/05 at 5:29pm

Well, you could say that the dancing is very weird and awkward - which actually works since the show takes place in a fary tale world. It is somewhat robotic in the moves.

[mywonderwa11]

Posted: 5/4/05 at 5:39pm

one thing i noticed is that during "Dancing Through Life" Fiyero's dance moves resemble that of a scarecrow. if you watch he's very loose with his arms and his whole body mimics a scarecrow. a little foreshadowing through dance. and in "What Is This Feeling?" there is a lot of group, unison dancing that the chorus does while Elphaba runs around the group, if i remember correctly.

and then the dancing in "One Short Day" where every ensemble member takes on a different character role with the poses they strike. some are very confident with their heads up, some are silly with big grins and arms in the air, and some are down low with their knees bent. it just creates many different angles...the same thing happens in the opening number, "No One Mourns the Wicked."

if i remember correctly then everything i said is true and if not then i'm sorry for things i didn't remember correctly.

[jjdude2000]

Posted: 5/4/05 at 6:13pm

mywonderwa11, those are really, really good points!

In general, I'm not sure if it's really possible to classify the dancing. That's what makes it Oz. It's normal, yet angular and strange.

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 5/4/05 at 6:24pm

Mywonderwa11, I think you are looking into it a little too much...

[blackisthisyearspink]

Posted: 5/4/05 at 6:59pm

i noticed that in Wonderful, at the end when the Wizard and Elphaba are dancing around they sorta do that skip/ step from the Wizard of Oz (during the whole yello brick road part). You know what part im talking about? Its hard to explain...=)

this is adding to what mywonderwa11 said

P.s. JJ- i love your icon! lol

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/4/05 at 6:59pm

There's dancing in WICKED?

[mywonderwa11]

Posted: 5/4/05 at 11:50pm

Thesbijean...she asked a question about the choreography in WICKED and I simply replied with an answer, a legitimate (sp?) answer. So, I don't mean to be rude, but back off.

[Phantom05]

Posted: 5/4/05 at 11:52pm

What people don't always understand is that Wicked's ensemble IS ALL ABOUT CHARACTERIZATION. There really isn't that much of actual dancing in Wicked, the show is more movement based, and the choreography in "Dancing Through Life" is fairly simplistic. If you've seen the show, the opening is a great representation of the ensemble's abilities. "No One Mourns.." is a great example of characterization and movement. People tend to focus mainly on the music, and the two lead roles, when really, the ensemble is one of the most amazing I've seen and heard in quite a while. These cast members have to convince you that you're in OZ.

Later!

Phantom05