Spring Awakening Choreography Tony- Page 2

[C is for Company]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 12:16am

Jeez, you don't have to tell me twice. I mean three times.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 3:59am

"I agree that it isn't traditional "dancing". It's choreography, and though the term brings a picture of dance "moves" to the mind, it's just moving in general. In my opinion, it definetly has its place in the show."

I agree with this statement. Even so, I don't believe SA had the BEST choreography. Good enough to represent the characters onstage? Yes, but not good enough to snag a Tony, in my opinion.

I'm going to see the show again in August onstage (so excited!). I'll try to pay attention to the choreography more and comment on it again.

[C is for Company]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 4:05am

If there was ever a place to fully appreciate that choreography, it is by sitting onstage in one of the front seats where you actually feel it!

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 4:08am

I have AA13! I wish I got a little closer to the front of the stage, but that was the best I could find for when I could go.

[Glebb]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 10:33am

Again, I've not seen the show. I can only base what I saw from the sample on the Tonys. No choreography what so ever. Staging yes.
And same with COMPANY. No choreography, lots of staging.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 10:35am

Glebb: And that performance you saw was basically a summary of the most memorable choreography they had during the show.

[Glebb]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 11:01am

Oh God! Everything about what I saw was beyond awful - lack of choreography, terrible lyrics and obnoxious performances. Wow!

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 11:09am

Glebb, reading your last two posts on this thread have made me SO HAPPY. You're the best...and I totally agree with you, by the way.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 11:14am

I agree that the so-called "choreography" did not deserve a Tony. And I actually LIKED Spring Awakening. As a dancer, I found it to be nothing special. They jump around and stomp and touch themselves, big deal. I know Bill T. Jones is a fairly respected choreographer, but I'm having a hard time getting what's so great about his work on Spring Awakening.

[Tchi4Lif188]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 12:20pm

I was happy to see Bill get the Tony just beacuse he looked so happy, but he didn't deserve it at all. There is no choreography in this show, I am NOT a dancer whatsoever and I could have done that. Not to mention that the other shows nominated all had more choreography than this show. I would have taken any one of them to win this over Spring Awakening. However, what's done is done. :/

[Jonny boy]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 12:23pm

I completly dissagree. The choreography, from what I have seen, in Curtains and MP comes a dime a dozen. You can see that kind of Choreography anytime , anywhere. The choreography was very modern and different than all these other shows. The choreography worked Beautifully with the music. It was So much more original than Anything else out this season. That is why it won!

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 12:29pm

[Clara's Pony]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 12:36pm

If they had kept the choreography the same as in the London production Mary Poppins would have deserved the Tony. They changed too much, most of it for the worse. I do struggle to see what's so great about Bill's work on SA. I think DHP was definitely a sympathy Tony for the show, maybe they should have given the choreography Tony to Curtains then at least it would have won something, freeing up Best Actor for Raul (yes I dredging that up again...)

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 12:39pm

Though I've only seen the clips, from what I've seen, Spring Awakening does indeed have choreography and I loved it. It is very organic and deeply rooted in the characters and their emotions. It was the most visually interesting choreography on the Tony broadcast simply because it was not the typical learn-the-steps by-the-numbers choreography. While mor technical choreography for musical comedy can be difficult and stunning, I haven't seen anything in any of the clips of the new shows other than Spring Awakening that was new, different, innovative, or more inspired than what I saw in Spring Awakening. Perhaps I'll change my mind in August, but to say Spring Awakening has no choreography is to ignore the entire genre of lyrical dance, which is where most of Spring Awakening's technical style is rooted.

[broadwayboy1017]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 1:55pm

leaglly blonde should have gotten it

[pants2]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 2:03pm

Ok originally I thought that since SA doesn't have big song+dance numbers it shouldn't have won, but anyway, after watching lea michele's interview on this site it does make sense that they won because what they had was new and not just like, your average turn-turn-kick-turn broadway choreography

[Glebb]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 2:26pm

For the Tonys they didn't do more than walk or flounce around in rudimentary patterns. Maybe the rest of the show has actual choreography, I can't say having not seen it.

MP and Curtains had dancing and how dare anybody call it 'dime a dozen' choreography. It's way much more than that. It's musicality and craft and not easy to create.

[Jonny boy]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 2:35pm

"MP and Curtains had dancing and how dare anybody call it 'dime a dozen' choreography. It's way much more than that. It's musicality and craft and not easy to create."

I can see that sh*t in any regional show!!! Though the dancers are extremely talented it gets old.

[Danielm]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 3:02pm

I haven't seen Legally Blonde or Mary Poppins so I can't comment on the choreography in those shows. However, I have to take exception with the people who say that the choreography in Spring Awakening was not choreography. It most certainly was. It was choreographed not to look like Broadway dancing but it was choreographed, each move was conceived for it's effect in the show and it was not lazy. It was crafted not to look like choreography--that was what it was meant to look like and I found it quite effective. I am not always a fan of Mr. Jones but I think his work here was exactly what the show wanted and called for.

By the way, I was also a dancer for many years and think that, while you may not like his work, for any choreographer to claim that it is not "choreography" makes me question their background.

[popular_elphie]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 4:18pm

I love Larry Winget! Watch his show all the time.

Oh, and I used to be an "I cannot believe SA won for CHOREOGRAPHY!" , after I watched Lea Michele's interview on this site, I have to say that now I understand. The way he took the choreography from what the boys felt when they thought and heard certain things really makes me have a whole new respect for it. Updated On: 6/18/07 at 04:18 PM

[VIETgrlTerifa]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 5:10pm

I think that since none of the shows really had outstanding choreography, they wanted to give it to a show that at least tried something new. I'm far from being a fan of the choreography in Spring Awakening, but then I can see where people might find the choreography in Curtains and Mary Poppins to be generic Broadway (in that it looks exactly like what people think of Broadway dancing when they make fun of it). At the same time, I don't like how some posters are dismissing choreography that uses more classical dance because I think it'd be harder to create something unique in that style.

Now if Spring Awakening defeated a show that had something on De Mille, Robbins, Fosse, Bennett, or Tune level, then I can see the uproar.

Updated On: 6/18/07 at 05:10 PM

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 5:18pm

Im not going to debate who did or did not deserve the award. What I WILL say is that 'best' choreography doesn't mean the most complex, technicaly difficult, astounding that. Choreography is visual storytelling. Good choreography tells the story appropriately inw hichever style and however simpe or complex it may be. Similar with best set.. the best set isn't the one that is most complex. It is the one that does the best job of telling the story. It is the job of all creative team mebers to tell and serve the story.. not just show how big and complex they might be able to make things.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 5:31pm

"I can see that sh*t in any regional show!!! Though the dancers are extremely talented it gets old."

And I can see Spring Awakening's "choreography" in any high school, or community theatre in the country. What's your point?

"The way he took the choreography from what the boys felt when they thought and heard certain things really makes me have a whole new respect for it."

So he won because the characters are having temper tantrums, and he decided to show them stomping. If that's the case then the Tony Award voters should stake-out every toy store in the country.

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/18/07 at 5:37pm

From what I've seen, the Spring Awakening choreography had a few interesting creative choices... but mostly looked like an average, run-of-the-mill music video (just like the one they eventually made). I didn't see any inspired choreography though.

I did see Mary Poppins, which had terrible choreography (especially SupercaliXx). It was a bunch of random ideas, thrown out there, and never fully realized, explored or eplained. No connection to the story or the characters at hand. The whole show was like that.

And Curtains which had a bunch of very talented dancers killing themselves to do "the same ol' steps" we've all seen a million times. And they were put together in badly-shaped numbers ignoring pacing and arc (with one exception: Tough Act to Follow, which actually had a nice linear construction and worked very well).

I haven't seen anything from Legally Blonde, so I won't include it in my overall opinion... but this was a VERY weak year for Broadway choreography.

I saw many talented dancers on stage, and they impressed me greatly... but they were "putting it out there" with no real vision or creative leadership. Some experimentation... minor at the most... and none of it had impact or resonance.

Susan Stroman was the last Broadway choreographer I've been excited about. She tried (tries?) to tell stories and have a "dialogue" with her dances. But most of Stroman's steps were derivative... even if her approach was exciting and right on the money.

We need another Fosse or Bennett or De Mille. We're long overdue. So many talented dancers out there waiting to get behind a true visionary.