What are dance captains??

[sassypanz]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 7:51pm

You saw the title of the thread. And the Assistant Dance captains?
Updated On: 7/21/05 at 07:51 PM

[dry2olives]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 7:55pm

Chorus members who are assigned to make sure the choreographer's work stays tight.

[sassypanz]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 7:58pm

What you mean tight?

[gavrochegirl]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 8:00pm

Tight as in making sure the choreography is done just the way the choreographer wants it throughout the run.

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 8:01pm

I have a question. Are dance captains and assistant dance captains paid more...they ARE listed in a playbill twice.

[wildcat]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 8:02pm

Dance captains and their assistants can call rehearsals (within the cast's contractual hours) to brush up routines that may have become sloppy, tired or undisciplined.

[dancinfan]

Posted: 7/19/05 at 2:11pm

Yes, Dance Captains do get an additional fee in most theatres I've worked in. Personally, I always think it should be more...

Dance Captains maintain the integrity of the choreography throughout the run of the show. This not only entails giving notes to the cast, but rehearsing understudies and swings so they are ready to go on, rehearsing replacements, and working with stage management to reshuffle/restage shows when too many cast members are out for all the tracks to be covered by swings (if there are any). Asst Dance Captains might be in charge of certain groups or aspects of a show, like just the men's ensemble or just the kids' chorus. There are also Fight Captains whose job it is to maintain the safety and quality of any major fight direction in the show.

[apdarcey]

Posted: 7/19/05 at 2:13pm

i've been dance captain multiple times and never paid more than people who weren't.

[Di2]

Posted: 7/19/05 at 3:29pm

I am a Union Dance Captain and yes, I get paid more but I work my ass off keeping my show clean and the millions (it seems) of swings up to snuff.

[Kavana]

Posted: 7/19/05 at 3:49pm

i know thats right apdarcey i was dance captain for a year in the lion king and my oay was the same

[Phantom2]

Posted: 7/19/05 at 6:00pm

It's a hard job, but somebody's gotta do it!

[TennesseeTwang]

Posted: 7/19/05 at 6:11pm

Do most dance captains eventually become choreographers?

[WonderBoy]

Posted: 7/19/05 at 7:09pm

No. Just because you are a good dance captain does not mean that you can choreograph.

Updated On: 7/19/05 at 07:09 PM

[kim1061]

Posted: 7/19/05 at 7:27pm

I think that's a cool job.

Can the directors tell the dance captains to call a rehearsal because they felt the dancing wasn't strong enough?

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 7/19/05 at 7:32pm

watch the luba mason in chicago video on broadway.com and you'll see the dance captain teaching her the choreography (plus a stage manager for direction)

[flaemmchen]

Posted: 7/19/05 at 9:03pm

Dance captains are not only chosen for their dance ability, but for their ability to retain choreography; they have to know every single person's track in the show and teach all replacements, male and female, the choreography.

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 7/19/05 at 11:13pm

Dance captains are generally the most irritating person in the chorus who are then given some basic responsibilites and, even worse, a shiny title which they think makes them more important than the writers, director, stage manager or, for that matter, God. They then proceed to tell anyone who walks within ten feet of them everything that is going wrong, speaking only in irritating dancer terms that mean absolutely nothing to anyone who has a life. They're also infatuated with the numbers '5,' '6,' '7' and '8' which they use to start every action in which they engage themselves.

Dance Captain: Then that cretin actually looked to the left when he was CLEARLY to be looking forward and I don't care that someone had stabbed him in the throat, he was doing the dance WRONG and, as the Dance Captain, as I am called in the program which makes me Very Important, it's my job to tell them that he moved his head at the wrong time, no matter how much blood was spilling from their severed throat. He's RUINING the routine and thus destroying the integrity of the show which is completely embodied in what's going on in that back row of people dancing where there isn't even any light. Wait, I have to sneeze, 5,6,7,8 ... AH CHOO! ... Hey where'd everybody go?

[Phantom2]

Posted: 7/19/05 at 11:25pm

Funny!

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 7/20/05 at 1:28am

the dance captain in the little shop tour struck me funny, simply because you would expect it to be one of the urchins or their understudies. it is in fact the u/s (why are they called understudies in this tour when for all intents they are standbys) for audrey 2 who is a family friend of my aunts

[WonderBoy]

Posted: 7/20/05 at 11:44am

It sounds like some of you have extreme misconceptions of what a professional dance captain is and does.

As A professional choreographer I can assure you that a good dance captain is worth their weight in gold.

Updated On: 7/20/05 at 11:44 AM

[Phantom2]

Posted: 7/20/05 at 6:43pm

Always be nice to the dance captain. They can make your life hell.

Updated On: 7/20/05 at 06:43 PM