The Important Role of Dance in Musical Theater

Musical theater is where directors, choreographers and or producers can experience either major flops or gain a tremendous success. Great loss and or success all stems from the integrity of collaboration and purpose of all those involved in the creative team. When musical theater becomes ‘total theater’, that’s when the magic happens; choreographers, directors, composers and lyricists working in the musical theater have to learn, innovate and share from the predecessors that inspired them. Audience’s expectation of contemporary musical theater challenged choreographers to not replicate previous works, but rather evaluate the methods of those before them (pay homage) and keep dance essential.

Previously, dance was regarded as more of a decoration. It featured the leading dancers and had the ensemble be portrayed as a beautiful wallpaper. The diegetic numbers were nothing more than made for entertainment use, not having any links to other parts of the story. Then after the Oklahoma! choreographed by Agnes de Mille, integration was made aware in the musical theater world. Music, dance and spoken word were all in relationship with each other to progress the plot and tell the story. Looking at the second vertical row, choreographers such as Bob Fosse and Jerome Robbins raised the bar to find integration in musical numbers that were diegetic. Fosse, with his speciality of doing concept musicals, successfully integrated the opening number of Chicago.“All that Jazz” number did not only set up a time and place, but also introduced style and character this show revealed.

To further deepen and connect the diegetic number, he introduced the jazz hands, accented pelvis work, and almost nude attire wear to compliment a night bar where all the women and men spend their time. Robbins, while working with a different style, presented a perfect diegetic integration in Fiddler on the Roof. The bottle dance, at the end of act one, was not only a moment for the actors/dancers on stage to celebrate with a folk dance, but the audience themselves were also put on spotlight to relate to their spirit for the occasion. The cultural dance was the only way to celebrate the marriage, catch the essence and mood of the time and progress the plot. Kathleen Marshall, being the contemporary choreographer, took the influence of her predecessors and presented a revival of the musical Anything Goes. Marshall had strong ties with ballet, jazz and ethic dance being blended together. She became known for her doing revivals of the golden age shows. In Anything Goes, as presented at the Tony Awards show, Reno begins with a song which then smoothly leads into a tap dance. Tap dance, play, energy and excitement between the characters all justified the song’s meaning. Since this diegetic song referred to a lot of scandals and gossip of the Depression Era, Kathleen used ‘breaking the fourth wall’ with a spice of the notion of ‘entertainment’ as a tactic of the number. The dance as a whole included a lot of dynamics, levels and made this classical piece feel modern while connecting with the mood and feel of the piece. Every diegetic piece had its purpose and her was to have people sit back a little and enjoy a little farce entertainment number. These presentational dance pieces were all made as an extension the the plot, rather using it as an addition to.

Looking closer at the essence of dance, one will find that dance is different for everyone. Every single person has his/her/their way of presenting and expressing their human traits. This exact notion was applied to the musical theater numbers where dance was character based. Looking at the diagonal row, a perfect example would be Gene Kelly’s Singin’ in the Rain. Due to the given circumstances where the whole dance scene was taking place outside in pouring rain, one would already act in their most naturalistic way to the external force. Kelly, being both a dancer and choreographer in this number, basically dedicated this musical number to himself. His choreography was complimenting his truest self, his way of showing what true love feels and his state of being. His character played a great harmony between the usage of the set (splashing the water), to usage of realistic moves with the help of an umbrella, to the usage of basic genuine tap dancing to the beat of the rain.

Another great example would be Robbins On the Town where dance was solely responsible for communicating the progression of the plot. On the Town was made into a musical after Robbins Fancy Free ballet was a success. Because it was a ballet-based first, On the Town had to have a strong reason as to why the sailors would not dance now. One big thing about Robbins take on characters is that their physicality and dance had to coordinate with them being a sailor. A sailor had to walk and or dance like a sailor. In short, the audience could relate to the character, but would not replicate. What made each character distinctive was that each sailor had his way of expression through his movement. At times, it was the pantomime and genuine gestures in Fancy Free that either transformed into a song and or made as an extension to compliment their mood in On the Town. The first person who was acclaimed as the first to attempt at integration of the Oklahoma! was Agnes de Mille. She made dance be regarded as both a serious art form and an important element in musical theater world. She was the one to make dance become the dramatic action that is meaningful to the story. Her dream-ballet explored Laurie’s feelings, relationships and choices that only dance would convey. The usage of physical metaphor, lyricism and heightened language of dance all complimented Lauries dilemma feelings about which boy to take to a picnic. For example, when she was with Curly, the music would be light and cheerful, and so will their passionate dancing. Curly would support her in every lift and she would not object of him gently stroking her face. She would walk away from him, but then take a second and gently look back at him as to show us, the audience, that she desires and accepts him. Because of the heightened and relatable character based choreography, the musical theater dance became a more richly integrated element.

To emphasize the power of dance and how it can greatly impact the audience is done through heightened reality in movement. Steven Hoggett (3rd vertical row) took de Mille’s ‘dream-ballet’ to a new level of performance. Hoggett was not a dancer, however, he was the one to study physical theater where movement and theater were uniquely explored. His movement came out of music feel, that led the action to be expressionistic and stylized. As stated in the Los Angeles Time, Hoggett was recorded saying that he used any movement appropriate “to communicate meaning rather than primarily an aesthetic”. In American Idiot, the flailing arms and head banging was very much emphasized and heightened to signify what the person felt on the inside. Be it throwing a big tantrum, or show off the anger with grunge rock music feel, all were perfectly physically captured in this non-dance, dance movement.

Going a little backwards in time, Michael Bennett’s ‘The Music and the Mirror’ was a big example of heightened reality. In short, the number revealed Cassie’s private place which is the dance studio. She started to dance because she could no longer sing about it. The character through dance movements explored her abilities, her passion for dance and her sexual side. Her way of dancing went naturally into a heightened mode because the whole theme of the show was about auditioning and getting the part; her moves were strong, bold, very realistic, and honest, especially at moments of elongated hinges followed by wide port de bras. She was tapping into reality and relatability that all of us have when we are left alone to dance our private sanctuaries; the mirror mirrored not only her, but also our truest selves when we sit there, isolated, in the dark house of the theater.

Director-choreographers had given a new direction to musical theater, making it less rigid and more flowy. The distinction between a choreographer and director-choreographer was that a choreographer would adapt to works given by the director, but a director-choreographer would lead. Director-choreographers such as Michael Kidd, Robbins and Bennett made a big impact on the industry. Kidd was very much influenced by Robbins and used his notion of dance to be integral to the plot. Kidd, as a director-choreographer, took Fiddler on the Roof bottle dance and used it in Merry Andrew in a song ‘Salud’ where everyone toasted, drank and then smoothly transitioned into a social dance. With that in mind, I would like to also mention that all those social dances were not made pretty and the movements used for them were all coming from the ‘common’ people. This kind of risk taking to give off some relatable vibe with the audience came from Martha Graham who was very much into angular, distorted movements that emphasized the essence of soul and dance. In her ‘ugly’ and or ‘stark’ movements, one would find beauty that would signify dramatic action.

Musical theater of dance today pays homage to our predecessors by using the language they created to make our audience indulge in a magical story. As audience changes, choreography changes with them, absorbing all the sources and inspiration of music and movement to keep up with the mainstream. Choreographers of today need to really evaluate our past choreographers and see where and how our musical theater changes, so we do not get lost and create more essential dance in the years fourth.