Join the instructor on a journey through a host of modern Broadway musicals and experience how dance, movement, and choreography take a leading role in both moving forward the plot of the show, and, in fact, "telling the story." The instructor will employ clips from contemporary musical theater productions to show the power of dance and choreography in their many varieties, genres, styles, and incarnations. She will highlight how these aid in advancing the plot and telling and selling the story. Class participation is highly encouraged; participants should be prepared to be delighted and entertained as well as to gain some insights into how stories are crafted and supported through the art of dance and choerography.
To provide just a few examples, we will consider the work of Jerome Robbins and his storytelling through balletic choreography in On The Town, West Side Story, Peter Pan, and Fiddler on the Roof, to name a few productions. Storytelling through nonsense words, staging, and choreography using props will be showcased in modern musicals including Mary Poppins, Shucked, and many others.