Broadway Teacher's Workshop Day 2 #1

Broadway Teacher’s Workshop- Day #2

Choreography for Everyone

Susan Frank

Patrick O’Neill is the associate choreographer for “School of Rock” on Broadway.  I took this class for a couple of reasons, one of which is that I work with middle school students each year on a musical, and my role is to do the music and the choreography for the show.  I have been fortunate to have many students who have had many years of experience in dance sign up to be in my shows, but occasionally there are students who know nothing and are very shy about movement.  What do you do with these students, and how do you make them feel like they can be successful in the dance numbers as well?  

Patrick talked about the structure of a song, and how that can help you create choreography.  He called it the “sonic architecture” of a piece.  He wanted us to get back to the actual music of a piece, that says so much about how to frame the choreography for it.  For example, “A Very Unusual Way” from “Nine” tells the story of one of Fellini’s mistresses who is trying to break up with him, but is obviously very ambivalent about it.  Patrick  asked us, “Does anyone know anything about C# minor?”  I immediately raised my hand and explained that it is a sad key, that has a lot of sharps, and that also has a lot of complications in it.  The person who sings the song will have some intense emotions and profound revelations possibly.  

He explained that you wouldn’t necessarily choreograph a slow song like this, but it is a good example of how to look at the sonic architecture of the song.  He was impressed, it turns out, by how much I knew about music, so I answered the question about the “suspension” which is when a leading tone leads into the tonic note, and also shows great emotion.  The bridge, which only happens once, has g#major and f#minor, that goes back and forth, and this shows her ambivalence about letting go of this relationship.  The song ends on a final chord, and it is a Major chord, the only major chord progression in the whole piece. This finally shows that she has come to a resolution about the relationship.  

The next piece he discussed with us was “Slap that Bass” from “Crazy for You”.  He said you can create a road map by looking at the musical structure, and by defining the purpose of what you are trying to accomplish with the dance.  He had people get up and help him create this dance to show the importance of never forgetting that you are continuing to tell the story with the dance.  This was incredibly helpful, because when you look at a five minute song, you can become completely overwhelmed by it.  Thoughts go through your head like, “How will I find steps for this entire song?”  Patrick’s idea is that you can use up a great deal of the song if you listen to the music and create a mood with simple hand gestures, or just a way of moving across the stage, or facial expressions that go with the words.  

The last piece he worked on was the dream ballet from “Oklahoma”.  He did this because it is incredibly long, and full of sections of the piece that you should pay attention to to help you create choreography that all ability levels can remember and follow.  The other point is that it is also refreshing for the audience not to have to look at serious dancing throughout all the long musical numbers.  It was really helpful to be reminded to go back to the sonic architecture of the music.  

Even with a music degree, I sometimes forget the importance of keeping in touch with the musical structure to create the dance.  I think about the lyrics too much, and the dancing becomes forced and over-wrought.  It was extremely helpful that Patrick noticed me as an expert, used my knowledge to help the whole class, and in return helped me get back to my own roots as a classical singer and pianist.  At the beginning of the second day, I had just begun to feel slightly out of place in the workshop, and with this class, it made me feel rejuvenated and gave me renewed encouragement about using my own expertise to create choreography.