Practitioners

Bob Fosse

The name ‘Bob Fosse’ may not be known to everyone, but his iconic choreographic style will certainly be familiar to most. Few film or theatre goers will not have been captivated by the brilliance of his choreography in shows such as Cabaret, the Pajama Game and Chicago. Indeed, Fosse catapulted dance onto centre stage, bringing it to life on stage and screen. 

What then are the qualities which make Fosse’s style unique? 

Fosse’s dancers were actors who told a story. He demanded a great deal in his drive for perfection. It was perhaps his upbringing on the vaudeville stage which shaped his style - dancers were often dressed in black, wearing hats, stockings and white gloves. He incorporated moves found on the stage, such as mime-like hand and arm movements, trip-falls and double takes.  (Pendergast 2000).   Fosse’s choreography, then, demanded dancers to be first class performers: “You can’t be a good dancer, unless you’re a good actor.  Otherwise it’s all just so much animated wallpaper.’ (Wasson 2013)  This quality is demanded in our Juggernaut routine where we were encouraged to embody and visualise the character and story line.

Fosse’s style relies on tiny details (DanceSpirit.com). Ann Reinking comments that the style is deceptively simple, but “If you don’t do it with the specificity it needs, it can fall apart” since there are no tricks to hide behind. He preferred angles to lines, small steps often with turned-in pigeon toes or jutting out-hips (dance.lovetoknow.com), and managed to hypnotise an audience with quite simple, isolated movements: “Fosse dancers must be able to isolate everything, right down to their eyeballs, elbows and fingers”(Lanzarone in DanceSpirit.com). Indeed, Bob Fosse commented “I found out in choreography frequently less movement, more economical movement, makes a stronger statement than fierce activities” (Billman)  Juggernaut reflects this sense of simplicity. The repetition of one of the early phrases contains effective isolations which are seemingly simply and straightforward but difficult to achieve in synchronisation - an outstretched leg, then arm, followed by a toe tap, a turn and a hip swing.

Although Fosse used a mix of styles, he danced in strip clubs from an early age (Bryden 1990). The influence of burlesque is seen in the sensuality of many of the movements in his jazz style, particularly later in his career: sultry rolling hips and shoulders, provocative poses, finger snaps and perhaps what he is most famous for - his signature ‘jazz hands’. (Nicolau 2011)  A sultry, slightly sexy style has been integrated into Juggernaut as there are provocative leg stretches, swinging hips and shoulder rolls. Jazz hands, of course, are fundamental to the piece, adding pattern, movement and a sense of performance.

References:

Billman, L. Bob Fosse (online).  (Accessed 2 March 2020) Available from:  http://www.treasures.danceheritage.org

(2011)  - Legendary Moves (online).  (Accessed 4 March 2020) Available from: http://www.dancespirit.com

Nicolau, E. (2019) You Can Thank Bob Fosse For Your Jazz Hands  (online) (Accessed 4 March 2020) available from: http://www.refinery29.com  

Pendergast, S.  and Pendergast, T. (2000) St James Encyclopaedia of Popular Culture US:  Gale

Wasson, S. (2013) – Fosse The Biography Boston, NewYork: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Jack Cole

Despite choreographing Marilyn Monroe’s iconic performance of ‘Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend’, immortalising many stage and screen actresses as great dancers, and influencing other choreographers of his day, Jack Cole has received less notoriety than perhaps the ‘Father of Jazz Dance’ deserves.

Jack Cole blended many movement styles together – those from different cultures, swing, acrobatics, lindy hop and even ballet. He drew his inspiration from a variety of cultures stating, ‘I was trying to expose them to a different attitude, to give them the excitement and discovery of the thousand ways there are to move that are peculiar and different, totally different, that would never enter your head here. It opens up a new vocabulary of movement.” (Loney 1984). This mixture of ethnic movements transformed dance into what we now recognise as American jazz. Gwen Verdon, dance assistant to Jack Cole talks about his dance technique: “Just about everything you see on Broadway today is there because of Jack Cole and Agnes de Mille. Jack Cole introduced what today you would call jazz. It was actually African dance, but we did it in high heels.’ (ladancechronicle.com) The Jason Derulio routine contains movements that have been integrated from different dance styles. For example, a deep plie is rebounded back to standing, as seen in East Indian dancing.

Coles’s signature style was huge leaps from deep plies and crouches, rapid directional changes with isolations of head and body movements. The choreography also emphasised the downbeat and surprised with its use of syncopation. Indeed, George Chakiris, one of the dancers backing Marilyn Monroe stated “Jack Cole – it was all in the plie.” (Levine) This gave his jazz a sense of power and energy and originality. The foundation of our routine is the use of plie - without the bounce of the plie, the piece would not be grounded nor generate the same level of exuberance. 

Gottfield (1979) comments on Cole’s style as, ‘Acrobatic and angular, using small groups of dancers rather than a large company, it is closer to the glittering nightclub floor than to the ballet stage.’ This allowed Cole to experiment with geometric forms, such as lines, clusters and wedges, moving them about on the stage instead of remaining at the centre - often with ‘power blocks’ of dancers surrounding the lead (Levine).  When using the camera on film, Cole also employed the impact of set design to allow him to move his dancers vertically, horizontally and diagonally, creating ‘witty visual puns’ with humour in his choreography.  (Durkee) The routine has been structured to be performed in groups of four. It includes moments of group partnership just as Cole’s work did. For example, canon is used, constant shifting of shapes and the creation of symmetrical boxed patterns.

References:

Choreographer, A. (2018) A Look at the Amazing Jack Cole:  Dancer, Choreographer for Broadway and Film.  Dec 12 2018 December. (online) (accessed 2 March 2020).  Available at:  http://ladancechronicle.com

Durkee, A. (2016) All The Jack (Cole) Film Series January 20 – February 6 2016. (online)  (accessed 4 March 2020).  Available at:  http://criticaldance.org/jack-cole-films-jack-cole/

Gottfield, M (1979) Broadway Musicals.  The Netherlands:  Harry N Abrams B.V. p 112

Levine, D.  Jack Cole (online) (accessed 5 March 2020)  Available at:  http://treasures.danceheritage.org

Loney, G. (1984) Unsung Genius:  The Passion of Dance – Choreographer Jack Cole.  US Franklin Watts

Rizzuto, R. (2013) History Lesson:  Jack Cole (online) (accessed 4 March 2020) Available at: https://dance-teacher.com

Jerome Robbins

Jerome Robbins directed, performed and created masterpieces including the famous West Side Story as well as many ballets and Broadway musicals. Although he spent many of his working years within world class ballet companies in America including ABT in 1940 and NYCB in 1944, Robbins was known to be an ‘astonishingly varied’ choreographer (Roy 2009) who melded classical and contemporary dance to ‘capture the essence of contemporary American dance using the vocabulary of classical ballet.’

According to Robbins himself, a key component when choreographing a piece would be to listen to the music “months and months prior to working on the piece.” (Jerome Robbins: In His Own Words, 2018) (0.44-0.47) to “saturate” (0.56-0.58) himself with it. His musical quality is evident in his work; much is constructed to be in equilibrium with the music.  We see this in musical pauses which are harmonious with elongated movements. Although the Billie Eilish routine does not attempt to match his balletic style, there is a similar musical relationship where the choreography is interdependent on the energy of the music - the highs of the song influence the intensity of the movements.

Much of his choreography used big, expressive and physically testing movements, with sharp head movements contrasting with slow body rolls. We can see this in his Dances at a Gathering (New York City Ballet, 2019) where an intense amount of upper body is used, with turns, kicks and swings that test the balance. Similarly, the Billie Eilish routine tests our boundaries as we consistently transfer our weight and height levels. Sharp head movements, shoulder rolls and shunting backwards create the links that build to the moments of crescendo.  Fisted arm throws support large, expressive jumps into lunge position.

Robbins also commented that his aim was “to find the best way to communicate the clearest thing to the audience”, “it’s no good doing it for yourself” (Jerome Robbins: In His Own Words, 2018). Robbins’ work connects with the audience on so many levels. His choreography can receive a genuine reaction out of an audience, the Mistake Waltz (Pacific Northwest Ballet, 2015) was a humorous piece he choreographed, although far from a serious ballet - laughter was generated and a dialogue was formed with the audience. Although our routine is far from humorous, the intensity of the eye focus and front-facing direction at the start draws in and makes the audience feel uneasy. A connection is made.

References:

Roy, S. (2009). Step-by-step guide to dance: Jerome Robbins. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2009/jul/07/guide-dance-jerome-robbins [Accessed 3 Mar. 2020].

New York City Ballet (2019). Flash Footage: Jerome Robbins' Dances at a Gathering. [video] Available at: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=jerone+robbins+work&&view=detail&mid=38E3EFF5641A4D7DD8BE38E3EFF5641A4D7DD8BE&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Djerone%2Brobbins%2Bwork%26FORM%3DHDRSC3 [Accessed 3 Mar. 2020].

Roh.org.uk. (2014). Jerome Robbins: A master of both ballet and musical choreography — News — Royal Opera House. [online] Available at: https://www.roh.org.uk/news/jerome-robbins-a-master-of-both-ballet-and-musical-choreography [Accessed 2 Mar. 2020].

Jerome Robbins: In His Own Words. (2018). [video]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ChbvQGSedw

Pacific Northwest Ballet (2015). Jerome Robbins' The Concert - Mistake Waltz short excerpt (Pacific Northwest Ballet). [video] Available at: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=ballets+jerome+robbins+choreographed&&view=detail&mid=53C6FBD16D73FB0B281653C6FBD16D73FB0B2816&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dballets%2Bjerome%2Brobbins%2Bchoreographed%26FORM%3DHDRSC3 [Accessed 2 Mar. 2020].