Bob Fosse was an inventive choreographer and a creative, imaginative director who had a phenomenal impact on modern musical theatre by redesigning its aesthetics, (Nicolaou, 2019). Fosse preferred style over technical substance which is why he loved detail within his work. He would place his dancers, paying attention to the angles of their feet and their little fingers, (Swiftpapers.com, n.d.). Shirley MacLaine was a star in one of his works called "Sweet Charity". She recalls that "Every finger, every wrist, every hip, every shoulder had to be in unison or he went crazy." (change et al., 2018). Because his movements were so detailed, bizarre and burlesque he liked to keep his costumes minimalistic (all black, emphasized by hats and gloves) (Dedicatedwriters.com, n.d.) so the audience's attention wouldn't be diverted from his choreography.
Fosse began his profession in high school, dancing in vaudeville and burlesque. These sexually open atmospheres put him in a constant connection with strippers, (Pate, 2019). Furthermore, this is why the creation of Fosse's style is sexually suggestive, (Bedinghaus, 2019). This is demonstrated by his dancers sitting on chairs backwards, legs spread open, while their arms were cradling the chair, (Pate, 2019).
Qualities that made Fosse's choreography unique were his methods with technique. His style only came about because of his physical restrictions, (samples, n.d.). His small stature, hunched shoulders, turned-in knees and pigeon toes made him look physically wrong as a dancer. As a result of this, he concentrated more on the rhythm and style of movement to resolve what he lacked physically, (McDaniel, 2012). A quote from Fosse states, "I thank God I wasn't born perfect." (Dailycelebrations.com, n.d.). Bob Fosse came up with the concept of using props, such as hats and canes to help conceal his limitations, (samples, n.d.). Overall, Fosse's reputation as an inventive choreographer grew, and this was all due to his distinctive style.
Many of these qualities are reflected in our Juggernaut routine. Firstly, we have a vast amount of isolations, such as reaching our hand up in a jazz hand position and then quickly breaking the line of our wrist. In addition to this, we have to do this in unison and because we are moving compactly in a restricted space, it's easier to notice if anyone is not in synchronisation.
Another quality that is illustrated throughout this routine was the provocative movements we do, such as thrusting our hips towards the audience. Moreover, this dynamic movement is associated with his sexually suggestive style.
-Bob Fosse relates to our Juggernaut routine
Jack Cole, (1911-1974), was known as the "Father of Theatrical Jazz Dance," (Fosse, 2017) and will always be remembered as the prime innovator of theatrical jazz, (Rizzuto, 2013). The first quality that made him distinctive was that he was able to enhance his projects with individual technique, style and character. Cole developed a personal mode of dancing which combined, modern, lindy hop and ballet. This was infused with movement styles of other ethnic dance forms with unique American Jazz music, (Rizzuto, 2013).
His highly individual style emphasised elements such as a low Plié in a second position, as well as a parallel fourth position with both knees bent but the back knee near to the floor. This wide and low pose aids the dancer's centre of gravity and enables them to broaden their movement horizontally along the floor. Furthermore, it helps the dancers achieve an effortless transition of weight. However, while the centre of weight was kept grounded to the floor, the torso remained erect giving it a professional look, (Rizzuto, 2013).
Another quality that makes his choreography unique is the use of isolation. He made sufficient use of the side and forward thrust of the shoulders, hips, head and even individual fingers. Many of his isolations derived from his background in Indian dance. In addition to this, he used isolations to show rhythm throughout the body and to grasp the audience's attention to particular parts of the body, (Rizzuto, 2013).
These qualities are outlined in our routine as throughout the choreography, we are using a wide, deep Plié whilst being grounded to the floor. This assists us in executing the movement to make it look effective towards the audience. This is manifested as soon as we begin the routine when we lunge forward in a Plié and pop our chest to the audience. In addition to this, it helps us gain more isolation throughout our upper body.
A quality that is highlighted in our routine is the use of forward-thrusting of hips, shoulders and head. This is demonstrated when we walk out to the corner and then impulsively thrust our hips out while sitting in our other hip. Furthermore, this quality is also shown when we are on the ground and we have to immediately look away and then towards the audience while rolling our shoulders backwards. This presents an appealing character to the audience so they will want to grasp our intentions throughout the routine.
-Jack Cole related to our Jason Derulo routine
Jerome Robbins is a renowned choreographer of ballets, as well as his work as a director and choreographer in theatre, movies and television, (Jeromerobbins.org, n.d.). His work was remarkably versatile as his choreography was a combination of modern, ballet, jazz and social dance idioms, (Artsalive.ca, n.d.). Robbins was a pioneer in producing ballets that reflected his era, (Roh.org.uk, n.d.), and he stated that sometimes his dancers help him devise new ideas. This is mentioned in the quote, "I depend upon them for a certain amount of inspiration."-said at 1:07 (Jerome Robbins: In His Own Words, 2018).
A quality that makes Jerome Robbins distinct is his comic gift and his intelligence that is portrayed throughout his choreography, (Roh.org.uk, n.d.). His work was often injected with humour and he presented issues and characters familiar to his audience, (Artsalive.ca, n.d.). This was mainly seen in his Broadway shows as well as some of his comical ballet productions such as, "Fancy Free", which he collaborated with Lenord Bernstein in 1944. This launched Robbins into fame and fortune, (Roy, 2009).
Robbins varied work included matching music, story and character with dance, (Roy, 2009). He was able to see movement in the music composed by Bernstein and other composers including Stravinsky, Glass and Chopin, (Lunden, 2018). He was a demanding choreographer and also a perfectionist, (Jowitt, 2018). "There are two choreographers inside Jerome Robbins: the breezy Broadway showman, and the introverted artist drawn to dark spaces and dark moods. Sometimes, it is hard to understand how they connect." -Judith Mackrell, Guardian, 2008, (Roy, 2009).
These qualities reflect our Billy Eilish routine because at the beginning, the music tempo gradually rises and a hard beat becomes distinct. When this happens, we go into forceful isolations by quickly raising a shoulder or a sharp flick of the head. This not only portrays the precision Robbins admired, but it also illustrates how the music tempo and rhythm can conclude what movements we do.
This routine does reflect many genres of dance, including jazz and ballet. It has a variety of ballet movements scattered within it such as the chaîné turns at the beginning. Even though our arms are bent inwards, the movement is still classical with our posture being upright and our turnout engaged. Despite this, it can be very well disguised as when we turn, we progressively go down to the floor so it has the illusion of it being a jazz movement.
-Jerome Robbins relates to our Billy Eilish routine
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Referencing
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