Art and practice of musical theatre choreography /
Cassie Abate.
- First edition.
- 1 online resource (192 pages).
INTRODUCTION -- a. Tradition: An Art Form Passed Down -- b. Within These Pages: How to Utilize the Text -- PART 1: THE ART -- 1. CHAPTER 1: Where to Start -- 1.1. The Musical Theatre Choreographer -- 1.2. The Evolution of Dance on Broadway -- 1.2.1. The African, Caribbean, and East Indian Influence -- 1.2.2. The European Influence -- 1.2.3. The Director/Choreographer and the Concept Musical -- 1.2.4. Contemporary Musical Theatre Choreographers -- 1.3. Choreographing in a New Era of Musical Theatre -- 2. CHAPTER 2: Research -- 2.1. The World of the Piece -- 2.1.1. Historical Context -- 2.1.2. Culture -- 2.1.3. Visual Landscape -- 2.1.4. Words, Words, Words -- 2.2. The Life of the Piece -- 2.2.1. Listening -- 2.2.2. Style -- 2.2.3. Movement Vocabulary -- 2.3. The People of the Piece -- 2.3.1. The Role of the Ensemble -- 2.4. The History of the Piece -- 2.4.1. Source Material -- 2.4.2. The Creators -- 2.4.3. Previous Productions -- 2.5. Revivals: Making Something Old New Again -- 2.5.1. Copyright and Licensing -- 2.6. ACTIVITY: Visual Lookbook -- 2.7. ACTIVITY: Movement Reel -- 3. CHAPTER 3: Storytelling Through Movement -- 3.1. The Musical Structure -- 3.2. Roles of Choreography in the Musical -- 3.3. Script Analysis: Creating a Movement Arc -- 3.4. Movement Events -- 3.5. ACTIVITY: Movement Roadmap -- 4. CHAPTER 4: Interpreting the Score -- 4.1. The Basics -- 4.1.1. Meter and Rhythm -- 4.1.2. Time Signatures -- 4.1.3. Staves and Clefs -- 4.1.4. Key Signatures -- 4.1.5. Expressions, Articulations, and Dynamic Markings -- 4.1.6. Other Important Markings -- 4.1.7. Musical Passages and Transitions -- 4.2. Music Through a Dance Lens -- 4.2.1. What you Hear Versus What You See -- 4.2.2. Musical Changes, Counting, and Cutting -- 4.2.3. Physical Interpretation -- 4.3. ACTIVITY: Discovering the Cut -- 4.4. ACTIVITY: Drawing the Musical Phrases -- 4.5. ACTIVITY: Scoring the Score -- 5. CHAPTER 5: Musical Staging -- 5.1. Earning the Song -- 5.2. Music as Action -- 5.3. Stage Moods. 5.4. Partners -- 5.5. Movement While Singing -- 5.5.1. Motion -- 5.5.2. Crosses: When and How -- 5.5.3. Gestures -- 5.5.4. Stillness -- 5.5.5. Stylization -- 5.5.6. Physical Comedy -- 5.6. The Mini-Build -- 5.7. Sample Staging Outline: Solo -- 5.8. Sample Staging Outline: Duet -- 5.9. ACTIVITY: Notating in the Script -- 6. CHAPTER 6: Production Numbers -- 6.1. Beat Breakdown -- 6.2. How to Create a Build -- 6.2.1. Types of Builds -- 6.2.2. Groupings -- 6.2.3. Eliciting Applause -- 6.2.4. Buttons -- 6.3. Nuts and Bolts -- 6.3.1. Focus -- 6.3.2. Level and Direction -- 6.3.3. Repetition and Visual Variation -- 6.3.4. Individual Versus Unison -- 6.3.5. Balance: Symmetrical Versus Asymmetrical -- 6.4. Formations -- 6.4.1. Lines -- 6.4.2. Curves -- 6.4.3. Other Formations -- 6.4.4. Multiple Formations -- 6.5. Movement Patterns -- 6.6. Diagrams -- 6.7. ACTIVITY: Analyzing the Build -- 6.8. ACTIVITY: Building the Build -- 7. CHAPTER 7: Creating Steps -- 7.1. Process -- 7.1.1. The Five Parts of Dance -- 7.1.2. Intention -- 7.1.3. Style -- 7.1.4. Economy -- 7.2. Creation -- 7.2.1. Research -- 7.2.2. Abstraction -- 7.2.3. Physical Metaphor -- 7.2.4. Dance Journaling -- 7.2.5. Movement Prompts -- 7.2.6. Efforts -- 7.2.7. Objectives and Drives -- 7.3. Fundamentals -- 7.3.1. Initiation and Framing -- 7.3.2. Shapes and Transitions -- 7.3.3. Choreographing the Eyes -- 7.3.4. Rhythm, Speed, and Syncopation -- 7.3.5. Contrast, Isolation, and Accent -- 7.3.6. Pauses, Freezes, and Sounds -- 7.3.7. Dancers as Objects -- 7.3.8. Crowd Movements -- 7.4. Utilizing the Design -- 7.5. Notation -- 7.6. ACTIVITY: Steps Notation -- 8. CHAPTER 8: Adapting to Various Spaces -- 8.1. Types of Spaces -- 8.2. Site Specific Theatre -- 8.3. Benefits and Challenges -- 8.4. Tricks of the Trade -- 8.5. Formations -- 8.6. Movement Patterns -- 8.7. Creating Focus -- 8.8. Musical Staging -- 8.9. Storytelling -- 8.10. ACTIVITY: From Proscenium to the Round -- PART 2: THE PRACTICE -- 9. CHAPTER 9: Assembling Your Team. 9.1. Members of the Choreographic Team -- 9.1.1. Dance Captain -- 9.1.2. Assistant Choreographer -- 9.1.3. Associate Choreographer -- 9.2. Pre-Production -- 9.3. Auditions -- 9.3.1. Audition Breakdown -- 9.3.2. Dance Calls -- 9.3.3. Audition Combination -- 9.3.4. In the Room -- 9.3.5. Making the Cut -- 9.4. ACTIVITY: The Dance Audition Combination -- 10. CHAPTER 10: Collaboration -- 10.1. Design and Production Meetings -- 10.1.1. Creative Discussions -- 10.1.2. Design Meetings -- 10.1.3. Break Out Meetings -- 10.1.4. Production Meetings -- 10.2. Collaborating with the Director and Music Director -- 10.2.1. The Director -- 10.2.2. The Music Director -- 10.2.3. The Dance Arranger -- 10.3. Collaborating with the Design Team -- 10.3.1. The Set Designer -- 10.3.2. The Costume Designer -- 10.3.3. The Lighting Designer -- 10.3.4. The Sound Designer -- 10.4. The Stage Manager -- 10.5. The Director/Choreographer -- 10.6. ACTIVITY: Question Lists -- 11. CHAPTER 11: Rehearsals -- 11.1. Types of Rehearsals -- 11.1.1. Staging Rehearsals -- 11.1.2. Cleaning Rehearsals -- 11.1.3. Run-Throughs -- 11.1.4. Spacing Onstage -- 11.1.5. Sitzprobe and Wandelprobe -- 11.1.6. Technical Rehearsals -- 11.1.7. Previews -- 11.2. Running Rehearsals: How to Lead -- 11.2.1. Working with Performers -- 11.2.2. Giving Notes -- 11.3. ACTIVITY: Rehearsal Timeline -- 12. CHAPTER 12: All the Other Things -- 12.1. Transitions -- 12.2. Contact and Intimacy -- 12.3. Improvisation -- 12.4. Child Performers -- 12.5. Special Skills -- 12.6. Curtain Call -- 12.7. Photo Call -- 12.8. Rehearsing Understudies and Swings -- 12.9. Accessibility -- 12.10. Activity: Tracking Transitions -- 13. CHAPTER 13: Nice Work If You Can Get It -- 13.1. Finding Work -- 13.2. Creating Your Own Work -- 13.3. Displaying Your Work -- 13.4. ACTIVITY: Choreography Reel -- APPENDIX: Suggested Reading.
Abstract freely available; full-text restricted to individual document purchasers.
"What does a musical theatre choreographer actually do? They just 'make up the steps', right? This book firstly debunks the misunderstandings around what musical theatre choreographers actually do, demonstrating their need to have an in-depth understanding of storytelling, music theory, performance practices and plot structure in order to create movement that enhances and enlivens the musical. Secondly, it equips the musical theatre choreographer with all the tools needed to create nuanced, informed and inspired movement for productions, through structured activities that build specific skills (such as 'notating the script' and 'scoring the score'). Traditionally, this training has been something of a series of secrets, passed from mentor to apprentice. The author demystifies the process to make the previously undisclosed "tricks of the trade" accessible to all choreographers, everywhere. Covering the entire process of choreographing a musical from the first script reading to the final curtain call, this book makea case for the absolute integrity of the choreographer to any musical theatre production and sets out the theoretical principles of choreography alongside the practical application during every step of the production process."--