Drew McOnie isn’t just a modern choreographer who wants his shows to be relevant to today and wants dance in musical theatre to develop, he loves old musicals as well, ones with “fast-footed Gene Kelly-ish routines, full of humor and character, channeling the golden age of MGM musical”. McOnie also loves the work of old school choreographers like Jack Cole, Michael Kidd and Bob Fosse.

The McOnie Company aims to “sit directly in the middle between musical theatre and pure dance”, so narrative and songs remain but dance is what powers the performance. This company is modernising musical theatre and making it more dance based. One of the performances he is putting on- similar to a ‘song and dance revue’ - is called Drunk and Time Out called this production “the next big thing in musical theatre choreography”. Drew McOnie said his theatre-dance company wants to see “just how far musical theatre choreography can go”. He has also said “the company is set on creating narrative, dance-led productions that appeal to both musical theatre and dance audiences, and has a passion for new writing”.

Drew McOnie is a famous choreographer/ performer who set up his own company called The McOnie Company. This company is focussing on modernising Musical Theatre and making it more dance based. Knowing this is what Drew McOnie and his company are focusing on making popular, is making me think Drew McOnie has the same views on dance in musical theatre as me. In this article it explains about how the company want to mix together 2 different dance styles, musical theatre dance and contemporary. This is something I personally would enjoy to watch as I am very passionate about musical theatre but also contemporary style dancing and I feel these different styles of dance should be used together and should be seen a lot more in this modern era. This choreographer is also passionate about dance and he wants to bring together two parts of the dance world. He is passionate about creating “accessible dance” with the “glamour and fun of musical theatre but the choreographic integrity and ingenuity of ballet and contemporary dance.” something I personally would enjoy and feel should be seen a lot more in this modern era.

Drew McOnie thinks these 2 styles of dance currently have very little support for each other “The commercial sector thinks contemporary dance is just massaging bananas into walls, and the contemporary sector thinks musical theatre is all jazz hands and money-making.” I think styles of dance these days are very separate and you don’t see many styles of dance mixing together. I feel this is why the film ‘StreetDance’ was such a big film, because it brought ballet and street dance together and made it work. I feel if there were more integrated dance styles it would bring the dance community closer and possibly get more people interested in various dance styles. Going back onto what Drew McOnie was saying, he wants to go back to the time where dancers were stars for example the 30s with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, he wants that to return. “I’m hoping there’s a time around the corner when dancers become people of interest, people worth interviewing.”

TV can have a big influence on society and the way it views dance with shows like Britain’s Got Talent, dancers can go on and be appreciated and become stars just for dancing. I feel society’s view on dance will be ever changing because with dance programs being available to watch on TV for instance So You Think You Can Dance, Dance Moms and Got To Dance it could be popular and have a lot of views one season and the next might not have as much interest. I have realised it is to do with what the society wants this because ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ isn’t shown on BBC one anymore as it isn’t as popular and not many people watch it. I feel singing competitions always end up being more popular with shows like X Factor and The Voice. This is because every year loads of people audition and loads of people get ready to watch them and people always talk on social media about these shows when they start. So they wouldn’t stop running these shows or change the channel they are on unless the audience became disinterested in them. But I also see an opposed view where the TV Company is in charge and they decide what they show. My thoughts are these dance shows lose a few viewers so the TV Company decide to put these dance shows onto a less popular channel. This shows the TV companies are in charge and they change things when they want and they don’t always listen to the audiences’ views. 

Drew feels that you can dance any emotion just as easy as you can feel any emotion. This is something I wanted to show in my performances. I wanted to show through my dance a story using different emotions. This was to see if the audience felt that emotion, and if I could portray an emotion through a dance as easily as I could feel the emotion through song. McOnie feels the only reason you wouldn’t be able to dance that emotion is from limitation of your mind, this is why he is a versatile choreographer and performer. The subject matter of this article is about reinvigorating dance theatre. It is talking about how the choreographer Drew McOnie wants to bring out a new style of dance theatre. The article is explaining that this type of dance theatre is in-between musical theatre dancing and contemporary dancing. The main point of this article is to explain how dance and theatre can be changed to make a completely different and new style of dance theatre. It is showing dance and theatre can mix together and become interesting to modern audiences. It shows you can be different when choreographing a piece and you can change theatre by inventing something different. I agree with his thoughts and I feel what he wants to do is a good idea, but I also feel that his idea of dance theatre will only become popular if the public find an interest in it. I was unsuccessful in my attempts to get in touch with choreographer Drew McOnie, but through this article I have realised dance is something McOnie is passionate about and it is something he wants to show more within musicals. This article has also given me ideas and thoughts on a new direction dance can go in musicals: dance can be modernised and we can see more dance styles in musicals.