Q. As a choreographer of the musical Avenue Q how did you add dance into this musical?

A. I was able to talk with the directors and we decided by trial and error where dance was needed. The trick to some of the movement was to give the puppets dance that was humorous without making the puppeteers look like “bad puppeteers.” The sky was the limit.

My Comment. 

When creating choreographed pieces trial and error is a popular way to rehearse, this is the same as when you’re creating/ blocking a scene/ song. This musical shows that choreography doesn’t just have to be big dance numbers with loads of people who are trained in dance.

Q. In Avenue Q how did the dance and puppetry come together?

A. I hope seamlessly. I had to talk to the puppeteer as to what a puppet could and could not do. If the puppeteer was right or left handed there were lots of things to consider.

My Comment.

This shows the choreographer has to do more than just create dances for a musical. They have to communicate with other people to see if these dances work for the performers, the musical, the directors and the musical directors. They would have also had to compromise with these people and maybe change the choreography due to any problems they encounter. This shows there is a lot to think about as a choreographer.

Q. Did you want the actors controlling the puppets to be trained in dance, and did you want them to dance alongside the puppets dancing?

A. They did not have to have dance training just be good puppeteers which came first. We do have actors in the show who are not required to work puppets and these actors are required to dance. Some more than others.

My Comment.

This shows that not everyone performing in a musical has to be trained in dance because they aren’t always needed to dance. Which shows dance isn’t a main priority when it comes to musicals. Some musicals have other things as priority more than dance; Avenue Q needs puppeteers more than it needs dancers because the musical is about puppets. This is similar to sung through musicals needing singing more than dance, because that is the main focus for that specific musical.

Q. As a choreographer/ director/ performer do you feel dance takes a back seat in musical theatre?

A. Oh, no, dance might take a back seat to the eyes of certain directors but never in musical theatre, one cannot be separated from the other.

My Comment.

This shows he has a different view to what I have on dance in musical theatre. He feels that it depends on the director and what they direct. But being a musical theatre performer I still feel dance takes a back seat, but that may be to do with being more passionate about dance. Although he does think dance is equal to singing and acting which I would like to see more of and I feel in some musicals dance, singing and acting are separate from each other.

Q. Do you feel singing overshadows dancing in musicals?

A. Not at all. This would never come to mind. Song, dance, music all come together to make a musical.

My Comment.

This would show that his thoughts are different to mine when it comes to the way dance is seen in Musical Theatre. Even though he says song, dance and music come together to make a musical, which I agree with, I feel sometimes certain aspects of them are seen more than others.

Q. Why do you feel this?

A. Just by the definition of what a musical is. Each element is codependent on the other.

My Comment.

Even though a musical is about dancing, singing and acting coming together as a performance I still feel singing overpowers dance because it is seen a lot more in musicals. Even though each element needs each other, one of them can always come across as needed or seen more in a musical.

Q. Would you say dance is more difficult to emotionally connect with as an audience member in a musical than a song?

A. No I would not. This all depends on the audience member and what excites her most.

My Comment.

I agree with this point in that it depends on the audience member as to what they connect emotionally with. Because I am passionate about dance more than I am about singing and I feel I connect more emotionally to dance. Although I feel the most common opinion would be dance is more difficult to connect with emotionally compared to singing, as singing is more popular with a current audience.

Q. Why do you feel this?

A. Because gauging emotions is all so relative and subjective.

My Comment.

I agree with this as he is saying this is just how someone feels about something, and it depends on the person as to what makes them emotional and what makes that specific audience member connect to a piece, whether it is a piece of dance or a singing performance.

Q. Do you think a lot of musicals have an unequal amount of singing, dancing and acting?

A. Some have more of one and less of the other and visa versa.

My Comment.

I agree with this point as it is seen through most musicals. Even though up to now he has said dancing, singing and acting cannot be separate in musicals, he has now said certain musicals do show more of one discipline and less of another. I feel this statement depends on the director, the musical and which direction/ form the musical is taking as to which discipline we see more.

Q. Do you feel musicals should have an equal amount of singing, dancing and acting?

A. No, it all depends on the story telling.

My Comment.

I also agree that depending on the storytelling and the type of musical there doesn’t necessarily need to be an equal amount of singing, dancing and acting. I feel some musicals would be better as an equal mix of all of them and I feel there should be more musicals with an equal mix. I also feel dance can tell a story, depending on how it is portrayed so it could be used instead of singing.

Q. Do you think if dance was shown a lot more in musicals it would be more popular in general?

A. No, it is popular already due to television; ‘So You Think You Can Dance’, ‘Dancing with the stars’ and ‘Dance Moms’ are a few examples.

My Comment.

He disagrees that dance wouldn’t get more popular if it was seen more in musicals, as it is already popular. But I disagree, as people would see different sides and styles in dance through different styles of musicals, so more people would be interested in dance. Even though these TV shows are solely focussed on dance and these shows may help towards the popularity of dance, I feel it is only dancers that tend to watch these shows. Whereas a singing show like X Factor most families in Britain watch it and they might not be singers or interested in singing but they still watch it for the entertainment. So the dance shows might not be entertaining or interesting enough for families to sit down and watch.

Q. What style of dance do you like?

A. All, yet, depending on how they are used.

My Comment.

This shows that as a choreographer and performer he likes a range of dance styles not just musical theatre style dancing. When he says depending on how they are used he means how they are shown in a musical or through a storyline, which I feel is useful information because if a ballet performance had one tap routine in it wouldn’t blend in with the performance or the story so the performance wouldn’t have been as enjoyable.

Q. Do you think dance in musicals could show a bigger range of dance styles?

A. Can’t be any bigger of range styles as it is already.

My Comment.

I disagree with this because I feel in musicals dance shows very little range of dance styles. Even though there are some musicals with certain dance styles they could be used in a lot more performances. I feel there should be a bigger variety of dance in musicals because most musicals use jazz style dancing or ballet and sometimes tap, but there are a lot more dance styles that could be used in musicals. For instance Street dance, Bollywood, Contemporary. Although with the culture broadening their dance horizons and being interested in different dance styles it is seen through some musicals. As some current musicals are starting to intertwine hip hop with technical dancing. I also feel you can still tell a story through these different dance styles.

Q. I understand why singing is seen a lot more in musical theatre than dance, but for my work at university I was thinking about putting on a performance where dance replaces singing in a musical and the story is told through dance. I am doing this to see if a show could be successful without singing and with dance bringing all the emotion and story across. Do you think this would be a good idea or do you feel all musicals need singing throughout?

A. This all depends on what the story makers are trying to say all of the above are possible. There was a Broadway production of Swan Lake that had no singing and one of the acts in song and dance had no singing. There are many other examples that escape me now.

My Comment.

This helped me and made me think I needed to choose the musical/ song that I performed to carefully. It needed to have a performance that was strong song wise, but I would need to think if the story would come across if it was told through dance.