To begin this creative process, we pitched ideas for musicals to the group as an entire year. This was then whittled down to four musicals we intended to focus on. What interested me most about the development of musicals was the role of movement director and the role of choreographer. Keeping that discovery in mind I picked the musical in which I believed had the most potential in giving me a creative playground to develop interesting and intricate movement and choreography. The musical I picked was the foundations of what is now The Turning. This musical intended to focus on the fantasy world of vampires. The overall development of this musical lead to the group having to overcome obstacles such as the laws of the world nevertheless ending with the success of a completed musical. As the movement director and choreographer for the musical, I was set with two separate tasks and roles within this process. I had to consider not only details for the individual named characters but also moving in an ensemble through movement and dance. This also had to link with what the other creatives in the group had set as well as fit the context and given set of circumstances that had been written by the book writers.
At the start of the process, I set myself the task of researching different dance styles throughout the decades as well as how that differentiated with dance styles in other countries across the entire world. This was due to the intention of having the lead group of vampires being from various places around the world. This research also benefited my understanding of the individual backstories of the characters which I then shared with the group. After speaking to Chris Penny and Suzi Slater (the composer and lyricist), they communicated that they had planned on having a song inspired by the Tango dance style between the characters Ambrosia and Igor. Although this was not included in our final showing, I spent time researching how this specific dance style could allude to the more sensual side of the characters feeling towards one another. After some research I landed on the Argentine Tango as this emphasised the sexual tension between the characters as it requires a close connection and passion between the dancer’s bodies. Unfortunately, this was cut due to composer not feeling that scene and song was necessary. Although the initial plan of focusing on two of the characters seemed like a brilliant place to start, I soon realised that focusing on the group numbers would be more beneficial to me personally as a choreographer while the plot and character development was still at early doors.
I began to work out moves and counts for the ensemble dance numbers. My intentions for these numbers were to have the cast intimidate the audience while not overpopulating the stage leaving room for kicks and turns. I knew from the beginning of the process I wanted to include kicks and turns to present the vampires superhuman strength and versatility so having the right number of actors on stage was crucial to the overall aesthetics. I decided on having nine cast members on stage for the larger dance breaks which would then leave enough room for them all to dance the routine full out whilst also portraying an army like attack visually on the audience. To fully create this visual effect, I would request the costume designers to include Laduca boots for all cast members included in large scale dance numbers. After researching the cost of providing the full cast of dancers with Laduca boots, I discovered that this would cost the production £2,655. This would be something I would have to consider if we went forward and carried on this process because as a choreographer the shoes are crucial to create the correct and most aesthetic lines and shapes required for the dance numbers within the show. While on the subject of cost, as a choreographer and movement director the spaces in which we can effectually rehearse group numbers is crucial to the process. Finding rooms to accommodate nine dancers such as Dance Studio Leeds would cost around £56 for eight hours. If this were a two-week process taking Sunday off as a rest day this would cost us £672, however this would be a rewarding use of budget. We managed to save some budget all thanks to Snowdon Snaps for taking professions picture of our showing which will benefit the advertising for the show in the future.
For accommodating the scale of dance numbers, I would like to achieve if we decide to go forward with The Turning, would require a large stage such as the stage at The Quarry Theatre at Leeds Playhouse. This would give, not only me but the dancers in these umbers to have the freedom to go wild which is key to the characterisation in the dance moves when portraying the vampire characters to their full potential. Although this would take a huge hit to the budget and would not be full achievable in the initial stages of performing and building a fan base and following for the musical. This gives me as a choreographer something to work towards to and keep in mind when adjusting to contrasting sized stages.
A large amount of my development process was during the RnD week we had, where I had the opportunity to work with the cast and regulate my initial choreography ideas to highlight their strengths. I wanted to create an open space where people felt able to share their opinions on the dances I had created as well as add to them. I found hearing other members of the groups thoughts on how these characters and vampires should move highly interesting and a lot of these offerers were in the final showing of the RnD week.
In figure two we see a move that symbolises a bat. This continues to paint the picture that these characters are superhuman while including a significant stereotype about the fantasy creature the vampire.
In figure three we see a Spanish flamenco style wrist twist with a rotation of the hip. Having the fingers sprayed continues this feel of an animalistic vampire while playing into how these characters have experienced lot of the world and its history and culture due to their immortality.
In figure four the move symbolises the characters hiding from the sun and the public in a mysterious way. It also presents the illusion of a cape which is another stereotype of vampires.
A key moment of characterisation and storytelling is clear in figure five. As it highlights a bit about the characters before you get to know them in the rest of the musical. We have the characters Igor and Ambrosia hinting at their sexual relations while the other members of the cast do a forward bend to make sure those characters catch the eye of the audience.
The attendance of our cast fluctuated through out the week which resulted in the original formations being completely different to the original ones I had planned for. I. Found this quite a challenge, having to adjust and fix the problems on the spot in a way in which benefitted the group in terms of pick-up speed and making alterations to their initial spacing along side making sure that the formations still portrayed the same message. An example of this is the first formation at the beginning of the song ‘But Not Us’. In figure one you can see that the proxemics of the group is tight while still leaving enough room to move. My intentions for this formation was to portray the unity and family aspects of the characters, this was successfully shown by the tight huddle but also the placing of the hands on the shoulders. Another challenge I encountered during the RnD week was working without any music to choreograph to. This left me with the task of purely looking at shapes of the movement and how best to portray the mysterious yet comedic vampires within the show. Although choreographing without music was an initial challenge, I soon came to terms with the fact this gave me the perfect opportunity to really create meanings and acting choices through the movement. Being able to create or set the scene just with movement and without relying on music I felt highly benefitted the overall characterisation of the shapes I created. Unfortunately adding the choreography to the music revealed to be another more complicated challenge. Working out new counts while making sure the moves complimented the beautiful composition and lyrics.
When creating the movement for each character I wanted to make sure that each individual person had at least one specific key movement to play with, that helped emphasises the unique characteristics. I decided I would work with what the dramaturg had given me and expand on that.
For the character of Yuroslav I really wanted to play into the fact that he is the oldest and most experienced vampire. My initial idea was to have him teleport around stage, so the audience and other characters never see him walk. This helps with the comedic side of the musical while still delivering the idea what he is higher status than the rest. Having this character pop up out of no where was something I was really fond of portraying however this was not achievable in the RnD process due to the time limit we had creating this on its feet. Another couple of vital reasons we could not go ahead with this idea was that in order to make this effective we would need large set pieces and props for Yuroslav to hide behind and come out from behind to create this illusion of teleportation. Along side this I required another dancer for the group numbers and therefore had to include this actor in these sequences. I managed to adjust from my initial plan and show his higher status through his placement in the very first shape we created in the number where he was placed front and centre leading the group forward in a pyramid shape.
For the ensamble character Gerald I wanted to show how time had not been nice to him even in the vampire world and now his movement is hunched and animalistic. This contrasted with the other vampires while still fitting in with the whole aesthetic of vampires.
For the character of Jane, I wanted to portray her madness and insanity through her clumsy and erratic movements. One key movement direction I gave to the actor was to be hyper aware of your surroundings, constantly looking over her shoulder to portray the feeling of guilt and awareness of doing unhinged things. Having this character widen her eyes gave the audience a sense of how insane this character was while still presenting as human.
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My learning outcomes from this process are very specific to the type of cast I had the joy of working with. I think every experience would be different with a new cast and range of abilities. Knowing who I was choreographing for was very helpful and made achieving a successful showing far easier. However, having a completely blank canvas would have also been a completely freeing and an exciting way of approaching the choreography in the future. I would like to experience casting people in pre-set choreography and really getting to see my vision come to life. Another learning outcome I experienced was how vital thinking on your feet is when being a leader in a creative space. Being able to think on my feet and act instantly is a skill I’d really like to work on when given the opportunity like this again.
In conclusion, this experience has helped me see a clearer vision on what I see my future career being and how I would successfully achieve it.
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