Wednesday, April 15, 2015
The Unique Style of Fosse
Fosse's choreography was revolutionary, risqué, and, often, controversial during his time. While he was a dancer himself, he was not classically trained and lacked a lot of advanced technique. As noted by Cheryl Mrozowski in "Bob Fosse's Jazz Revolution", Fosse refused to choreograph beyond what he could actually do as a dancer. This limitation, though, helped him to be more innovative and imaginative with his steps. All of Fosse's most identifiable dances share similar qualities: unusual postures, turned-in feet, hip thrusts, chug steps, etc., etc. Above all, Fosse was concerned with communicating a story. One of his most iconic numbers is also one of his earliest: Steam Heat, from Pajama Game. The video below shows this dance in the 1957 film version of Pajama Game, which Fosse also choreographed.
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I find it fascinating that even though Fosse never had a proper background in choreography he was extremely successful. It became apparent that Fosse's interest in performing started at a very young age and continued throughout his life. I am curious about what pushed him to start performing in the first place and how his interest in choreography began. Since he never got the proper training, was he just naturally good at it? Or did it take him a while to discover his talent and style?
ReplyDeleteI am very drawn to the fact that Fosse never had any formal type of training. As someone with a limited working knowledge of choreography, it can be difficult to understand whether or not something is conventionally "good." I wonder if Fosse ever turned down training or how he felt about this aspect of his career.
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