Keeping Me On My Toes

My pal Denise sent in a comment to my last post that was right on the money, so I wanted to post it out here on the front page. Specifically, she took exception to my comment that "Depending on the show, the choreography can be extremely demanding (like Cats) or pretty minimal (like Fiddler on the Roof), but it’s a vital part of the show."

She wrote:

The great choreographer Jerome Robbins would probably disagree with that statement. He won a Tony for choreography for Fiddler On the Roof (and West Side Story). Indeed, when a group agrees to the performance rights for Fiddler, it is in the contract that they are supposed to do Robbins' choreography. While I would agree that Fiddler is not considered to be a dance show, take it from one that has been in the show (I played Chava when I was 19) and part of the directing team for a production. "Fiddler," when done correctly, has some of the most beautiful and awesome dance in any show. The bottle dance alone, when done with respect to ethnic tradition, is extremely challenging.

Here's how I responded:

Denise, I wanted to post your comment because I agree with it absolutely. When I wrote this entry I used a different example for the "minimal" dance show, and then I changed it to "Fiddler," because it's probably the most famous musical I could think of that isn't thought of as a "dance" show. (Maybe Camelot would have been a better example.) But even as I wrote it I realized it was a bad example, because the show does include some wonderful choreography - I just neglected to go back and correct it. I appreciate you keeping me honest!