2 hrs and 10 minutes in color
Available from Netflix
Choreography! In all likelihood everyone reading this has
heard the word and chances are most of you can define it. The art of Choreography is ages old, but I
did not realize until very recently that the word did not take up residence in
the English language dictionary until the 1950s. And it was not put to unofficial public use
in our country until 1936, when the immortal George Balanchine was credited
with it in the opening stage production of the musical “On Your Toes.” “Choreography by” Balanchine! Before that the programs of stage productions
read something like “Dances by” or “Dance Supervision by” or “Dance Designer.” Of course any student of Greek is familiar
with the two Greek words chorea
(dance) and graphe (writing) from
which the term is derived. So
Choreography is the practice of writing with dance, dance-writing, using
configurations of dancers and dance steps to say something.
For centuries the designation
was confined for the most part to the classy, graphic art of formal nineteenth
century Ballet. Think “The
Nutcracker!” But by the 20th
century modern influences came into the picture. Think Jerome Robbins, Alvin Ailey, Gene
Kelly!
And think BOB FOSSE!
What I offer for your
consideration this time is “Fosse,” a posthumous two-hour-plus compilation of
over twenty choreograph sequences from his most successful musicals, first
staged in New York in 1999, twelve years after Fosse’s death – a stage musical
production complete within itself!
Contrary to possible misunderstanding it is not a documentary study; it
is all dancing, one number segueing into another without a break (except for
intermission time). Included is some of
the work he did in the following: “Sweet Charity,” “Kiss Me, Kate,” “Cabaret,”
“Chicago,” “Damn Yankees,” “The Pajama Game,” and “Pippin.” He also created a show for the stage in 1978
with the modest title of “Dancin’ ” and designed a television special featuring
the talents of Liza Minelli, called “Liza with a Z”. Parts of these two are also included in this
two-hour plus bonanza.
His career spanned over
thirty years. He won numerous awards and
nominations for awards, including the Oscars, the Emmys (one for “Liza with a
Z”) and an unheard of eight nominations for a Tony. He was Oscar nominated for movie director
four times and won once – for the movie version of “Cabaret.” Some of you may have seen the 1979 movie, “All
That Jazz,” which he wrote and directed as a semi-autobiography, starring Roy
Scheider. Some of that film’s dance
content also shows up in “Fosse.”
Bob had his performers doing
things with the human body, both solo and in aggregate, for which there was no
precedent. Anything you can imagine a
body could possibly do short of endangerment to life and limb he had his troop
doing – and then some. There are those,
and I am one, who think he cannot be equaled, that no other dance master’s work
has ever even approached his.
Scores of words can be
employed to describe the personality and temperament of his work: lively, exuberant, jazzy, frisky, offbeat,
fast-stepping, perky, acrobatic, furious, sassy, sometimes saucy, satirical,
impish, often joyous, nonsensical, but almost always slyly funny. The bodies that do the interpreting are
lithe, loose, expressing themselves in all varieties of symmetrical and
asymmetrical contortions.
Finger-snapping and leg-slapping play a huge part, as do hats. He creates varied moods, but at the same time
keeps his music and the dancing feet moving with an intense, driving force,
aided by a most astounding use of lighting.
There is a huge stretch of imagination in every individual act; nothing
is presented in one dainty dimension.
The basic maneuver or strategy is treated to multiple variations, often
starting in simple steps but compounding into progressively more exciting and
electrifying and sensational highs. Watch “Fosse” and I suspect that your blood pressure would be given a great
boost. He transformed the art of
Choreography, gave audiences worldwide a new way of looking at it. He was also an actor, a dancer in his own
right, director (stage and screen), screenwriter, and film editor. What a career!
Fosse the man died in 1987,
twelve years before this posthumous tribute materialized. One single stage performance of it was
filmed, later shown on television and eventually published in DVD. That is what you see on this disc. The show, which in itself became a Tony
winner in 2000, was put together by celebrated dancer Gwen Verdon, his third
wife and partner, and by Ann Reinking, a member of his coterie almost from the
beginning, who after Verdon’s untimely death became the show’s director. Reinking knew Fosse’s work inside and out,
all his techniques, all his disciplines, all his vision and intent, having been
exposed to them first hand, and she made this sensational work to honor his
memory and keep alive his name and his unique place in the pantheon of musical
masters.
The enjoyable advantage in
watching the video is not having to sit through all the plays themselves, some
of which are much better than others; a few of them I find rather inferior in
terms of the storylines, which he had nothing to do with. Of course it all depends upon individual
taste. But in all of them the
Choreography is worth the price of admission.
Some great singers are heard along with the footwork, and the
orchestration is first class at every turn.
Several different musical styles play a part – rock, ragtime, swing,
blues, modern romantic, even boogie. The chief singer is Ben Vereen, a very
colorful comedian and showman, a dancer himself who has been with Fosse ever
since the first audition for hoofers took place under Fosse’s supervision in
the 1950s. He has style-plus and
contributes quite a lot to the electric pacing.
At curtain call I count
twenty-nine members of the cast altogether.
What a costume nightmare somebody must have lived through and what a
rigor beyond imagining to which the players had to submit changing their garb
so many times, some of them with only a minute or so to make the switch.
My favorite episode is a
takeoff on the classic song, “Steam Heat.”
Two men and one woman do a crazy spin and tumble on romantic intimacy,
stretching every nerve and fiber. For me
it is nothing short of a showstopper. “I
Wanna Be a Dancin’ Man” ranks high with me too, a masterpiece of coordination. A duo from “Chicago” is fantastically good,
an Emmy winner in and of itself. Two
shapely females sing of the tawdry values they enjoy in the so-called Roaring
Twenties. Have we not all heard of “Hey,
Big Spender,” a highlight from “Sweet Charity?”
And nothing I know of in musical history can compare with the fifteen-minute-long finale, when everybody gets into the act, literally, accompanied by an
onstage band. What a jamboree that
becomes! It should carry you to the
heights of watching and listening pleasure.
There is one act out of the bunch that I am not fond of, a very torrid
bit of sashaying that comes close to being a sleazy striptease. Some of you might want to fast forward
through it. The only solemnly serious
piece is furnished by Vereen doing his touching and sad immortalization of
“Bojangles” Robinson.
Do not form the misconception
that Fosse is a clown or a leader of clowns.
There is no ambience of the circus here.
What you get is first class professionalism and artistry all the
way. Every segment is scrupulously crafted.
Actually the show is a three-act deal, and during the two intermissions
we are taken backstage into the dressing room and treated to some personal
sharing by Ann Reinking and Ben Vereen and two other women performers. They give us some warm nostalgic conversation
about the Fosse they knew and what made him the very best. All give favorable report of how satisfying
and supportive he was to work with.
Vereen calls Fosse’s work a
testimonial to life itself. I always go
away with the feeling that that is so.
In accord with that claim he sings, both at the show’s start and near
its end, “Life is just a bowl of cherries, don’t take it serious, life’s too
mysterious. You work, you save, you
worry so, but you can’t take the dough when you go... The sweet things in life
to you were just loaned, so how can you
keep what you’ve never owned... So live and laugh, laugh and love... live and
love and laugh at it all.” I hope you
who view it will feel, as you view, the aliveness and the love and the
laughter. I hope it does something for
your soul. You do not need a thinking
cap for “Fosse”; a love of music, some tapping feet, an open heart and a sense
of rhythm will be quite enough.
To read other entries in my
blog, please consult its website:
enspiritus.blogspot.com. To learn
about me consult on the website the blog entry for August 9, 2013.
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