Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Happy Birthday Bob Fosse!


Bob Fosse, was one of the greatest choreographers of all time and had many achievements in his life. For Damn Yankees, he took his ideas from, Jack Cole. He also took ideas from Jerome Robbins. While working on the show New Girl in Town, Fosse wanted to direct and choreograph his next show because of the conflict with the collaborators. The first movie he directed as well as choreographed, Redhead, Fosse used one of the first ballet dance numbers in a show that had five different styles of dance; Fosse's jazz, a cancan, a gypsy dance, a march, and an old-fashioned English music hall number. Fosse used the idea of subtext and gave his dancers something to think about during their numbers. He also used lighting to influence his work and direct the audience's attention to certain things. During Pippin, Fosse made the first ever commercial for a Broadway show.

In 1957, both Verdon and Fosse were studying with Sanford Meisner to develop a better acting technique for themselves. Fosse believed that, “The time to sing is when your emotional level is too high to just speak anymore, and the time to dance is when your emotions are just too strong to only sing about how you feel."


Big Spender Sequence from Sweet Charity. This is a dance sequences from one of the greatest choreographers of all time, Bob Fosse!

4 comments:

  1. Dawn ,Do you know who was first signed to play the male lead in All That Jazz? It was not Roy.

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  2. Dawn, get a hold of yourself. It was Richard Dreyfuss. NO I'm not kidding.

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