Open Forum

 View Only

  • 1.  Original Choreography vs Recreated

    Posted 11-13-2014 08:16

    I recently choreographed YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN using the original Broadway choreography. Recently a critic's review stated..."I was not clear of what part of original choreography Ms. Hansen re-created?" 
    Was the playbill suppose to list exactly which dance numbers used original choreo?  I'm not sure what the critic wanted/meant by her question?

    -------------------------------------------
    Sonja Hansen
    Producer, Director and Choreographer
    www.ChoreographybySonja.com
    Loveland OH
    -------------------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Original Choreography vs Recreated

    Posted 11-13-2014 12:02
    Hi Sonja,

    Unless you follow a critic faithfully, you may never understand the nuances of a specific review. Purely speculation on my part, but I'd guess the critic isn't familiar with the original production and therefore couldn't discern what was Stroman's and what was yours. Even though the implication is it's ALL Stroman's. 

    Nope: don't think you needed to list dance numbers. I think the industry assumption is ALL unless otherwise indicated.

    Otherwise, the critic may have been taking a swipe at Stroman's choreography as not being iconic or worth recreating?

    My two & a half cents: don't let a critic bother you. It's one person's opinion.

    -------------------------------------------
    Michael McDonough
    Stageworks Media
    New York NY
    -------------------------------------------


    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Original Choreography vs Recreated

    Posted 11-13-2014 22:40
    This is a weird and somewhat scary area for all of us.  I know few (to no) theatre teachers who don't co-opt at least some of the original production's elements into their productions. And even the people who I know who talk a big game ("I would NEVER copy another production; everything I do is completely organic and new") don't really hold up to scrutiny: Really? Didn't your Belle wear a yellow dress when dancing with the Beast?  Did your Dorothy wear blue gingham?

    Personally--and I've had this conversation more than once--I think that the ability to reproduce professional models with essentially no budget and no manpower is a skill that you can take take to the bank.   It should be celebrated in its own right and not denigrated.  

    Still, we live in the world. And this is the world where local professional productions of Urinetown were famously sued for stealing staging/choreography from the original production.  It leaves us all wondering what is homage and what is theft.

    I'm not necessarily saying that this is what was alluded to in your case.  I tend to agree with Michael's opinion of critcs "Schmitics."  Still it's an interesting question to be explored by anyone who does amateur or school theatre.



    -------------------------------------------
    Ryan Moore
    Ferndale MI
    -------------------------------------------


    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Original Choreography vs Recreated

    Posted 11-14-2014 07:49
    Hey, I'm in Dublin - Outside of Columbus...  Not sure about your specific question.  But this is an interesting article I found about choreography and some legal/ownership questions.  How did you find Young Frankenstein in general?  Well rcvd??  Hard/easy to Produce?

    have a good read :)

    http://scholarship.law.campbell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1411&context=clr&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26rct%3Dj%26q%3Dcan%2520a%2520choreographer%2520copy%2520another%2520persons%2520dances%253F%26source%3Dweb%26cd%3D5%26ved%3D0CEAQFjAE%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fscholarship.law.campbell.edu%252Fcgi%252Fviewcontent.cgi%253Farticle%253D1411%2526context%253Dclr%26ei%3DePVlVOiiLsityASn4IKgAw%26usg%3DAFQjCNF0P-CPsXfBg0QciaFaYrA_8r_DCg%26bvm%3Dbv.79142246%2Cd.aWw#search=%22can%20choreographer%20copy%20another%20persons%20dances%3F%22

    -------------------------------------------
    Daniel Stowell
    Teacher / Director
    Dublin OH
    -------------------------------------------


    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Original Choreography vs Recreated

    Posted 11-14-2014 10:03
    I have a slightly different take on this issue (probably because I grew up in a professional ballet studio and am double certified in dance and theatre). I always recommend doing original choreography for performance (if possible). While you will use elements of prior production (especially in things like set, costume, or make-up) I like to have new takes on  performances. It cerates a freshness to perofrmances that helps keep theatre a living breathing entity. That being said, I also recognize the difficulty this can cause if you are not able to do the choreography yourself.
    I feel like this is an issue that cannot ever have a truly set answer. If no one ever updated or created something new for revival performances our art form would become stale. It's definitely a question that needs to be addressed periodically...

    -------------------------------------------
    Shira Schwartz
    Chandler Unified School District
    Chandler AZ
    -------------------------------------------


    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Original Choreography vs Recreated

    Posted 11-14-2014 11:03
    Point of information: the license for Young Frankenstein includes a 4 volume Choreographers Guide with the rental materials giving the right to reproduce (though not a requirement) the original Broadway choreo. 

    The original Direction and Choreography was by Susan Stroman.
    However, the billing requirement doesn't differentiate between the two:

    In addition, if Producer elects to recreate the original direction and choreography of the Play, Producer shall accord the following billing credit to the person(s) engaged to recreate it, on a line below to the credit to Susan Stroman and in a size of type no larger than 75% of the size of the credit for Susan Stroman as follows:

    "Original Direction and Choreography recreated by [name(s)]"
     

    -------------------------------------------
    Michael McDonough
    Stageworks Media
    New York NY
    -------------------------------------------


    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Original Choreography vs Recreated

    Posted 11-14-2014 12:29
    I produced Crazy for You a number of years ago and it also had the original Choreography Guide as part of the rental package.  The option was the same - you had the right to reproduce by not a requirement to do so.  
    I used some of the work, but had to translate a large portion of it to accomodate less than professional level tappers/dancers.  It was wonderful to be able to bring some of the original to my more experienced kiddos, but to also be able to modify as needed.  By listing who recreated the choreography, it was clear that it was my interpretation of the original work.

    -------------------------------------------
    Amy Learn
    Ballwin MO
    -------------------------------------------


    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: Original Choreography vs Recreated

    Posted 11-15-2014 07:56
    This is an important aspect of the discussion I wish had been included in the initial post. I am aware that the original choreography can be leased for some shows but did not know you could do so for this particular play.

    If we were to produce this play at my school and chose to reproduce the original choreography in totality, I would not give my staff choreographer the "choreography by" credit and instead let the "recreation" credit stand in addition to the contractual obligatory credit to the original choreographer.

    I would probably do the same if we were to use a majority of the original choreography and either simplify some or use new for a few numbers.

    If the majority of the choreography is totally new and we were to use only a little of the original choreography, our staff choreographer would get the "choreography by" credit in addition to the contractual obligatory credit to the original choreographer. 

    As to what this particular critic was looking for in terms of credits, I do not know. In my town, I would feel free to contact them personally and ask what they meant by it. 

    -------------------------------------------
    Mark A Zimmerman
    Theatre Director
    Akron School for the Arts
    Akron Public Schools
    -------------------------------------------


    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: Original Choreography vs Recreated

    Posted 11-15-2014 10:07
    I read all 25 pages of the article Daniel posted.  One thing that wasn't discussed was if someone is copyrighting a dance to someone else's written copyrighted work.  I would hate it if theatres were sued for a dance done to our songs.  Our musical Five Frogs and a Prince has been done where the dances were mainly ballet in one production, jazz in another, and theatre dance in a third.  Whose to say that if someone later came along and copyrighted their new choreography they were not using steps previously done by one of those choreographers?   This really concerns me because a filmmaker has asked about filming Five Frogs and a Prince.   Is the film choreographer going to be able to sue any theatre who puts on the show?  That's really a bummer. 

    -------------------------------------------
    Vicki Bartholomew
    Playwright
    Sherwood OR
    -------------------------------------------


    Original Message


  • 10.  RE: Original Choreography vs Recreated

    Posted 11-16-2014 10:51
    Such a great discussion.  I guess my question (without reading the one article that someone posted) is what is the definition of copying choreography.  To what extent?  For example...let's say that I am doing a musical number from Pippin for a little in class show case.  We are doing "Magic to do".  I choreographed the number myself, but used the original as an inspiration.  Lots of jazz hands....and of course there are places where there are basic jazz hands fanning out, some that probably coincide with spots in the original choreography. 

    If you do a simple jazz square during one part of the song where the original choreographer had one but that is the only thing in common, where is that line drawn?

    -------------------------------------------
    Jennifer Simmons
    Lexington SC
    -------------------------------------------


    Original Message


Related Content