Spring Awakening: Choreography by Bill T. Jones August 1, 2007
I was trying to describe Spring Awakening to someone today who had never heard of it (in the real world, many of these people exist, which always surprises me 
), and I ran across a Youtube music video of this show. I was reminded of how mesmerizing certain aspects of this show is.
I know how this show has been on Broadway (and off) for a very long time and it comes after a Tony sweeps which includes one for Best Choreography, so it’s not exactly cutting edge news, but it brought back old thoughts. Admittedly, I’m not the biggest fan of this show, but I hold the unpopular opinion that the choreography made the show for me. After the Broadway show, Jen asked me if I liked it, and I replied that I thought the choreography really brought the show to another level. Choreographed by Bill T. Jones, a modern dance choreographer and definitely not “Broadway”, he really brought a deeper level of artistry that extended beyond what is normally seen on a Broadway stage. This complemented the highly charged emotions and angst that permeates onstage.
The genius of his choreography is more striking in my situation – I’ve been listening to the Spring Awakening soundtrack in my car stereo or on my ipod, and to all of a sudden watch the choreography that complements this music I know so well, I was able to appreciate the raw emotional impact of the dancing.
I only say this in my defense because during the show, a lot of people actually laugh out loud when the boys would burst out into what may look like interpretive dance, and many have vocally opposed the choreography. But I think people laugh at the same reason why people laugh in the Melchior/Wendla cane scene. I can only chalk it up to the fact that some people can’t see what others can see, or people handle emotions differently.
The NY Times review states, “Unobtrusive choreography by Bill T. Jones is neatly woven into the show’s texture, allowing us to see how children can develop a physical language to channel urges they do not have the words to express.” Isn’t this one of the many definitions of dance? It is to me – channeling emotions that words cannot express.
I always see things in a different light when I read about how things were created, and why. “Before starting to choreograph to the music, Mr. Jones worked with the actors to develop movement that would feel natural to them. “For the song ‘The Bitch of Living,’ Bill asked us what the word bitch meant to us as young men,” Mr. Groff said. “He made us say it over and over, stand up and scream the word into his face, and see what it was doing to our bodies. Then that became the basis for the choreography. As nondancers it was so exciting to be able to express ourselves clearly in a nonverbal way.”” (Rest of the article titled, “It Takes a Rule Breaker to Create Dance for Rebels“) If you click here for an audio slide show of Jones and the show, you can hear his internal struggle at the fear of having sold out in doing Broadway (as he says, “step ball change”), and almost trying to convince himself that this was a lofty endeavor, which is considered by many a lower art form than dance.
I hope that the same flavor of the choreography – the intensity, the commitment to movement, which is probably a direct result of working directly with the choreographer who choreographed it – carries over in its touring form. It’s always scary to see a show when I’ve already seen the original Broadway cast, I just hope that the general heart of the show remains with its different actors. This show will come to San Francisco next year at the SHN series. Click here for more info.
On a different note, I would have loved to have seen this off-Broadway, to see it performed inside a church. I’m glad I got to see it when I did though, before too much of the Tony hype.
Gosh I hate this preview picture of Skylar Astin in the video, but I have no idea how to change it. If anyone knows how, drop me a line.
[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6707962513653613980&hl=en]
It was REALLY cool in the church but they managed to replicate the feel remarkably well. The lighting on Broadway was MUCH cooler in a big space. However there was an urgency that came across better in a smaller space. Fortunately, though, they changed a lot of the final 20 minutes when it came to Broadway because off-broadway it was kind of a mess. It is still unfortunate that they have such a bad closing number for what is otherwise a strong score.
I’m one of the people who is in the “not a fan” of the choreography category. I enjoyed it A LOT in “totally fucked” and “bitch of living” where it was a seamless integration of staging and choreogrpahy, but in numbers like “touch me” and some others, I thought the idea was right but the actual movement was rather humorous.
P.S. That david hyde pierce postcard is PRICELESS. What a joke.
You know, you’re right – I love the *idea* of the choreography more than the actual movements in some of the songs, esp in songs like “touch me”. I remember a moment in the show when Jonathan Wright was sitting in the onstage seats and motioning with his hands, and so even though he wasn’t centerstage, singing his heart out, he was still expressing himself and adding to the overall emotional “aura” of the stage. Perhaps the actual movements weren’t so great, but I loved what it was trying to do.
It’s always nice to hear from a choreographer himself.
Thanks Matt.
I actually thought that the choreography was ground breaking (not all about jazz hands) while infusing an interesting modern dance (aka “contemporary”) dance twist to a broadway musical. I thought it did a great job of portraying angst, passion and frustration, more so than what Fosse “jazz hands” could do
I thought the audience, who isn’t used to modern dance, was put off by the “strange” motions the actors were going through onstage, which could be attributed to a few things: 1) the actors themselves are not contemporary dancers so they may have not been skilled enough to “pull off” those modern dance moves, or 2) the audience simply isn’t used to watching contemporary dance moves, esp. those teenage audience members who love broadway theater.
I love Bill T. Jones’ choreography and loved how he brought something “new” to the Broadway stage. I guess a similar metaphor would be what Twyla Tharp brought to Broadway in “Movin’ Out”. While I think Tharp was much more successful than Bill T. Jones, I appreciated his brave attempt at staying true to his roots in contemporary dance, even in a “commercial” project like Spring Awakening. While he definitely has polarized audiences about his work in Spring Awakening, I definitely am a fan
Now, as to the whole musical itself…that’s a different story….
I think my biggest gripe was with the one nipple circle/rubbing move. It just came off as humorous to me. Perhaps that’s my own immaturity
but I could have done without it. It was interesting that he wasn’t looking at the choreography as much from a narrative standpoint and more from an abstract emotional view. Wheras Twyla with Movin Out did INCREDIBLE things with dance story telling.
The “nipple” movement may look silly (you definitely aren’t the first thing to think that!), but for me, that movement symbolized the fascination/confusion adolescent s(esp. girls) go through concerning their changing bodies during puberty.
I find it amazing how Tharp can do such great work in Movin’ Out but fail in “A Times”! Maybe she is better as a choreographer, not a director…
bill t. jones is choreographing a new piece at the la jolla playhouse next year!!
https://www.lajollaplayhouse.org/Plays%20%26%20Events/2007%202008%20Season/The%20Seven/
I just saw Spring Awakening it was great!! But I would like to understand the significance of the hand movements in a couple of scenes. The actors move their hand in front of their faces and then almost robotically around thier bodies. Can anyone explain this?
thanks
Your guess is probably as good as mine!
I’m not sure exactly which movements you’re talking about, but most likely the hand movements were used to evoke certain emotions and feelings, such as angst, feeling trapped, etc. That’s my guess.