How to choreograph school musicals with dance-challenged kids

By Larry Sousa

Character-driven upper-body movements draw the audience away from the feet to the faces of Alex Norton (Mark) and Katie Writer (Joanne). (Photo by George Lucozzi/ASA Photographic)

“I can’t dance.”

I get that disclaimer all the time, from nervous actors and singers trying their best to discourage me from putting them into dance sequences. It is, itself, a little dance. I enjoy it, but it doesn’t work on me. They’ll be dancing soon.

I direct and choreograph musicals of all kinds, on every level from professional to college to high school, and even children’s theater. When I’m working with students, I usually end up with very few (if any) trained dancers in the cast. Nevertheless, I’m determined to stage professional-quality production numbers, somehow. To me (a colossal musical-theater geek), it’s All Broadway, All the Time.

As a dance teacher, you know that most of your students would eagerly perform a 20-minute contemporary solo to a packed house but are scared to death of singing a note in public. It goes both ways: The theater is full of actors and singers who’d rather pull out their own toenails than dance. If you’ve been hired to choreograph a school musical, I bet you’ve already learned that—the hard way. Gone is your studio full of fearless, trained dancers who can read your mind. Now you have a stage full of actors sweating before the rehearsal even starts.

And you may get that in even the most ideal environment. One of my favorite places to work is at Westford Academy in Westford, Massachusetts, where I directed and choreographed the musical Rent in May 2008. The drama students there are talented and well-trained actor/singers. Yet most have no experience with dance, and their fears indeed bubble up. “Dancing makes me extremely nervous because I am not naturally graceful or, frankly, all that coordinated,” says Alex Norton, who played Mark in Rent. “I have no formal dance training.”

But what Alex and his cast-mates do have is a willingness to set aside their fears and try anything. That attitude is crucial to the success of the choreography, and it’s not automatic—it takes work to cultivate. As the choreographer, it’s you who has to create it. If you do, you’ll have a better chance to make better dances. Here are some approaches that help my performers and me get there. Hopefully they can inspire you too.

Forget what you know
Somebody decided that you should stage the local musical because you have years of experience as a dance educator. Huzzah! Now, throw most of that experience out. You are not setting choreography on trained dancers (for the most part). You’re not even there to teach technique (though if that occurs, kudos). You are there to create stories that will entertain the audience and help the musical make sense.

Dance scares actors. You need to make them feel comfortable with it. So don’t alienate them by spouting off coupé jeté en tournant and battement sur le cou-de-pied, or your cast might chaîné right out the door. Choose your words carefully. Of course, the issue is bigger than words.

Focus on character
A chorus stands frozen and sings. Then a line of dancers comes out and does some moves. And then you have actors seemingly caught in their own world, trying to shove the story forward with little help. The three groups seem to have no connection with each other. The result: The audience is confused and the story has come to a grinding halt. Sound familiar?

Yep, that’s your average school musical. But a big discussion about character can fix all of that. Be sure the entire cast knows that they’re all in one big sandbox. Avoid compartmentalizing the performers as actors, singers, or dancers. When they’re all “character performers,” everyone is essential to the story.

You need them to come together as one, and you need energetic movement from all of them. So create basic-but-unique steps that aren’t likely to show up in your normal technique class—also known as “character movement.”

“Character” is a magic word. It is often the key that unlocks a world of movement for the non-dancer. “I feel confident pulling off a dance-heavy role once I’ve gained a command of the character I’m playing,” says Kim Sollows, who played Mimi in Rent. “I have no dance training, but there are people who’ve told me they don’t believe that. Ha!”

Create vivid movements to draw the eye away from the feet. Your actors might not have a lot of experience with dance, but they can certainly pose and gesture.

Keep in mind that you, like the director and the authors, are an important member of the storytelling team. So once you’ve begun the conversation about character, don’t stop; your performers need constant reminders of who they are and what motivates them. You’ll find that many of them will agree with Katie Wright (Joanne in Rent), who says, “As I continue to develop my character work, the dancing becomes more and more natural. Gaining ownership of my character’s personality helps me figure out how and why she would dance.”

Breaking free with new inspirations
If you’re finding it hard to break out of your usual dance vocabulary, break out the DVDs. Movie musicals are a great source of inspiration because they’re filled with interesting characters doing interesting things—and much of the movement is simple, technically speaking. That’s the key.

In particular, study social dance, like in Hairspray and Footloose. Lots of the choreography is fairly pedestrian (in a good way), based on the kinds of moves you’d see on a dance floor, not a dance class. That’s good for the untrained dancer.

But pick your inspiration carefully. We are all easily intoxicated by the dancing in West Side Story and A Chorus Line, but most of it is based on advanced ballet and jazz technique. That’s what you’re trying to get away from, because your cast doesn’t possess that level of experience.

Forget the feet
If your choreography isn’t working, maybe it’s the feet’s fault. Many dance numbers in school musicals flop due to overly ambitious footwork. It’s probably fair to say that untrained dancers struggle the most with controlling their feet. So why would you give the hardest task to those who are least equipped to execute it? A big part of the job is to feature your performers’ strengths and hide their weaknesses.

Intricate footwork tends to send actors into a panic. “It’s nerve-wracking. It takes me much longer to learn those steps than people who’ve had dance training,” says John Manning (Benny in Rent). “That makes me regret not taking dance when I was younger.”

In my experience, musical-theater audiences don’t generally spend lots of time looking at feet. So given the circumstances, creating two hours’ worth of complicated footwork is time not-so-well spent. It’s a musical—the audience is looking for story, which is found most often in faces and upper bodies.

So with that in mind, create vivid, character-driven upper-body and arm movements to draw the eye away from the feet. Your actors might not have a lot of experience with dance, but they can certainly pose and gesture. Lots of good choreography can happen with the upper body. And you don’t have to do it all yourself.

Ask for input
Like most of the school musicals I stage, Rent had one choreographer and about 50 assistants—the performers, who always have great ideas. They love taking a bit of direction and developing it into something bigger and more wonderful than I could think of. With their contributions, we always end up with a show that overflows with interesting layers and details.

Dig for sections in your production numbers that don’t require strict unison movement. Then give your actors some room to create and some clear, story-based direction (as opposed to choreography). If you edit their contributions well, they’ll make you look pretty darn clever.

Freezing up
Every once in a while, I find myself standing in front of my cast with a blank page and no steps in my head. Not one. It’s a scary moment. All I want to do is panic and begin teaching choreography from my last jazz class. Big mistake.

Remember the golden rule: Musicals are about storytelling; the story and lyrics can always get you out of jams. Go back to the text. You’ll be much more likely to avoid arbitrary dancing that has nothing to do with the drama at hand.

Also, this is a good time to remember that you’re in a room full of eager assistants who have all read the script (and might know it even better than you do).

Say yes to clumps
For some mysterious reason, a clump equals instant choreography. Clumps can be very flattering to non-dancers, so look for opportunities to organize your performers into groups onstage. Add levels, shapes, and unique movements that match and don’t match.

You can travel a clump tightly in lockstep, let it explode all over the stage, then make it come back together again. You can rotate it, freeze it, and reveal a hidden actor from within it. You’re only limited by your imagination. Hey, clumps worked for Fosse—they can work for you too.

Limit the lectures
Sometimes it’s best to shut your trap. I was reminded of that the hard way during rehearsals for Rent. In “La Vie Boheme,” the Act 1 finale, I had the cast doing a kind of stylized march: legs and arms bent to an extreme with loud stepping to the beat (basically walking, but cooler). Everyone got it on the first try. Bliss.

But then I got the dreaded question that always comes when the choreography is based on walking: “Which arm goes with which foot?” I should have kept my mouth shut. Instead I launched into a speech about opposition arms. Oops. About half of the performers went into panic/fix-it mode, and who could blame them? From then on, I had lots of same-arm/same-leg marching, which is always very hard to undo. So when you talk, remember who’s listening.

Boost their confidence
One of your biggest goals is to make all the performers understand that they can indeed dance and deserve to be doing so. With that in mind, avoid constantly singling out your only two advanced dancers with comments like “I want it just like that!” You could inadvertently alienate them while intimidating everyone else. And just like that, everyone is scared again.

Whenever it’s appropriate, find the person who’d never expect to be complimented on his dancing—the kid who has probably never been singled out as an example of what’s right—and say “I want it just like that.” I bet you’ll raise the confidence level, and the spirits, of your entire company.

Razzle-dazzle ’em
If there’s a moment in your show that can support a kick line, do it! It’s a guaranteed crowd pleaser. Even if it doesn’t go perfectly, technical mishaps tend to be forgiven and forgotten instantly. And a simple kick is one of the easiest things to make happen.

Of course you should strive for good technique and precision, but forgive yourself when some of those basketball players in your cast have floppy feet. Hey, you got them up there doing a kick line!

What non-dancers may lack in dance technique and training, they more than make up for in enthusiasm, personality, and creativity. Invite them into your process, let them thrive, and don’t forget to have fun along the way. After all, it’s called a “play” for a reason.