The true artists are often behind the scenes! For this list, we’ll be looking at the most influential composers of movement from the theater world.
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00:00 You know, I think every director/choreographer, we sort of have the same journey.
00:04 We were all kids in the chorus at one point.
00:06 Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 greatest Broadway
00:11 choreographers of all time.
00:13 Be brave, step outside your comfort zone, and this experience has really taught me that.
00:17 For this list, we'll be looking at the most influential composers of movement from the
00:21 theater world.
00:22 Which Broadway show do you think has the best choreography?
00:26 Let us know in the comments.
00:29 Number 10 Tommy Toone
00:40 This ten-time Tony Award-winning Broadway icon is best known for two things.
00:45 Being an exceptionally tall tap dancer, measuring at almost 6'7", and his career both onstage
00:52 and behind the scenes.
00:54 His performer, choreographer, and director's range knows no bounds, and he leaves an indelible
00:59 mark on every musical with which he's involved.
01:02 We know that Broadway has a universal mystique, and I am proud and humbled to be a part of
01:08 our Broadway universe.
01:11 It's vast and inclusive.
01:14 You wouldn't necessarily think that shows like The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,
01:18 Grand Hotel, A Day in Hollywood, A Night in the Ukraine, and The Will Rogers Follies share
01:24 a choreographer.
01:35 But he picks the perfect movements to drive the narratives, almost like a sommelier picking
01:39 out the finest wine.
01:41 That's the Tommy Toone magic touch.
01:48 Number 9 George Faison
02:13 An alumnus of the Alvin Ailey Dance Company, this choreographer is notable for his modern
02:18 and balletic styles.
02:26 In 1970, Faison appeared in the musical Pearly and later founded the George Faison Universal
02:32 Dance Experience, where he developed his craft.
02:35 He has dozens of Broadway credits, from Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope to 1600 Pennsylvania
02:41 Avenue.
02:42 But you're probably most familiar with his work in The Wiz, which premiered on Broadway
02:47 in 1975.
02:48 He choreographed the fun, fast-stepping Yizan Down the Road and several of the show's ballet
02:53 routines.
03:00 This earned him a Tony Award for Best Choreography, making him the first African-American to win
03:05 the prize.
03:13 Number 8 Jerry Mitchell
03:33 Let us hear you say "yeah" for this masterful choreographer.
03:40 Mitchell started his career on the stage and had the privilege of working under the likes
03:44 of Agnes de Mille, Michael Bennett, and Jerome Robbins.
03:47 He's incredibly versatile, often letting the show's storytelling shape his movements.
03:52 Indeed, he's helped reimagine some of our favorite movie scenes as pop and dance numbers.
03:57 And in Snap, anyone?
04:14 Mitchell also earned Tony Awards for his work in La Cajofal and Kinky Boots.
04:18 No style is out of his range, from the old-school dirty rotten scoundrels and dynamic on your
04:24 feet to the high-spirited hairspray.
04:39 Is there any wonder he's one of today's most sought-after choreographers?
04:44 Number 7 Gillian Lynn
04:45 The late dame Gillian Lynn began her career as a ballerina before jetéing into the role
05:10 of choreographer.
05:12 While her roots are primarily in ballet and opera, she also contributed to musical theater
05:16 in shows like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Phantom of the Opera, and, of course, Cats.
05:32 The latter is exceptionally dance-heavy and features some of musical theater's most iconic
05:37 pieces, the Jellicle Ball, for instance.
05:49 It was quite the challenge, given that she also had to convince audiences to believe
05:53 in these dancing cats.
05:55 Perhaps in someone else's hands, this would have been a cat-astrophe.
06:12 But her striking choreography dazzled audiences and helped suspend their disbelief.
06:17 Needless to say, her creativity and vision were perfect.
06:22 Number 6 Michael Kidd
06:24 What do shows and films like Finian's Rainbow, Guys and Dolls, Can-Can, Seven Brides for
06:42 Seven Brothers, and The Bandwagon have in common?
06:53 They all feature the vigorously imaginative and artistic style of five-time Tony Award
06:58 winner Michael Kidd.
06:59 Kidd described his choreography as, quote, "human behavior in people's manners, stylized
07:04 into musical rhythmic forms."
07:11 You can recognize his movements for their more conversational manner and how he used
07:16 what he called "real-life gestures" to inspire his work.
07:28 You can see this in everything he's done, from charming jazz ballets to adrenaline-inducing
07:33 acrobatic showstoppers.
07:35 In 1981, he took his rightful place in the American Theatre Hall of Fame.
07:41 Number 5 Michael Bennett
07:42 The metaphor is a chorus line.
07:44 It's being part of a great team.
07:46 And being part of the human race is very nice.
07:48 I don't think it'd be fun to be the only human being around, you know?
07:51 Seven-time Tony winner Michael Bennett's first choreographic role was in the 1966 musical
07:55 A Joyful Noise.
07:57 However, his first big hit was with the 1968 show Promises Promises, featuring the iconic
08:03 Turkey Lurkey Time number.
08:15 He became a big name on Broadway throughout the 70s and 80s with Company, Follies, Dream
08:20 Girls and a chorus line.
08:23 "Dancers just talk about Broadway and their lives.
08:27 I began to hear musical numbers."
08:28 Bennett and longtime collaborator Bob Avian are why many theater kids can't hear "5,
08:33 6, 7, 8" without bursting into this famous number.
08:46 Bennett wasn't necessarily defined by a particular style.
08:49 Still, many of his routines feature sharp, controlled movements requiring high stamina
08:54 and athleticism.
08:55 Sadly, he was taken before his time, but his choreography defined an era of musical theater.
09:01 "He wanted to take that empty space called the stage and do three things to tell the
09:08 truth, make the audience happy, and to keep his dancers working for a long, long time."
09:19 Number 4.
09:20 Agnes DeMille
09:21 "By putting this impulse, this driving impact behind every gesture, the roping and the pulling
09:27 and the stretching, watch these gestures without the impact."
09:32 DeMille didn't just break into the typically male-heavy field, but she practically reinvented
09:37 the genre.
09:38 One of her first Broadway hits was the 1943 musical Oklahoma.
09:43 Until then, dance numbers provided interludes to the show's plot.
09:46 However, thanks to her approach, Oklahoma was among the first shows where the choreography
09:51 tied into the dialogue, cementing its place as a landmark musical.
09:55 "The style may be stretched, elaborated, made more broad for effect, but the meaning of
10:01 the dance must not be altered."
10:03 The Farmer and the Cowman is a fun example, but the show's dream ballet is often considered
10:08 to be groundbreaking for how it invited audiences into the character's psyche.
10:21 DeMille went on to choreograph Carousel, Brigadoon, Paint Your Wagon, and more, leaving
10:26 her legendary mark everywhere.
10:28 "Like a sharp breath, and then they just dissolve into luminous air."
10:39 Many choreographers still cite her as an inspiration.
10:43 Number 3 Susan Stroman
10:45 "So the choreography even taps into the architecture of New York.
10:50 And you see the Coreens where they would have holding balls in their hand, these Art Deco
10:55 figurines."
10:56 Stroman is another choreographer who started her career on the stage.
11:00 However, she switched lanes in the late 80s when she got her big break choreographing
11:04 Kander and Ebb's Flora, the Red Menace.
11:06 This began a long collaboration with the duo that included shows like And the World Goes
11:11 Round, Steel Pier, and The Scottsboro Boys.
11:25 In 1992, she earned her first Tony Award choreographing the Gershwin musical Crazy for You.
11:31 She later won another for the 1994 Showboat revival.
11:35 And in 2001, she won the Best Direction and Best Choreography awards for the record-breaking
11:40 musical The Producers.
11:42 It's hardly surprising that Stroman is one of her generation's most in-demand and celebrated
11:46 director-choreographers.
11:49 Number 2 Jerome Robbins
11:51 "To a choreographer, an empty stage or an empty rehearsal floor where you begin is a
11:55 rather awesome place because it's where you begin, where you put your first mark down,
12:00 where you take your first step.
12:02 And it's sort of like a painter deciding where to put the first line down on a canvas."
12:06 Fewer choreographers have shaped the American dance scene quite like Jerome Robbins.
12:11 An alumnus of what's now known as American Ballet Theater, Robbins' dance background
12:16 and natural talents created some of the most prolific choreography ever.
12:20 His mark can be seen in shows like On the Town, Gypsy, Fiddler on the Roof, and more.
12:31 However, his greatest legacy is probably West Side Story.
12:39 The dance numbers are tightly intertwined with the narrative, practically replacing
12:43 the need for dialogue.
12:44 He used classical ballet overlaid with modern jazz and a conversational tone to powerfully
12:49 relay the characters' emotions.
12:52 Just look at the prologue.
13:03 It effortlessly sets up the story without the need for words.
13:06 No one did it quite like Robbins.
13:08 "Jerome Robbins Broadway is both a musical legacy and a theatrical leap forward by an
13:14 artist whose greatest gift is to recognize our simplest dreams and then make them fly."
13:22 Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
13:27 Sabion Glover.
13:28 This tap-dancing extraordinaire won a Tony Award for his work on Bring in the Noise,
13:32 Bring in the Funk.
13:46 Bill T. Jones.
13:47 His innovative approach to movement earned him Tony Awards for Spring Awakening and Fella.
13:52 "Then what else do you have?
13:53 Your ideas.
13:55 And if you can't dance your ideas in the studio with my dancers and in front of the media,
14:01 and I'm often in front of the media, how do you make your case?
14:05 Language."
14:06 Jack Cole.
14:09 The father of theatrical jazz dances credits include Kismet, A Funny Thing Happened on
14:13 the Way to the Forum, and Man of La Mancha.
14:27 Andy Blankenbuehler.
14:28 In the Heights, 9 to 5, Bring It On the Musical, and Hamilton.
14:32 Need we say more?
14:49 Casey Nicholaw.
14:50 A modern musical choreography icon, credits include The Book of Mormon, Aladdin, Something
14:56 Rotten, The Prom, and many more.
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15:27 #1 Bob Fosse
15:40 Even the most casual musical theater fan can instantly recognize Fosse's trademark style.
15:45 Those sharp isolations, punctuated hand gestures, turned in knees, angular shaping, seductive
15:51 hip rolls, and of course, everyone's favorite, jazz hands.
15:55 Fosse's movements were as much about stillness and subtleness as they were about giving audiences
16:00 that old razzle-dazzle.
16:13 And he was no stranger to chucking in a bowler hat, either.
16:16 Although typically rooted in jazz, his choreography featured elements of ballet, music hall, folk
16:22 dance, and more.
16:24 The Pajama Game, Sweet Charity, Pippin, and Chicago barely scratched the surface of his
16:29 most notable credits.
16:43 He practically reinvented modern Broadway dance and earned numerous awards for it.
16:48 Today, he remains a household name and an inspiration to many.
17:03 Do you agree with our picks?
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