Fosse was the “people’s” choreographer, he instinctively just knew how to capture dance with human mannerisms and in a style he admittedly agreed was because he himself struggled to be what dancers called turned out. His style lives on in theatre, dance, movies and fashion to this day
I love the way he allows such huge personal style differences and it still works so good. Like in this clip - a boy is a young cat and a man is an old dog and it looks perfect :)
Yes...amazing how they could coordinate all of those...it's beyond me. I bought a book on Fosse technique, and seeing it broken down has made it much more understandable.
Just take a minute to watch Ben Vereen -- in his mid 60s doing this show. Reinking was in her early 60s at the time. She has sadly passed, but Ben Vereen is still going strong.
Fosse’s choreography of Bye. Bye Blackbird is pure Broadway magic! There are so many wonderful moments in this show. The whole cast, led by Ann Reinking and Ben Vereen, is superb.
Maybe that's a good thing....to see how classical dancers adapt the Fosse technique to their own M.O. Isn't that the point of how things adapt / evolve ?
Ben Vereen, saw him in Pippin when I was a kid, maybe 11 or 12, on Broadway! My sister was taking dance and my aunt had an idea to see the show. What a treat!
I love watching the hands, feet and head movements of each performer! The time and energy put into every Fosse movie and play make it so entertaining for whoever is watching! What a tribute to have those who performed in the original also perform in the tribute!!
The best bet I ever won was when I bet my dad that fast his choreography was actually hard. He made everything look so easy and fluid, but after I sent my dad an ex-football coach to see a production of fossae with a touring company, he mentioned that the move that they were able to do meant to that they had to be in shape because all of Flossies movements come from your core and your thighs meaning you have to have extremely strong areas of both to be able to do them. He was and will always be a master!
OMG!! I forgot that Ben Vereen was an early and long-term Fosse dancer. He was also in both the original cast of "HAIR" and in the Milosz Forman movie version
Dana Moore... she dances with this inner light ... and spreads this infectious joy to those around her, and for us to witness. So much talent, it's remarkable.
Anne Rankin and Ben Vereen are probably the the two greatest dancers of our time! They saw Fosse’s vision and executed it perfectly, like no other dancers I know
I think Fosse would be spinning in his grave if he saw this. What the hell is Ben Vereen doing on the stage. He can't carry the simplest of choreography that he's giving. And many of the dancers just don't really get it. An example, Bob Fosse isolated movements so they didn't go up and down. 2:31 watch the two women in the front bounce up and down as they come across the stage while the men on either side of them nail it by isolating the movement so that the arms and shoulders create the illusion of the body moving up what's ahead in the body don't move up and down a single inch. The whole group is poorly synchronized throughout the piece and Fossi wouldn't have tolerated this nonsense.
Maybe....but Vereen was a classic in his prime and a Fosse favorite. Okay, he's obviously old and not as mobile, but it's nice they added him to the show as a tribute to the old master. Everyone slows down as they get older. You just don't toss them out, just cuz they can't perform as in their prime. Exception: I saw Harold Nicholas in My One and Only and it was obvious he didn't lose any of this skills in his later years.
These dances are choreographed for the stage and when they’re filmed we lose most of the totality because the camera zooms in on faces and feet and individuals. I love to see full-stage performances because the dances work when everyone is seen.
@@MrCrowebobby haha same! I was a hardcore high-level Irish dancer for a few years but never got that "dancer's bum". I have bad genes! I had great ankles though.
@@selja26 And I was thinking of how men would go to the bus stop in the Victorian era to catch a glimpse of ladies' ankles as they stepped onto the bus. What a hit you'd have been then.
how does ay video director justify framing dance other than full body? It is so frustrating how much of this video is not. It is ironic that this is being done to the full body moves of the greatest modern exponent of full body moves dancing.
I give Michael credit that he can out perform any original, but he in his self is not an original. Which saddens me as I feel he had the artistic ability to out preform every original.
Fosse was indeed a great contributor to American dance but these genuflections show how the steps have become an affectation. I wonder if he would approve of the stagnation
No. Ben Vereen is cringy. And boring. Also he's been terrible for years. I saw him on Broadway in Jellys Last Jam over 20 years ago and he sucked. That wasn't even a dancing role so he can't blame his accident. He's just boring and slow and awful.
