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CAN A METHODOLOGY BE DEVELOPED FOR MUSICAL THEATRE CHOREOGRAPHY?
Title
CAN A METHODOLOGY BE DEVELOPED FOR MUSICAL THEATRE CHOREOGRAPHY?.
Creator
Kelly, Kathleen, Weaver, Earl, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Limited training exists for young, aspiring choreographers who wish to work in the realm of musical theatre. University programs turn you away if your focus is not on concert dance and few good books can be found on library shelves to gain knowledge. Most books that do exist are very outdated and lack the practical knowledge and information necessary to become a successful musical theatre choreographer today. This research will help to determine whether a methodology can be developed for...
Show moreLimited training exists for young, aspiring choreographers who wish to work in the realm of musical theatre. University programs turn you away if your focus is not on concert dance and few good books can be found on library shelves to gain knowledge. Most books that do exist are very outdated and lack the practical knowledge and information necessary to become a successful musical theatre choreographer today. This research will help to determine whether a methodology can be developed for training musical theatre choreographers. The research data collected stems from the creative minds of choreographers and performers. A select group of professional musical theatre choreographers completed surveys in regards to the craft. Three of the participants were observed using their creative teaching strategies in rehearsals. Furthermore, selected performers responded to a set of questions in regards to the selected participants' strategies. All of the collected data was analyzed to determine which choreographic methods and strategies result in the most successful rehearsal periods and products. The favored methods and strategies, as well as other information, assisted with recognizing the necessary knowledge that an excellent musical theatre choreographer must possess. That knowledge was divided into elements that will make up the courses within the desired methodology. The conclusion finds that a methodology for training musical theatre choreographers is obtainable, consisting of the study of the determined elements. With the development of a text and a university to pioneer the program, aspiring choreographers will have a way to gain beneficial knowledge and experience in the craft of musical theatre choreography.
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Date Issued
2007
Identifier
CFE0001713, ucf:47315
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001713
REDEFINING CHOREOGRAPHY FOR THE "THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW" FOR A NEW GENERATION OF ACTORS
Title
REDEFINING CHOREOGRAPHY FOR THE "THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW" FOR A NEW GENERATION OF ACTORS.
Creator
Ellis, Timothy, Weaver, Earl, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
As many veterans of musical theatre strive to keep a stronghold on the traditional form of the art with shows like "Oklahoma," "Show Boat" and "Carousel," we must recognize the life of said art form must also appeal to the mindset of new generations. In 1973, a rock musical began making waves in London's theatrical community. "The Rocky Horror Show" was like nothing anyone had seen before. The show had a plot but was presented like a rock show. The characters paid homage to a youthful...
Show moreAs many veterans of musical theatre strive to keep a stronghold on the traditional form of the art with shows like "Oklahoma," "Show Boat" and "Carousel," we must recognize the life of said art form must also appeal to the mindset of new generations. In 1973, a rock musical began making waves in London's theatrical community. "The Rocky Horror Show" was like nothing anyone had seen before. The show had a plot but was presented like a rock show. The characters paid homage to a youthful faction of society wanting to express its individualism. Musicals continue to explore new avenues and bring new faces to the theatre. Shows such as "Rent," "Saturday Night Fever" and "Wicked" have garnered interest from a younger audience. Songs from these shows are appealing to the masses just as the songs from "Oklahoma" and "Carousel" did in the 1940's. A growing interest in musical theatre by the younger population can pique their interest in discovering other musicals. One way to satisfy this piqued interest is by infusing a youthful or modern energy to shows that can be adapted to the senses of this younger generation. "Oklahoma" or "Carousel" might not adapt well by being set in the 21st century. But "The Rocky Horror Show" already exudes a timeless energy with its nod to popular culture (its rock music influence). As musical theatre transforms with its audiences, so can some of its well-known shows.
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Date Issued
2007
Identifier
CFE0001752, ucf:47279
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001752
DIRECTION OF REFLECTION: THE MEANS BY WHICH ONE ESTABLISHES DIRECTORIAL AND CHOREOGRAPHIC PROFICIENCY
Title
DIRECTION OF REFLECTION: THE MEANS BY WHICH ONE ESTABLISHES DIRECTORIAL AND CHOREOGRAPHIC PROFICIENCY.
Creator
Wood, Nicholas, Weaver, Earl, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Introduction I examined how one may establish directorial and choreographic proficiency in the contemporary society of American musical theatre. I did so by completing an examination of five personal observations in my craft. These observations included: (1) Directorship and choreography of Welcome to Vegas, an original jukebox musical; (2) Mentorship on Theatre UCF's Nine as Assistant Director and Co-Choreographer; (3) Research on the methodologies of various directors and choreographers; (4...
Show moreIntroduction I examined how one may establish directorial and choreographic proficiency in the contemporary society of American musical theatre. I did so by completing an examination of five personal observations in my craft. These observations included: (1) Directorship and choreography of Welcome to Vegas, an original jukebox musical; (2) Mentorship on Theatre UCF's Nine as Assistant Director and Co-Choreographer; (3) Research on the methodologies of various directors and choreographers; (4) Directorship and choreography of Welcome to Broadway, an original jukebox musical; and (5) Assistant to the Program Director of Broadway Theatre Project. I evaluated parallels of my directing and choreography methodologies with those of noted directors and choreographers in the entertainment industry. These industry professionals include famed choreographer Ernest O. Flatt, Ron Field, Hermes Pan, Joe Layton, and Lee Theodore, acclaimed directors Harold Clurman, Dr. Louis E. Catron, and Jon Jory, and prolific director-choreographers Patricia Birch, Donald Saddler, Bob Avian, Bob Fosse, Tommy Tune, and Michael Bennett, as well as Professor Weaver. I have worked for people who believe that experience alone is enough to make one a successful director, choreographer, or director-choreographer. My experience working with and observations of professional directors, choreographers, and director-choreographers, however, has proven that it takes more than experience alone in order to succeed. I predicted the process of establishing my own directorial and choreographic proficiency will stem from a combination of inspiration, mentorship, trial and error, and experience. Background A director coordinates and mounts theatrical productions while unifying the script, design elements, and cast to serve the world of the play. By dictionary definition, a director is, "�a person who supervises the production of a show for stage or screen with responsibility for action and rehearsals" (Webster 414). Underneath the producer, the director serves as the apex of the production. As compared to directors, choreographers fill a more visually aesthetic capacity in musical theatre. A choreographer is "�a person who designs or arranges the movement of a dance" (Webster 259). The choreographer acts in lieu of the director wherever there is music and step sequence. This is the case with exception being given to the director-choreographer. In an interview with Svetlana McLee Grody, Donald Saddler, original member of the American Ballet Theatre, expressed, "...director choreographer really give a musical a whole concept, a patina of style. Their contribution is a good 40 - 50 percent of the success of the show" (Grody and Lister 16). Experiences I will explicitly reflect on four profound career proceedings. Each will be as an effort to learn to become a better director-choreographer. These observations will chronicle an insightful phase of my learning process. Welcome to Vegas Welcome to Vegas is an original jukebox musical I authored, produced, directed, and choreographed. It was intended that the production would be a cathartic experience for the audience, allowing them to escape from the confines of everyday life by entering the humorous, loquacious, and musical world of the play. The story chronicles the triumphs and misadventures of a struggling young man in New York. When this waiter-by-day, singer-by-night becomes the opening act of a famous Vegas lounge singer, he embarks on an outrageous and witty journey across America in his Pontiac GTO. The musical's book was written while I attended my first semester at the University of Central Florida. The absurd vignette-style scenes were inspired by the sketch comedy of The Carol Burnett Show and the staging of Ernest O. Flatt. The production rehearsed four days per week for nine weeks and utilized a cast of 17 performers who ranged in age from 6 to 67. During production numbers, I drew strongly on the choreographic and visual inspiration of Bob Fosse, utilizing knocked-knees, sickled feet, 1960s movement influence, and a significant use of props, white gloves, fishnet tights, and bowler hats. I used this choreographic and visual concept to create a fervent contrast to the set and costumes, which emulated the visual aesthetics of Stan Lee's comic books. Nine With music and lyrics by Maury Yeston and a script by Arthur Kopit, Nine is a dark musical based on Federico Fellini's 8 1/2 and catalogues "...the last days of a director's once brilliant career" (Kopit 66). As the Assistant Director and Co-Choreographer, I was mentored by and worked directly under Professor Earl Weaver, Artistic Director of Theatre UCF. Upon entering my apprenticeship, I anticipated an authoritarian relationship where I would serve as a supervisory assistant, without exploiting my creative skills. To my pleasant revelation, I served as an intimate and integral component of the production's artistic process, conceptualizing choreography, staging three numbers, and giving notes, in addition to the duties of a managerial assistant. I created a choreographic vision for my work by fusing the styles of the Parisian Folies Bergere with American burlesque, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Golden Age movie musicals, and, of course, Bob Fosse's sensual silkiness. I did this while attempting to blend with and compliment Professor Weaver's choreographic style that resided within his world of the production. Welcome to Broadway Welcome to Broadway is an original jukebox musical I authored, produced, directed, and choreographed. My directorial style was greatly influenced by Professor Weaver, after observing his methodologies on Nine. My choreographic style strongly had been inspired by Bob Fosse and Michael Bennett. The production opened and ran for a nearly sold out engagement. My intention for the show was to encapsulate all the magic of the MGM Golden Age movie musicals into 105 minutes, featuring a cast of 25 entertainers, ranging in skill from first production to Equity veteran. My script was highly inspired by the cliche romanticism of Hollywood hits, such as Casablanca, Royal Wedding, Holiday Inn, The Public Enemy, and White Christmas. The story picks up where Welcome to Vegas left off. Michael, the formerly struggling young artist, has now made a name for himself, has inherited a production company, and is about to open his first show on Broadway when things begin to go awry. A jealous, washed-up producer has concocted an outrageous scheme to get rid of Michael on opening night. Chaos ensues behind the scenes, while the show must go on in front of the curtain. My scenic vision was to capture the auspicious spectacle of Footlight Parade, Mary Poppins, and Singing in the Rain. In post-show reflection, I realized my production displayed some similarities to Susan Stroman's succinct comedic timing and physical humor and Hal Prince's fast, moment-to-moment pace, leading me to believe that, perhaps, I had been subconsciously influenced by their works. Broadway Theatre Project Broadway Theatre Project celebrating its 26th anniversary as a summer intensive that Playbill.com refers to as "...the world's most prestigious musical theatre arts education program for high school and college students" (Broadway Theatre Project web). Entering my third year with the project, I serve as the Assistant to the Program Director and Director of Public Relations. My contribution is both administrative and creative, as I work directly under Program Director/Music Director David Sabella-Mills, Co-Artistic Director Darren Gibson, and President/Co-Artistic Director Debra McWaters. Gibson has established himself as a performer and dance captain working with Broadway veteran Ann Reinking on the national and European tours of Fosse. In addition, he has staged ballets for the Richmond Ballet, the Boston Ballet, and the American Ballet Theatre. He is currently Education Director for TexARTS. Gibson is an excellent mentor because he has a wealth of knowledge he is willing to share with me. For instance, he has taught me that in order to be an outstanding choreographer, one must look deeper than merely studying other musicals; one must study how/by whom the choreographers of those musicals were initially inspired. By heeding his counsel, I will be able to go from modifying and/or re-teaching others' choreography to establishing my own choreography. McWaters has had an enviable career directing and choreographing on stages around the world, including Broadway. For 15 years, she served as Assistant then Associate Choreographer for Reinking on Chicago, Fosse, and The Visit. She is an excellent mentor for me because not only is she a disciple of Fosse's, but she has afforded me the opportunity to serve as her Assistant to the Choreographer for three numbers, including staging the original choreography to "Yellow Shoes." This will allow me to analyze and understand the inner workings of a true artistic genius who is seasoned in the craft I wish to pursue. Industry Professionals Additionally, I will research the styles, methodologies, and philosophies of numerous established industry professionals, including: Ernest O. Flatt Ernest O. Flatt was "a dancer, choreographer and director who won four Emmy Awards for his work in television" (Obituary: Ernest O. Flatt). He made his silver-screen debut as a dancer in Dancing in the Dark and his television debut as choreographer in Your Hit Parade. He danced with Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain, choreographed the movie Anything Goes, and his dancers were fixtures on The Judy Garland Show, The Entertainers, and The Steve Lawrence Show. Flatt's most lasting television work was for The Carol Burnett Show, on which he served as the choreographer for eleven years (Grody and Lister 24). Despite the fact that Flatt is primarily recognized as a television choreographer, I am compelled to study his work because I admire his style. Although it is reminiscent of years gone by, particularly with partnering, his work is still entertaining and holds value for contemporary theatre as classic musicals are being revived. Studying his work in-depth will serve to enhance my style by showing me how to vary my choreography so the dance numbers do not all look similar. In addition, Flatt believed that allowing the ensemble or solo performer to contribute too much was stifling to his creativity (Grody and Lister 32). On previous productions, I have fallen into this pitfall. Further study of his work will enable me to subscribe to his focus and not be so influenced by what dancers are comfortable doing, as opposed to what they can do in order to expand their personal growth and my growth as a choreographer. Harold Clurman One of the three founders of New York City's Group Theatre, Harold Clurman directed more than 40 productions and was nominated for several Tony Awards. In addition, he was a widely-feared theatre critic for over 30 years; he helped to shape American theatre by writing about it. I will specifically study On Directing, one of Clurman's seven published works on the art of directing. Elia Kazan, who is commonly referred to as one of the most honored and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history, has called this particular book "the most influential book on direction ever written" (Clurman Preface). I would be compelled to study Clurman based on Kazan's recommendation alone; however, I am even more motivated to do so because I am discovering that I closely practice his stated philosophy on directing, "Direction is a job, a craft, a profession, and at best, an art. The director must be an organizer, a teacher, a politician, a psychic detective, a lay analyst, a technician, a creative being�All of which means he must be a "great lover" of the art" (Clurman 14). By examining the work of a man who is credited with helping to shape American theatre and whose philosophy so closely matches mine, I desire to formally establish my methodology as a director. Jon Jory Jon Jory learned to act first-hand from his parents, who were successful Hollywood actors of the 1940's and 50's, earning his Actors' Equity card as a young child. He grew to prominence as a director in the early 60's and, since then, he has mounted over 1,300 professional productions. I will specifically study Jory's Tips: Ideas for Directors. Jory says that he worked "making the same mistakes for years that a tip or two by a peer or veteran could have shortcutted" (xiii). His goal with this book is to help directors improve their craft more quickly by passing along the tips he has learned over the years. I am compelled to study Jory because of his willingness to share his tips on what has made him a successful director for approximately one-half of a century spanning nine countries. In addition, he headed the Actor's Theatre of Louisville, Kentucky, for more than 31 years, which he helped to build into one of America's most respected regional theatre companies, earning him a special Tony Award for Achievement in Regional Theatre (Jory xv). Since one of my professional goals is to become an Artistic Director at a regional theatre, Jory is a perfect selection for my research. Bob Fosse Deeply inspired by Fred Astaire and coping with his own psychological and physical abnormalities, Bob Fosse created the most unique and stylized iconic movements and vocabularies in musical theatre history. His most lasting works included Chicago, Damn Yankees, Cabaret, Sweet Charity, and Pippin. Fosse is an eight-time Tony Award-winning consummate artist. Ben Vereen says, "To have worked with Bob Fosse is to have had your hand directly on the pulse of life. To have applied this world-recognizable style into your repertory is to truly know how to dance forever" (McWaters Foreward). I have had the good fortune of learning his distinct techniques from some of his disciples while studying at Broadway Theatre Project. I am compelled to study Fosse because he was a renowned producer, director, choreographer, playwright, screenwriter, dancer, and actor--all of which are aspirations of mine. According to Vereen, Fosse was often called "demanding," "strenuous," and a "task master," yet he was highly respected by his dancers (McWaters Foreword). Fosse's ability to earn respect while demanding perfection is a quality I hope to learn and emulate with further study of his work. Tommy Tune Tommy Tune, nicknamed Broadway's tallest tapper, is considered one of Broadway's most accomplished director-choreographers. He is a 10-time Tony Award winner. "Tommy is the first person in theatrical history to have won a Tony Award in four different categories: Best Featured Actor, Choreography, Best Actor, and Direction" (Grody and Lister 142). At the June, 2015 Tony Awards ceremony, he received a Lifetime Achievement Honor. I am compelled to study Tune's methodology because he is considered a living legend; he has been a big time showman for over 50 years. In addition, I am compelled to study Tune's philosophy because he speaks to me with respect to security as an artist. Tune says, "There is no such thing as security. You must always be willing to expect the unexpected because the journey is never what you expect it to be. So be prepared to be surprised" (Grody and Lister 149). I must learn to trust this philosophy as I face not only the uncertainty of life beyond graduation from the University of Central Florida, but also as I face each door that opens in my future. Michael Bennett Michael Bennett's fascination with West Side Story was the impetus for Bennett to become a director-choreographer of the standing of Jerome Robbins (Grody and Lister 114). As a director, choreographer, writer, and actor, Michael Bennett is a seven-time Tony Award winner. His choreographic works were highly athletic and engrossed in technique. He is best known for his work on Promises, Promises; Follies; Company; and A Chorus Line, and he was fortunate to have had the opportunity to be inspired by such greats as Bob Fosse, Michael Kidd, Ron Field, Lee Theodore, and Danny Daniels (Grody and Lister 114). I am compelled to study Bennett because our early backgrounds are similar: neither of us had dance lessons until we were in our teens, and neither of us could read music, although we both listened to a great deal of it. I am inspired to learn/practice Bennett's methodologies for overcoming these challenges, such as his recommendations to see every musical possible in order to see how good directors-choreographers work and to prepare for a show as far as possible ahead of time (Grody and Lister 101). In addition, I am compelled to study Bennett's technique of compensation when he could not choreograph a number as conceptualized due to the limited skill of the dancer(s) with whom he was working at the time (Grody and Lister 103). Studying and applying these methods and techniques when faced with challenges will enable me to be a better director-choreographer. Deduction It is essential for me to delve into extensive research of directorial and choreographic concepts and pedagogy because I strongly desire to learn the means by which one establishes proficiency as a Director-Choreographer artist. It will help me to answer such questions as: How does one begin to direct/choreograph a piece? How knowledgeable does one need to be with respect to music? How knowledgeable does one need to be with respect to different forms of dance? What affects one most with respect to choreographing a number? Is there value in working with assistants? Since my study will include not only my own personal experiences and observations, but also those of renowned professionals, it will enable me to formally establish my own unique style of directing and choreographing.
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Date Issued
2015
Identifier
CFH0004889, ucf:45417
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004889
Analysis of Behaviors in Crowd Videos
Title
Analysis of Behaviors in Crowd Videos.
Creator
Mehran, Ramin, Shah, Mubarak, Sukthankar, Gita, Behal, Aman, Tappen, Marshall, Moore, Brian, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
In this dissertation, we address the problem of discovery and representation of group activity of humans and objects in a variety of scenarios, commonly encountered in vision applications. The overarching goal is to devise a discriminative representation of human motion in social settings, which captures a wide variety of human activities observable in video sequences. Such motion emerges from the collective behavior of individuals and their interactions and is a significant source of...
Show moreIn this dissertation, we address the problem of discovery and representation of group activity of humans and objects in a variety of scenarios, commonly encountered in vision applications. The overarching goal is to devise a discriminative representation of human motion in social settings, which captures a wide variety of human activities observable in video sequences. Such motion emerges from the collective behavior of individuals and their interactions and is a significant source of information typically employed for applications such as event detection, behavior recognition, and activity recognition. We present new representations of human group motion for static cameras, and propose algorithms for their application to variety of problems.We first propose a method to model and learn the scene activity of a crowd using Social Force Model for the first time in the computer vision community. We present a method to densely estimate the interaction forces between people in a crowd, observed by a static camera. Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) is used to learn the model of the normal activities over extended periods of time. Randomly selected spatio-temporal volumes of interaction forces are used to learn the model of normal behavior of the scene. The model encodes the latent topics of social interaction forces in the scene for normal behaviors. We classify a short video sequence of $n$ frames as normal or abnormal by using the learnt model. Once a sequence of frames is classified as an abnormal, the regions of anomalies in the abnormal frames are localized using the magnitude of interaction forces.The representation and estimation framework proposed above, however, has a few limitations. This algorithm proposes to use a global estimation of the interaction forces within the crowd. It, therefore, is incapable of identifying different groups of objects based on motion or behavior in the scene. Although the algorithm is capable of learning the normal behavior and detects the abnormality, but it is incapable of capturing the dynamics of different behaviors.To overcome these limitations, we then propose a method based on the Lagrangian framework for fluid dynamics, by introducing a streakline representation of flow. Streaklines are traced in a fluid flow by injecting color material, such as smoke or dye, which is transported with the flow and used for visualization. In the context of computer vision, streaklines may be used in a similar way to transport information about a scene, and they are obtained by repeatedly initializing a fixed grid of particles at each frame, then moving both current and past particles using optical flow. Streaklines are the locus of points that connect particles which originated from the same initial position.This approach is advantageous over the previous representations in two aspects: first, its rich representation captures the dynamics of the crowd and changes in space and time in the scene where the optical flow representation is not enough, and second, this model is capable of discovering groups of similar behavior within a crowd scene by performing motion segmentation. We propose a method to distinguish different group behaviors such as divergent/convergent motion and lanes using this framework. Finally, we introduce flow potentials as a discriminative feature to recognize crowd behaviors in a scene. Results of extensive experiments are presented for multiple real life crowd sequences involving pedestrian and vehicular traffic.The proposed method exploits optical flow as the low level feature and performs integration and clustering to obtain coherent group motion patterns. However, we observe that in crowd video sequences, as well as a variety of other vision applications, the co-occurrence and inter-relation of motion patterns are the main characteristics of group behaviors. In other words, the group behavior of objects is a mixture of individual actions or behaviors in specific geometrical layout and temporal order.We, therefore, propose a new representation for group behaviors of humans using the inter-relation of motion patterns in a scene. The representation is based on bag of visual phrases of spatio-temporal visual words. We present a method to match the high-order spatial layout of visual words that preserve the geometry of the visual words under similarity transformations. To perform the experiments we collected a dataset of group choreography performances from the YouTube website. The dataset currently contains four categories of group dances.
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Date Issued
2011
Identifier
CFE0004482, ucf:49317
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004482