Fosse
It's Bob Fosse's birthday. It's easy to spot a Fosse number. His dancers had tight shoulders, bent their arms and legs at awkward angles, and didn't smile.
While most of his best work was on Broadway, some of his choreography is preserved on film (not to mention his own performances).
He didn't work on the film version of How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, but the dances are based on his work. For instance, look at the last minute (though the whole number is enjoyable) in the big "revival in a business suite" number "Brotherhood Of Man."
His best remembered film choreography is in Cabaret and All That Jazz, but my favorite number is his show-stopper from Sweet Charity, "The Rich Man's Frug." It uses some film techniques, but mostly keeps the original dance he'd created on stage.
posted by LAGuy @ 12:12 AM
2 Comments:
Fosse's choreography was also featured in "The Pajama Game." I have always thought the company picnic scene was terrific, and Herman's Hideaway (more posing than dancing), though completely extraneous to the story, is another show-stopper. Fosse's choreography was used to inject sexiness into even relatively unsexy musicals (Pajama Game taking place on the factory floor of a New England pajama factory). Witness even the dance between Eddie Foy Jr. and a rather matronly co-worker which is quite fun to watch.
I just want to note that The Pajama Game is the official musical of the Pajama Guy blog.
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