Jazz Blog- 1st Year 2019/20 School Year

The first practitioner, which our jazz assessment piece, Bad Guy, is inspired by is Jerome Robbins. Robbins "is world-renowned for his work " (Jeromerobbins.org, n.d.). "His broadway career is well represented by West Side Story (1957), a musical that transplants the tragic story of Romeo and Juliet to the gritty milieu of the rival street gangs in New York City.... and Fiddler on the Roof (1964)"(Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d.). He also created many "ballets in a wide variety of styles..." and " continually explored new influences and ideas."(Davis, 2020).

Jerome Robbins' choreography has many qualities that make it unique. One of these qualities of his work "is characterized by the intensity and compactness of its expression and its wide variety of mood"(Nycballet.com, n.d.), which is then reflected in the assessment piece, Bad Guy. The routine, Bad Guy, requires an intense evil and also demonic performance quality. This is conveyed to the audience by using eye lines, and also the isolated movements within the dance. However, the eye line throughout the routine is changed by the position of the chin, which can give the impression of superiority, a quality that adds to this dominating and villainous character. 

Another quality which makes his choreography unique is that "He always pushed his performers toward a style that looked easy and natural, yet completely engaged."(Davis, 2020). This can be achieved by using sharp isolations and performing simple steps to a quick tempo. In the Bad Guy routine, this characteristic is seen throughout. For example, at the beginning of the piece, there is a section which is simply just changing positions to the music, however, they are hit with a sense of purpose and certainty which allows them to become isolated. In addition to this, there is also a section which contains movements that aren't necessarily hard but are set to a quick tempo which then increases the engagement of the audience. 

A final quality of his work "is the central theme that runs through his work... nature of communities: gangs, villages, tribes, intimate groups of friends, loose urban societies."(Davis, 2020). In the Billie Eilish routine, the use of unison and the group isolation at the end gives the impression that we're a gang as it's intimidating. It also gives the sense of one body moving rather than many individual dancers, which reflects the idea of a community as we all have a part to play. 


The practitioner that inspired our jazz assessment piece, Wild Party- Jugganaught, is Bob Fosse. Fosse was an "American dancer, choreographer, and director who revolutionized musicals with his distinct style of dance—including his frequent use of props, signature moves, and provocative steps—and was well known for eschewing light comedic storylines for darker and more-introspective plots" (Barson, n.d.). This was reflected with awards as "On Broadway, Fosse won an unprecedented eight Tony Awards® for Choreography..... he won an Oscar® for his direction of the film version of Cabaret (1972), and received three other Academy Award® nominations"(Cross, n.d.)

Fosse has many specific qualities that he includes in all of his work which collectively form the 'Fosse style'. One of these qualities is how he "would position his dancers down to the angles of their feet or their little fingers"(Davis, 2020). In the Jugganaught routine, there are many arm and hand angles which are very specific. At the beginning of the routine, there is an abundance of examples of these angles being shown. One is when we all put our hands out either side of us with a broken angle to both hands, another is when we reach to the ceiling, again with a broken angle to our hand. 

Another one of Fosse's choreographic qualities is his fosse walk. His notorious walks use"angular posturing" (Turton.uk.com, n.d.) with the dancers walking with their back leaning backwards, keeping the abdominals engaged, and keeping the upper arms glued to the torso whilst the forearms swing with each step. In the Jugganaught piece, there is a section when two groups separate from the formation in centre stage. They separate by performing this walk until they are off stage. 

A third quality that Fosse uses in his choreography, which makes it so unique is his use of " finger-snapping"(Cross, n.d.). Fosse would use a range on different sounds made by the dancers within his choreography to add more dimension to his choreography, one of these things was finger snapping. In the Jugganaght assessment routine is a section where we pull our arms down in front of us and click. This also links to another quality where he "focused more on rhythm"(Davis, 2020), as this movement of clicking is done in canon to the rhythm of the music. Another example is towards the end of the routine where one arm goes to second and the other towards the ceiling, however, this is done on the beats of the music matching with Fosse's style. 


The final jazz assessment piece is the Jason Derulo routine. This routine is inspired by the choreography of Jack Cole. "Cole was one of the first jazz choreographers. He actually was an inspiration to Robbins, Fosse, Gwen Verdon and many other well-known dancers today."(Dancehelp.com, n.d.)  "Jack Cole did not have the big hit Broadway show. Also, (2) his style was never codified; meaning it was never standardised or notated like ballet.  (3) He was primarily employed as a choreographer, not director/choreographer as Fosse or Robbins, Michael Bennett or Gower Champion (4) he preferred to present his work in nightclubs, where critics rarely attended or reviewed in those days."(Davis, 2020)

Cole has helped shape jazz into what it is today and is known as a "dance pioneer (Dancehelp.com, n.d.) and he has achieved this with creating the 'Cole Style'. There are many specific qualities which all collectively form the 'Cole Style'. One of these qualities is his use of having a "low centre of gravity with deep plies"(Davis, 2020). In the Jason Derulo routine, there are many movements which require this low centre of gravity and also the use of a deep plié, for example, in the chorus, there is a section where we slide around the person opposite us in a box step. This slide requires a lot of plié and also for our torsos to be contracted so that our centre of gravity is closer to the ground. 

A second quality which forms the 'Cole Style' is his "quick directional changes"(Davis, 2020) within all of his pieces. In the Jazz assessment Jason Derulo routine there are a plethora of directional changes. One is the chorus section, there's a section where we are facing the back and then slide change direction to the front whilst bending our knees into a crouch, to then jump up again. This quick change of direction requires a lot of core strength and also spotting. 

A final quality of the 'Cole Style' is his "isolations""(Davis, 2020). Isolations are more than prevalent in the Jason Derulo assessment piece. There are many isolations which involve the arms in this routine, an example of this is at the beginning of the piece where, in cannon, a position is hit with the arm contracted above the head. This cannon requires isolation in order for it to look clean and precise. 

Reference list:
- Turton.uk.com. (n.d.). [online] Available at: https://www.turton.uk.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/Fosse-Knowledge-Organiser.pdf [Accessed 3 Mar. 2020].
- Barson, M. (n.d.). Bob Fosse | Biography, Musicals, Movies, & Facts. [online] Encyclopedia Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bob-Fosse [Accessed 3 Mar. 2020].
-Cross, L. (n.d.). Bob Fosse | The Official Masterworks Broadway Site. [online] The Official Masterworks Broadway Site. Available at: https://www.masterworksbroadway.com/artist/bob-fosse/ [Accessed 3 Mar. 2020].
- Davis, C. (2020). 1st Year - Jerome Robbins. [online] Missdavisbtuk.blogspot.com. Available at: https://missdavisbtuk.blogspot.com/2020/02/1st-year-jerome-robbins.html [Accessed 2 Mar. 2020].
- Nycballet.com. (n.d.). Jerome Robbins. [online] Available at: https://www.nycballet.com/Explore/Our-History/Jerome-Robbins.aspx [Accessed 2 Mar. 2020].
- Encyclopedia Britannica. (n.d.). Jerome Robbins | American choreographer. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jerome-Robbins [Accessed 2 Mar. 2020].
- Jeromerobbins.org. (n.d.). Jerome Robbins | Jerome Robbins - Jerome Robbins Foundation - Jerome Robbins Rights Trust. [online] Available at: http://jeromerobbins.org [Accessed 2 Mar. 2020].
-Davis, C. (2020). 1st Year - Bob Fosse. [online] Missdavisbtuk.blogspot.com. Available at: https://missdavisbtuk.blogspot.com/2020/02/1st-year-bob-fosse.html [Accessed 4 Mar. 2020].
- Dancehelp.com. (n.d.). Jack Cole: Pioneer of Jazz Dance. [online] Available at: http://www.dancehelp.com/articles/jazz-dance/jack-cole.aspx [Accessed 4 Mar. 2020].
- Davis, C. (2020). 1st Year - Jack Cole. [online] Missdavisbtuk.blogspot.com. Available at: https://missdavisbtuk.blogspot.com/2020/02/1st-year-jack-cole.html [Accessed 4 Mar. 2020].