Describe your creative process when you begin working on a show. It is important for me to understand the story that I am trying to tell through my choreography. Therefore, it is essential for me to go through the script and discuss with my director where we believe dance call tell the story. It is not that important for me to put steps together and choreograph a musical number unless it makes absolute dramaturgical sense. I, generally, do a period of research where I learn everything I can about a period, the styles of dance and social issues pertaining to the era. In addition, I overload myself with photo images and any dance footage I can get my hands on. I am usually inspired by photos. I then do a period of pre-production where I go into a dance studio and begin to work on the vocabulary which will be the foundation of my choreography. I then start to “choreograph” the dance number(s) and together with a dance arranger I begin to create the dance arrangement for the various dance numbers. I take this blueprint into rehearsal and walk into a rehearsal with a plan, knowing that it will change and that it will be molded according to the characters and the different abilities of the actors and dancers. My blueprint is never finite or finished …it is always a work in progress.

For a show like JERSEY BOYS, which doesn’t specifically have big ensemble dances, explain how you work together with the director to create movement and flow on stage? My collaboration with a director varies from individual to individual. I am very much a collaborator and have a great deal of trust and respect in my director…since it is his vision that I am trying to fulfill. I am the equivalent of a cinematographer in film. Des McAnuff is a master at creating a show that moves at a furious speed but somehow it is a thing of beauty, in a way he is a kind of mentor to me. He has a great deal of trust in me and our collaboration.

In JERSEY BOYS, it even looks like the set changes are choreographed—talk about that. In Jersey Boys, Des McAnuff and I worked closely together in defining how we wanted the show to move. We had an extensive period of preparation before rehearsals so that when we walked into rehearsal we knew who did what, where and how. A few years back I worked at the Stratford Festival in Canada where most of the transitions are done by actors moving the furniture on and off, as a result, I became a master in making these transitions seamless and invisible.

Even though The Four Seasons did not dance in their performances, did you create musical movement for the Jersey Boys portraying the group? The movement and choreography for The Four Seasons in Jersey Boys is purely fictional. I took great liberty in creating choreography that never existed. I worked closely with each one of the original four boys: Christian Hoff, Bobby Spencer, Daniel Reichard and John Lloyd Young to create vocabulary that was close to their character. It was important for me to create movement that was inherent to that specific character…I became a tailor…creating every single step, nuance and mannerism that was organic to each of the Seasons. In Jersey Boys, when the Seasons are performing in what we call “concert mode,” I wanted the audience to feel as though that movement was happening spontaneously in the same way it does in a rock in roll concert. But don’t be fooled…every single move is choreographed. As a matter of fact, I have changed slight mannerisms etc in the choreography of The Four Seasons in our various touring companies to fit their personas.

Who has influenced your work? Oh Boy, that’s a full question….it is obvious for me to say Jerome Robbins, Bob Fosse and Gene Kelly all have influenced my work…but I can go as far as saying that an artist such as Salvador Dali and Picasso have inspired my work as well.

What musical and dance styles do you like most to choreograph? I don’t think I have a specific dance style I am partial to. I react to the material and the music that I am giving to interpret in whatever show I am choreographing. I know what I can’t do and that is Tap…so if I have to do a show that has tap in it, I rather let another talented choreographer do it.

What kind of dancing do you enjoy best? I was born in Colombia, South America so I grew up listening to Latin music; as a result, Salsa dancing is in my blood, I can do it in my sleep. The sound of percussion moves me wherever I am. However, thanks to my dad I also grew up listening to Benny Goodman and all sorts of Big Band sounds….. so I love Swing. I love lindy hop, the shorty george…you name it I can do it. I always say that I am an old fashioned kind of guy …if I were to live in any period …it would have to be the 40’s. But don’t get me wrong…I am very open to hip-hop and any of the new forms of dance that are out there. It is my responsibility as a choreographer to stay open to change…it only will empower me in my creativity.

show photos by Joan Marcus

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