THE SHOW: AN INTERVIEW WITH DANCE SUPERVISOR STACY CADDELL

Ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians are not people you would generally associate with the Tony Award-winning musical Movin’ Out. But according to Stacy Caddell, the show’s dance supervisor, some of the show’s signature choreography incorporates physical characteristics of these ancestral humans.

“Twyla (Tharp, the show’s legendary choreographer) does a lot of research and she’s an amazing editor,” says Caddell. “She gets pictures and drawings, and then inserts the movements or postures into her choreography.” And we thought Movin’ Out was all about Billy Joel.

Laurie Kanyok & Company in MOVIN' OUT, photo by Joan Marcus

Yes, much of the material was derived from Joel’s personal life. But the other major source of inspiration was Tharp’s professional life. As the audience is listening to Joel’s rock n’ roll and watching the dancers play out the narrative, they’re also seeing snippets from critically-acclaimed Tharp ballets such as In the Upper Room and Sextet.

Dance aficionados can spot a Tharp piece a mile away. Although her training was primarily in classical dance, early on she developed her own style that can best be described as “pedestrian.” Ballet dancers are usually pulled up high by their movements, but Tharp has them down low, connected to the floor (or on the floor as in one of Movin’ Out’s most impassioned numbers “Shameless”). She takes an ordinary movement and expands on it so that people relate without realizing that they do those things in every day life.

Movin’ Out is a unique hybrid of Broadway, modern dance and classical ballet. Tharp has married music, lyrics, physical and emotional components to create a very exhilarating, high energy show that has garnered both critical and audience acclaim.

So what does it take to be one of Tharp’s dancers?

According to Caddell, “Twyla is always looking for love of dance, love of movement. She watches very intensely how people learn, how they swallow the movement then express it with their body.” The company comprises dancers from diverse entities such as New York City Ballet, Martha Graham Dance Company, Joffrey Ballet and Broadway.

In a traditional dance piece, it is primarily the principal dancers who get to express individualism. Not so in Movin’ Out. Tharp is known as a director who encourages every dancer in the ensemble to find their own style and make it real. It’s not just the principals having a 20-year journey… everyone does. To that end, the show continues to grow, and is literally different in every performance.

Caddell knows this for a fact. Two years into the Broadway run, and she stills sees the show six times per week.

“People say to me, ‘don’t you get bored to death!?’” she says. “But I truly don’t because I’m seeing something new every time.”