Video: "Master Dance Class" For Sacramento Music Circus

Me in black and Kat Murphy on the right

On the opening day of BYE BYE BIRDIE at Sacramento Music Circus, I was asked to teach a Master Dance Class as part of the community outreach program at Music Circus.

I'm occasionally asked to teach these classes, and I do so with the understanding that I'm a choreographer and not a "technical" teacher. I talk about the style and thought behind the choreography, but trust me - no one wants to see me demonstrate a tendu or dégagé :)

My trusted partner in crime, Kat Murphy, came along to warm the group up; and then we taught a bit of the show's "Got A Lot Of Livin To Do" choreography. We also sat and did a Q&A with the dancers about classes, approach to choreography, and other theatre topics. Some really good questions came up.

When I was asked to teach the class it was in the middle of rehearsals for BYE BYE BIRDIE and I was knee deep in choreography. It crossed my mind I might be a bit fried by opening day. But I was so glad I followed through. So many thanked me for the class; one dancer said she lived 30 minutes away and only had access to ballet classes - no theatre dance. So, it filled my soul a bit to see folks enjoy dancing so much.

Please note: I didn't know they were recording this or I certainly would have "danced out" more. At this point we had been dancing for almost an hour and a half, and I was giving the group one last chance to dance. This 51 year old was trying to reserve resources :)

Can we talk about the girl (her name is Alison we found out later) in the white tank top? She is KILLING it! Alison, you better live that dance.

She and all the folks who showed up made me smile. I hadn't danced without the pressure of a rehearsal time limit in a while, so it was fun to just dance again.