Flashdance the Musical, Essay Example

“Flashdance the Musical” is a stage adaptation of the 1983 musical film Flashdance. The show follows the story of a young girl named Alex, who is forced to perform menial labor during the day. During the night however, she attempts to pursue her dream to be a dancer with hope of one day attending the Shipley Dance Academy. The theater adaptation of the film was choreographed and directed by Sergio Trujillo and the music director is Robbie Roth. The musical dance numbers were essential to the story, which is an exemplary way to tell the tale of a dancer. The musical dance numbers consisted mostly of modern dance and ballet, but some pieces had elements of jazz and hip hop as well.

The musical dance numbers emphasize the story, in part because of the music it was set to. Many well-known songs were included in the musical’s score, including “Flashdance – What a Feeling”, “Maniac”, “Gloria”, “Manhunt”, and “I Love Rock & Roll”. The choreographer ensured that the dances were consistent with the music, which gave the dancers a large amount of energy that was transmitted to the audience. Although the film that this musical was based off of was set in the 1980’s, it appears as if the writers attempted to modernize it while still using the musical hits from that time period. In this manner, the dances resemble the current social dances of my community and culture because there have only been minor changes between the 1980’s and 2000’s in terms of popular social dance. The dances that were performed remind me of how people would dance in modern clubs or venues with live music.

My personal definition of dance is that it is comprised of body movements that are able to convey energy to the audience. According to this definition, this dance production measured up well. Although I have seen many dance routines, it is rare that I want to stand up and dance along with them while in the audience. However, this notion was contradicted when I was viewing “Flashdance the Musical”. Not only did the dancers convey energy to the audience through their specific moves and the consistency with the music, the way that the dances tied into the story was brilliant. Overall, the dancers were a major contributor the story line because it allowed the audience to dive more deeply into the minds of the characters. Furthermore, the dances emphasized important points of the show, which allowed me to understand what was happening even if I became lost for a few moments.

While the work was encouraging, I did not attempt to try it because I believe that these dances are most effective when performed in a group; performing this piece individually would cause it to lose meaning. Furthermore, it is difficult to recall the precise movements of each dancer because in group numbers, all dancers were not necessarily performing identical movements. This is one of the primary reasons that I found the show to be interesting. Using dance to tell the story of a dancer was quite effective. Furthermore, the dances were complex at times and beautifully simple at times, but in each case, they allowed the audience to grasp a greater understanding of the story. While the musical didn’t have any direct messages, I believe the audience was expected to infer that we should reach to achieve our dreams. Alex was dissatisfied with her day job and strived to become a dancer. Her attempts were honorable and people would be lucky to be as ambitious as her.

Ultimately, I enjoyed “Flashdance the Musical” due to its music selection and the energy that the dancers brought to the stage. I also enjoyed it because of the unique mix of dance styles that the choreographer utilized. However, I believe that the show would have been better if there were less dialogue and more dance. A major criticism of the show that I support is that there are too many subplots that distract from the main point. Therefore, while I enjoyed the show, I believe that it can be reworked to be made more effective. I would recommend this performance and type of dance because it is a meaningful mixture of modern dance, ballet, jazz, and hip hop. I believe that the choreographer did well and the music was perfect for the story. Despite my admiration for the show and its dancers, I do not believe that this dance form is a significant contribution to the dance world. All of these dance styles have existed in the past and are regularly used for a variety of performances. While mixing them together at first seems novel, it is important to realize that this has been done many times before. Ultimately, modern dance builds upon its predecessors and it is therefore not surprising to see modern dance routines intertwined with other dance elements such as hip hop and jazz. It is likely that we will see more of these types of dance combinations in the future.