Captivated by the Cinderella Choreography

Mainstage’s Center for the Arts Cinderella performance was phenomenal!  My lens was from that of a dancer.

I have always admired dancers—their gracefulness, the fluidity of their movements and the effortless way they handle intricate choreography.  So much so, that in college, (which seems like many moons ago) I participated in several semesters of African Drum and Dance. 

I recently started dancing again, this time as a backup dancer to a local artist.  The choreography is typically to Afrobeats, a music genre that blends West African musical styles with jazz, soul, funk and in more contemporary tracks, electronic music.  Many people today would describe Afrobeat as a mix of African music with Western-pop.  To learn choreography for a typical 3-minute song has required numerous hours of practice per week. 

So, when I watched Mainstage’s Cinderella performance, I was truly in awe over the vocals and particularly the dance choreography.  I started to calculate the math in my head: if it takes me almost 9 hours to feel reasonably comfortable with the choreography for a 3-minute song, and the Cinderella cast danced to almost 4-5 2-minute songs…well, that’s a lot of hours of practice that I’m sure the cast dedicated to the performance! 

Now I realize, if you’re more coordinated than me, (and you probably are) you could probably learn choreography faster, but either way, I have the utmost respect for the time and commitment that the cast dedicated to the performance.  The cast did a wonderful job evoking warmth and a “dreams-do-come-true” vibe to the captivated audience!          

Next up, is The Drowsy Chaperone.  You don't want to miss it!