Kyle Canham

Second Year Critique Dance Til Dawn

Dance Til Dawn is a new dance-based British musical, written by Ed
Curtis, which features Strictly Come Dancing stars Vincent Simone
and Flavia Cacace as the two (silent) lead roles of Sadie Strauss and
Tony DeLuca respectively. It is a jukebox musical including hits such
as Feeling Good and Runaway Baby, and is set in the Golden Age
of Hollywood. Being a heavily dance-based show, the narrative is
strongly supported and told through the choreography, and I will be
discussing this.

The show starts in the middle of a Hollywood film shoot, when

leading man Bobby Burns is murdered. Soon a plot to frame the
starlet Sadie Strauss lover Tony DeLuca, unfolds and the two aim to
use their flawless footwork and choreography to dance their way out
of trouble. Shortly after the murder, the duo find the culprit (a woman
named Lana Clemenza) and manage to get hold of an envelope of
importance to her and the crime, however they are soon found out,
which then starts a wild good chase to get away from the studio and
away from the criminal and her henchmen. This is a dance scene,
where the its just the choreography telling the story, and therefore
much of the choreography contains gesture-based dancing and stage
combat. The style is very reminiscent of the Golden Age musical
theatre style, with a lot of Latin and Ballroom influence. The narrative
is largely told by travelling steps (to show the running being done by
the characters) and gesture-based movements, as this number is done
with no speech or singing. There is also a lot of moving on and off the
stage quickly as well as partner-work, even between the male
characters, to show the conflict and combat between them. This scene
is also where the flowering of Tony and Sadies romantic relationship
begins, with a fair share of intimacy and chemistry between them as
they dance (and run) together, with also a hint of humour in the scene.

After this the pair end up at Tonys apartment, shortly then receiving
a message from Lana proposing to meet at a club to negotiate. They
decide to accept this proposal and go to the club, unbeknownst to
Kyle Canham

them that the club is actually owned by Lana. They start dancing at
the club, using a lot of intimate and fast Latin dance moves to show
the nature their relationship becoming less platonic and more and
more romantic. They then meet Lana, who as a part of her
negotiations attempts to seduce Tony with number performed by
her and her showgirls, all in an attempt to recover her envelope. This
number uses a lot more musical theatre jazz dance than most of the
other numbers, though still retaining a Latin feel that is consistent
throughout the show. It is retains a Golden Age Hollywood style, with
emphasis on legs and showing them off, with the choreography very
1940s showgirl-esque and flirtatious, with the girls in glam sequinned
outfits and Lana providing a jazzy vocal performance, whilst
simultaneously slyly taking her envelope from his jacket and
replacing it with an item of Bobbys in order to frame him.

The final number I shall be discussing is the scene between Sadie and
Tony in the prison after Lana has successfully framed Tony for the
murder of Bobby Burns. In this scene Tony is in a cell and Sadie is
visiting him, both confused by the events leading to this, grief stricken
and longing for each other after finally realising their love and
affection for each other. This longing to be together leads them both
to imagine together that they can move the cells bars and be in each
others arms, provoking a dance number between them in this
imaginary moment. They dance a tango, with the movements
oozing passion and desire, and often use the bars of the cell as a
moveable prop to aid in their dance. The style of the dance is very
dynamic, with many fast steps stopped by a smooth sensual move,
and so on, and often the bars of the cell are moved to be separating
them momentarily, before they are swung round and they dance
together again. At the end of the number, they are again separated by
the bar, which then swings into place as it was before the dance began
and Sadie is lunging clutching onto it, showing that the whole tango
was just their wishful dreaming.

Dance Til Dawn is a heavily dance-based show which relies a lot of

movement and gesture to tell the story, particularly in the case of the
main characters Sadie and Tony as they are silent throughout the
Kyle Canham

whole show. The use of dance as a form of narrative is highly

effective, and tells the story in a much more interpretive way than
youd find in most other shows, delivering a very aesthetically
pleasing and interesting show.