Ready, set, dance

Despite the lack of the main choreographer’s presence during most of their production, performers in Mt. Hood’s staging of “Footloose” managed to keep everything going according to the director’s vision.

Michael Danforth, the assistant choreographer, described the dancing in the show as character-driven and “something the character either feels, or is reacting to, in a song.”

The original film version took place in the 1980s. Mt. Hood’s adaptation will have elements from that time, but with a modern twist. “The overall style of the show is really just a genuine western modern style of dance,” said Danforth.

The absence of the main choreographer, Krista Loveless (now in New York for work), has been felt, but the cast managed to have at least one video-chat critiquing session with her, he said.

Danforth described the play’s opening dance number as “this huge, bombastic explosion of dance, song and music and celebration.” He said that the second one “isn’t so much dancey-dance as it is creative movement (and) fluidity.

“There’s also numbers in the show that are made just for singing because there are dramatic moments in the show for the characters’ chemistry and objectives,” he said.

Danforth said his experience with choreographing the play’s dancing has been a humbling one. He said he’s enjoyed teaming with Mt. Hood theatre director Mace Archer – “the new director who has an entirely new vision – a very different, but still-productive philosophy of theatre – (that) has been very interesting.

“(But) I totally trust him, and I’ll do my best to mirror that as much as possible in the show,” Danforth said.

Music in the play includes songs from the original version.

“A few of these songs were big enough hits in the ’80s that, whether someone has seen Footloose before or not, or was born in the ’90s, they will likely recognize a few songs,” said Kevin Lambert, music director.

The pit orchestra includes a piano, bass, electric guitar, clarinet, saxophone and drums.

Music in Footloose is unique and “sounds very different than a musical from the 1950s, and that poses unique issues,” said Lambert. One challenge musicians encountered was keeping the music at a tempo that was appropriate ¬— “slowing down one song so the dancing doesn’t make the actors winded, or speeding up another song to keep it exciting,” said Lambert.

Students gain notable benefits from performing on stage, he said.

“One of the best is the poise they get from standing on a stage and delivering for an audience,” Lambert said. “It’s no easy task to say anything in front of a crowd, but these students will perform for approximately 2,000 people this month.”