The leaves have colored bright red and oranges and started falling off from the tree. It signifies the year has been 3/4 down and two months left of 2024. It seems like yesterday was just a hot summer day and now I feel a little cold wind that passes my face. Time flies so fast.

I wanted to write down my experience in working with theater production for the first time in my life! Strangely, my undergraduate program was very connected with Musical theater majors, but I never dreamt of being on the Broadway stage. I do love singing and dancing. Yet I have never had an idea of me standing on the theatre stage. Therefore, I never thought I would be involved in Theater production.

During the couple past of weeks of August and September, I had a wonderful opportunity to choreograph the musical production, Cabaret. I knew the production because I have danced to some of Bob Fosse’s repertoire and I performed in “Mein Herr” as an excerpt dance number. The story is centered around Kit Kat club singer, Sally Bowles and a young enthusiastic writer Clifford in Berlin during the 1930s. It depicts the arousal of political tensions and racial problems and showcases the complex sexual orientations and gender roles, questions what life is … to sum it up, Cabaret is not a happy story.

As a choreographer, I researched many documentation of previous Cabaret productions, watched the film that Bob Fosse directed, and went to Berlin to see Cabaret production to fully understand what this production is about. At first, I was terrified. I pondered what would required for students to perform as club dancers safely. How do I prioritize the comfortability of some sexual expression while creating safety in dancers’ bodies? Some dance numbers were very challenging, dealing with race, sex, and politics.

In my rehearsal, I always started checking in with the dancers’ bodies. We circled up and asked how they felt today, and where in their body they felt okay or not good to be seen and touched. They scanned from head to toe, gesturing “yes” or “no” to everyone in the circle so that we all know. I also asked dancers to consent every time if some choreographic choices have some sexual expressions. It helped them feel secure and allowed them to speak up about their choices and comfort.

Another pressure was time constraints. I had only six days of three hours of rehearsal to finish seven dance numbers! The very little amount of time to teach the choreography and ready to set them on stage was a drastic difference from how I choreograph dance works or films. Thankfully I had a great dance captain who could clean and polish after these intense 6 days of setting the choreography. Transitioning from the dance studio to the actual stage was also another beast. Not only working with the limitation of the size of the stage but also entering, and exiting with stairs or dancing on the different levels were challenging. I asked dancers to trust their artistic choices on the stage and fully immerse in their characters. The performance is the art of being therefore whatever they do I leave the choices up to the dancers.

Photo by Corrie Eggimann

Overall, it was fruitful to see my contribution to the production plus witnessing choreography and dancers’ performances enhance the shows. The cast of Cabret was full of talented actors and I really admired their dedication to the performance. The show ran for two weeks from October 3rd to October 13th. There is always something I can learn new things every semester I am teaching at MNSU. In the future, I hope to integrate my learning and teaching in different disciplines in the performing arts.