Piano Man

Dance

Sep 20

an exploration of branding & dance

Well, it finally happened; I think I finally combined my love of dance and branding. It occurred to me recently that last year, I unintentionally took a few of my dance pieces through my brand exploration. And I’m not saying that this last season was astronomically better than normal, though I do admit those few pieces overall throughout the season did pretty darn well consistently. And I have to wonder if it’s more than just coincidence - is it just that the kids have gotten better? That I’ve gotten better? Or is it because I am getting more and more intentional? A combo of everything? So, as a means to both get to know me and my creative approach better and try a new way at connecting what it is I do to one of my biggest outside passions, I wanted to give you a peek behind the curtain at what may be the dance piece I’m most proud of, Piano Man.

While normally I always begin branding with strategy, Piano Man actually began with a vision. Listening to the iconic song one day, I “saw” a featured Piano Man, tapping on a wooden piano, with the rest of the dancers “sitting at the bar putting bread in his jar,” actually yelling the next line of lyrics at the audience to really add punch the exclamation of the scene. I saw them in neutrals - tan, white, gray, navy, and olive green. All having the same base of trousers and button-up shirts, but with the freedom for individuality through accessories like vests, suspenders, newsboy hats, ties, ascots, etc. I envisioned the musical Once, the iconic bar scene where the instrumentalists/actors play right on stage with a dance break, as well as the Gaston song in the show version of Beauty and the Beast with table and bar dancing. I thought about the classic show Cheers and this concept of chosen family and community - and knew I wanted it to revolve around those themes. The idea of this place that celebrates victories, provides a shoulder to cry on, a place to vent - heck, bartenders are jokingly called therapists after all. And for these kids, that’s the studio, their barré, if you will (and yes, that’s a very overused joke, lol). The place where they find support, where a lot of them also find themselves. They don’t always like each other, but deep down, they love each other and really are each other’s biggest cheerleaders.

And that’s truly what I wanted to celebrate. How beautiful that we live in a time where we can find love, family, and community in all sorts of places. Yes, this world can be crappy, but it’s not quite as bad when you find your people. I created a mood board, unintentionally set a foundational strategy, and got to work.

In my brand exploration, I take clients through 6 different key pillars that make up their brand. We brainstorm lists, and I come up with an overall statement that exemplifies each. Now again, I didn’t take Piano Man through the exact exploration; while I was creating with intention, it for sure wasn’t on this level. But I do think this validates that I’m truly starting to internalize my creative process. I’m creating to evoke feelings and to create connection.

Feeling/Theme: community and connection. To be reminded of that power and show it’s a common experience. I also wanted the audience to feel like they were being transported into a scene rather than just watching a dance. I wanted them to want to sway and clap and stamp their feet - to be completely present and in the moment for those 2 minutes and 38 seconds.

Voice: the song and its visual look (though visuals are never a part of the brand exploration, as those are the end goal, this time, the end goal was choreo and staging, look helped narrow in on what that could be). I knew I wanted to use the Billy Joel classic, but although the song came out in 1973, I wanted it to evoke a feeling from a much earlier time period. I settled in on a late 20s/early 30s aesthetic of trousers and buttoned shirts, vests, suspenders, and derby hats. I picture a young Jack Dawson and the third-class dance scene where they're dancing on tables and shouting.

X-Factor: the prop. I can’t help it; I’m a woman who loves the dramatics. I love a good gimmick or a good prop - something that enhances the story, and is utilized effectively. The last part is key - being utilized effectively. I wanted to use a prop that was A) actually used almost the entire time B) could help change the scene and move the story along C) could actually be danced on for visuals and layering purposes. I had a big idea, and I thought we could pull it off. One of the dance dads helped us execute it, but essentially, we have bar benches that fold in half and get pushed together to create a piano!

Process & characters

While I continually made tiny tweaks and adjustments with spacing, directions, and choreo, the biggest addition we, and I’m intentionally including the kids in this part, made was the solidification of individual characters. In the beginning, I assigned some students particular roles. We, of course, had our Piano Man, as well as our bar manager, the old man with his tonic and gin. I had a student embody the clichéd “person sleeping at the bar/party” character who was asleep as the piece started and went back to bed once it was over (who’s also the vision of the old man who once wore a younger man’s clothes). The rest of the students I let try to naturally create some sort of character.

And some magic happened. Two students in particular developed a narrative within the overall story I had provided. Their characters started in states of frustration and anger, pushing, shoving, and yelling at one another. And by the end, they find friendship and get through their issue. A judge early on in the season pointed out how genius this could be if it were a mini storyline kept throughout - and that’s precisely what we did. I assigned those two to develop that storyline further and figure out how they could keep telling their story without taking too much focus from the overall piece. I made the rest of the students go through a character exercise to develop their own individual narratives within the story, basically a demographic and personality exercise. What are their names, ages, and occupations? Where do they live? Why are they at the bar tonight? Is there a particular reason for this visit, or is this part of their routine? What do they feel when they start their night vs. how do they feel by the time the night ends, and they all go home?

Vulnerability

My main mission as a teacher (and gosh darn it, I’m already feeling emotions swell as I start typing this section) is to create a space where the kids feel comfortable enough to truly be themselves. Am I also teaching technique and steps? Yes, but I realize for me, at least, it’s becoming more about creating safety - safety to be authentic, safety to be weird, safety to not know and ask questions, safety to not be okay when you aren’t. The security that allows any student in my class to feel so liberated that they can go for anything - no matter the outcome. And regarding Piano Man, I did do something I’ve never actually done before.

On the first day of rehearsal, I told the kids I was nervous, even scared, to try and pull off something like this.

I confided in them that, in a sense, Piano Man was going to be the biggest piece I’ve created yet. It was one of the bigger routines in sense of the number of dancers on stage. But the “big” main thing I was worried about was the prop and my ability to showcase this piece as more of a story than a “competition dance.” I told them I was going to make mistakes, that we were all going to get frustrated with the prop and possibly each other at times. And I shared that I was nervous to come off of a great previous season, I felt an expectation and a pressure for this piece but reminded all of us this new piece wasn’t going to be anything like years before and we had to start again with fresh feet. (I also asked them how they were feeling coming off of last season - because their feelings matter, too - and if I’ve learned anything, my pieces and classes always feel stronger when I feel authentically connected to the kids.)

The video below is from the competition in which the judge noted those two dancers and their characters, as well as comedic humor in particular. That was barely halfway through the competitive season, only the second time we ever competed it, and while we still made some tweaks that I felt made it stronger, this performance, in particular, made me feel lots of feels. As always, I want to recognize my bias and note that I know it isn’t perfect, but I still want to celebrate both my and the kids' efforts who brought this one to life. I want this one to live beyond a few performances on stage.

While I’m the teacher who will always say your overall placement at awards doesn’t matter, I do want to take a small moment to celebrate all the victories of this piece. Because while yes, we need to be humble and know that winning isn’t everything, sometimes I think I actually criticize myself harder when I receive accolades than when I don’t. It’s almost like my brain never thinks I deserve any positive recognition, and as a means to keep showing myself grace, this is an exercise in doing just that. This one tended to place anywhere between 3rd and 1st overall in their age group, received a few special overalls, was the Industry Dance Award Tap Nominee for the Pgh Turn It Up Regionals, and even took first overall of all the small groups, large groups, and duo/trios at nationals, and the choreography award for the entire event (oh and btw, our Nationals team was missing 5 of our dancers, so that’s its own huge thing to celebrate in itself - that they literally just got through it and made the prop happen, let alone WIN)!!!

Anyway, regardless of the awards, this would still be the piece I’m most proud of so far. And I just want to say thank you for taking the time to bond with me and see a bit further into my brain and creative process. You know the line I had the kids shout, “Man, what are you doing here?” honestly (and I told the kids this, too), that’s what I think all the time. “Man, what am I doing here - how am I so lucky to get to do all these things I love so much, working with some of the greatest kids.”

I’m truly so grateful to get to do what I do <3