Let's Dance (Without Making it Look like Dancing)

 

Something from Feuer's essay that really stuck out to me was the idea of non-choreography, meaning when dance numbers blur the lines between regular movement and dancing by including steps that mimic movements people actually do in day to day life (9). Pretty much all of the dance numbers in the 1952 Hollywood musical "Singin' in the Rain" incorporate non-choreography to some degree, but here I'll be focusing on "Moses Supposes," which features Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor. 

Aside from the tap dance the guys do for the vocal coach, throughout the song they keep using various props in the room as part of their routine. From draping themselves in the curtains to piling everything they can find on top of the vocal coach at the end, Kelly and O'Connor continue to dance without making it look like what we would normally think of as dancing. In reality, each of these props was placed deliberately by the film crew so that the actors could incorporate them fluidly into the number and make us forget about the behind-the-scenes planning. The end result is a humorous scene, and much of the humor is owed to the non-choreography in addition to the use of props. 

I think the concept of non-choreography could even be extended beyond the musical number to a different sort of Hollywood scene: the fight sequence. Many of the elements I discussed above are found in a typical fight scene like choreographed movements that do not seem like typical dance steps but are rehearsed nonetheless and the use of carefully placed props in some of those movements. 

Taking a look at Tarantino's 2001 revenge flick "Kill Bill: Vol. 1", we can see these aspects of non-choreography in the brawl between Vernita Green and the Bride, which takes place in Vernita's own home. The two women hurl themselves over couches, shatter a glass mirror, and turn fireplace tools and other household items into weapons. Each of their movements looks organic as if they were actually engaged in a struggle for their lives using whatever was around them to defend themselves. Just in like "Singin' in the Rain", however, each of their actions was meticulously planned out and the objects they encounter in the room were put there specifically for the actors to use when the right moment came. 

In both of these films along with countless other Hollywood pictures, all movement is natural, whether it's walking or dancing or fighting. Concealing choreography under the guise of natural movement is one of the key ways in which Hollywood hides the work involved in making its movies and instead makes the audience focus on the action itself.