Ann Reinking was a brilliant dancer and choreographer; lover and artistic muse for Bob Fosse; and an inspiring teacher. When she danced,
Reinking’s body exploded with the intensity of an artist whose expression can’t be tamed, but whose beauty lies in the attempts to control it. [...] She was soul and skill but also the electrifying result of somebody trying to tame the untamable. Her gorgeous, unruly body rose to the precise demands of choreography—most notably Bob Fosse’s—but please watch her, in this clip from “A Chorus Line,” show Michael Bennett’s outrageous requirements for dancer flexibility who is boss.
www.newyorker.com/...
And here is that clip [0:56]:
It’s “Too Darn Hot” for her in this Cole Porter number [5:52]:
🔥 🔥 🔥
Broadway show girls call it a layback: balancing on one foot, the other leg shoots up through 180 degrees while you bend your spine concavely and snap your head in line with your torso, extending your arms their full length. You do this at high speed, creating what looks like, from a distance, a perfect capital letter “H”. You hold it for a few seconds then go back into your dance and repeat the manoeuvre several times in the same razzle-dazzle number.
Nobody did this better than Ann Reinking….
www.theguardian.com/...
A short [16:35] overview of her career
🔥 🔥 🔥
After [Gwen] Verdon, the long-legged, 5-foot-7 Ms. Reinking was considered perhaps the greatest interpreter of [Bob Fosse’s] precise but casually sensuous choreography.
“I had this instant affinity for his moves,” [Reinking] told Toronto’s Globe and Mail in 1998. “I loved it. It felt right and it looked good on my body and I felt I was somehow made to dance this style.”
www.washingtonpost.com/...
“All That Jazz” on the TV show Dancin’ Man [3:09]
🔥 🔥 🔥
In 1977, [Reinking] took over the lead role of Roxie Hart in “Chicago” — replacing Fosse’s estranged wife, Gwen Verdon. The musical, written by composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb, takes place in 1920s Chicago. Roxie is an aging singer-dancer who kills her husband and rides the ensuing scandal to new heights of glory.
www.washingtonpost.com/...
With Bebe Neuwirth at the 1997 Tony Awards (“All That Jazz”/”Hot Honey Rag” from the Chicago revival) [3:07]
🔥 🔥 🔥
At the Macy’s Parade, 1986, “I’m a Brass Band” from Sweet Charity
Long after Ms. Reinking and Fosse broke up, they remained close and continued to collaborate onstage. He directed and choreographed her in a 1986 Broadway revival of “Sweet Charity,” a show he had premiered 20 years earlier with [Gwen] Verdon. Fosse died in 1987.
www.washingtonpost.com/...
[3:47]
🔥 🔥 🔥
Reinking moved to New York City at age 18,[7] and danced as a member of the corps de ballet at the Radio City Music Hall,[8] performed in the ensemble of the second national tour of Fiddler on the Roof, and at the age of 19 made her Broadway debut in the musical Cabaret. She was a chorus dancer in Coco (1969), Wild and Wonderful (1971), and Pippin (1972).[2] During Pippin, she came to the attention of the show's director and choreographer Bob Fosse. Reinking became Fosse's protégée and romantic partner, even as Fosse was still legally married to (though separated from) Gwen Verdon at the time.[9]
en.wikipedia.org/...
I can’t say where this is from, except Chicago. But it’s way too fabulous not to use. [4:16]
🔥 🔥 🔥
The question is how do you tell a Fosse show from any other production? Well, it’s bound to have a leading lady like Ann Reinking with legs that go up to her neckline. She will do jazz hands at every conceivable moment and will bend her knees inwards. Finally, she will be wearing a bowler hat at an angle, jaunty or otherwise, because you know what they say – “a hat’s not a hat till it’s tilted.”
musicaltheatrereview.com/...
“Everything Old is New Again,” from the film All That Jazz [3:47]:
🔥 🔥 🔥
Intro to Roxie Hart, from the Chicago revival [9:25]:
🔥 🔥 🔥
With Tommy Tune at the 1991 Tony Awards (from Bye Bye Birdie) [3:38]:
🔥 🔥 🔥
Rehearsing her students at the Broadway Theater Project in “The Rich Man’s Frug” from Sweet Charity [3:49]:
🔥 🔥 🔥
If you want more, The Joy is in the Work: Remembering Ann Reinking
The film is a collection of stories, archival videos, and photos of unseen rehearsals and performances during the summer program Ann Reinking co-founded and ran during the years of 1991 through 2004.
From the YouTube description
[1:37:06]
🔥 🔥 🔥
So c’mon in the cafe and grab a cuppa…
...and a nice nosh…
...and join us!
New Day Cafe is an open thread. What do you want to talk about today?