Dance

Since the 1930’s when George Balanchine choreographed the Rogers and Hart musical On Your Toes, dance in musical theater has been used as a tool with which to tell a story. Balanchine, one of history’s most famous ballet choreographers, used the movements of classical ballet in combination with the positions of jazz dance to create the musical’s notable dance numbers. The Russian choreographer’s usage of dancing that was firmly linked to the production’s plot to convey a key aspect of the narrative was common place in ballet, but unprecedented on the stage. The importance of dance in productions as a further method by which to unveil the plot only grew in the following years with the creation of musicals like Oklahoma!
Each dance that the choreographer Agnes de Mille created in Oklahoma!, one of the most successful musicals of all time, not only contributed to the plot, but revealed aspects of the show’s characters. The show signaled a withdrawal from the traditional...