Musical Theatre Great American Essay - 1,100 words

There are many great American choreographers of our time. It is through their creative genious that musicals and movies are made memorable. If it wasn't for the work of these choreographers, musical theatre wouldn't be what it is today. It is because of these choreographers that musical theatre is what it is. These choreographers brought to musical theatre dance technique that was only once used in ballet. In fact it was because of this that ballet and jazz, as well as all the other forms of dance.


One of these great American choreographers is Tommy Tune. Tommy Tune was born on February 28, 1939 on Wichita Falls, Texas. He was born to the parents of Jim P. and Eva Mae Tune. He was the only son of these Jim and Eva Tune. Tommy and his family moved to Houston, Texas in the early 1940 's.


His father went to Houston to service oil rigs. Jim Tune also trained horses as a hobby and side income for the family. It was here that "Young Tommy Tune often dallied around the paddocks, attempting to imitate the horses' gaits. " (p 417, Moritz) Already we can see that Tommy had a gift for copying moves and gestures, which is a main form of dance. Dance was evident in Tommy's blood. In fact both of Tommy's parents were both amateur ballroom dancers, so it is really clear that Tommy was a born dancer. The Tunes "hoped to find a constructive outlet for their son's enormous energy by enrolling him in a dance class when he was five. " (p 417, Moritz) So Tommy began his training in dance at an early age.


Tommy was taking classes in tap and acrobatics. However Tommy really enjoyed ballet; it is said that he loved "loved the feeling of flying" (p 16, Bordman). Even as a kid Tommy had the calling of a director within he him. He claims that "I whipped a lot of kids I knew into shape. " (p 417, Moritz) Tommy recalls that "We had a stage, sheets for curtains, tin cans with Christmas lights for footlights, flashlights for spotlights and for music there was a record player. It was a really big ta-dum. " (p 417, Moritz) It was clear that from a very young age Tommy was interested in dance and the director he was destined to be was already forming within him. It is clear that Tommy wanted to be a dancer, to dance in a premier dance company.


But there was one problem that Tommy was not able to control, it was his unusual height. Tommy was six feet six inches by the time he was in high school. This was very agonizing for Tommy, not only emotionally, but physically as well. Because of Tommy's speedy growth, he suffered severe growing pains. Tommy had to suffer six months on crutches to correct his problem.


However that did not help Tommy fully; he still had to suffer the emotional pains of not being able to dance ballet as he had dreamed to. However, there was something that gave Tommy the hope to be a dancer again. It was when Tommy saw a traveling production of The King and I, he realized that he could still ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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Essay Tags: tune, great american, dance, tommy, musical theatre

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