Choreographed my first music video

So a gig kinda just fell into my lap.  I got asked to do a couple short sequences for a music video by an up and coming artist.  Danny Blu has a VERY specific aesthetic, think Adam Lambert meets Lady Gaga.  Out there/aggressive.  And because this musical theater guy believes in being chameleonic, I thought...absolutely.  Let's go there.  So I got busy in the studio and came up with something fierce.  And we shot in a church.  A CHURCH!  Full-throttle dance throw-down on the alter!  It was insanity.  Second day of the shoot we did some work in a stairwell and I got to do some visual texturing.  Brief movement moments that looked great on camera but weren't quite 'ography.'  It was an incredible experience working in a completely different medium and getting to play in that world.  I want more!

Sidney Erik Wright...Director

     It's February 1st.  How did that happen?

     This summer I took a giant step forward.  I directed my first play.  No singing, no dancing, no choreography of any kind.  I was accepted into the Insomniac's 24-hour Play Festival produced by the Grex Group Theatre.  At 6pm on July 19th, I made my way into a room full of strangers...

     A woman from the Grex Group opened a mystery folder and I was given 3 names and a prompt.  I was assigned author Mila Golubov, actors Matthew Wise and Mary Fuller, and a twisted line about a man who wanted to keep a girl's tooth to 'remember her by.'  Bizarro.  Then, we four had a pow-wow.

    I put on my director hat.  I told our author to be bold.  I got to know my actors, what their strengths and special skills were.  We set a time to reconvene.  I went home.  Read a draft.  Sent back some dramaturgical notes.  Got another draft.  Sent back more notes.  Booked rehearsal space.  Did table work at Starbucks early in the morning.  Got in the studio and blocked the play.  Bought props.  Found costumes.  Made sound cues.  And, lo and behold, 24 hours later we premiered Good Men.  Bad Men.  Very Bad Men.  as part of the festival at the historic Player's Club Theater in the West Village.  For our 10-minute-play, a woman goes to a speed dating event.  Mary Fuller played the lead going on a series of truly spectacular bad dates with a range of insanely inappropriate suitors.  Matthew Wise played 10 different men courting her.  It was hilarious, disturbing, and incredibly fun.  Loved breaking out of my 'musical theater' box and tackling a new challenge!  Fun step forward for this dancer dude!  

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Are You There, Ann-Margret? It's Me! Highlights

This project was just...fun.  Such a blast choreographing in classic Vegas spectacle style.  Camp and cheese and glitter and sequins.  Trying to live up to the legend.  Here's a highlight reel to give a taste of what we did.  My unofficial off-broadway 'debut' as a choreographer.  Fingers crossed that there's a future production somewhere/somehow.  It was truly fabulous!

Are You There, Ann-Margret? It's Me!

This gig absolutely fell into my lap. A choreographer friend of mine was working on the project, then he got swamped with some even bigger/better high profile gigs (and we're talking HIGH PROFILE) and sent the star my way. A diva, three backup dancers, and 90 minutes of fabulous costumes and iconic numbers. Even better, because the show runs for 3 nights and the theater seats over 100, it technically qualifies as my Off-Broadway debut. Fancy. Feels good to sink my teeth into a massive endeavor, and feels great to have friends sending work my way. The reputation continues to grow! Onward and upward...

Hair highlights

I love when projects are mutually beneficial and everybody wins. Dance (212) was documenting my summer and as a result of that I was able to get high quality footage from the final dress rehearsal of Hair. A little imovie editing and presto, instant highlight reel! This is an incredible show and I'm so grateful I got to play around and put my own spin on it! And as you can see, the cast is living!

Hair-Production Photos

Some shots of my Woodstock production of "Hair". First professional show that I did double-duty as director/choreographer. So special to me, so happy to share it with the world. Photos by the insanely talented Matthew Wright of Fig Tree Photography.

Dance (212) Teaser

It premieres September 19th, but the teaser episode and dancer profiles are now live.

I've been documenting my projects for a few months now and it's amazing to see the individual dances in the context of a larger whole. I've been productive. Made some cool things. And now they're about to be released to a larger audience. Psyched.

"Dance elevates...everything. When there are no more words, that's when people move."

-Dance (212), me

Not too shabby first soundbite!

The Lady in the Street-Choreographer's Canvas 2011

Official video debut! I LOVED working on this piece. So many artistic challenges. The is the longest number I've choreographed to date. It's the most complex plot I've developed. A number of costuming elements. And we threw this baby on its feet in three rehearsals. Band of Gypsies consumed my calendar and took a priority so I had to focus on developing that piece. When "The Race" premiered, I had one week to get in the studio and make "The Lady in the Street" happen. And I got my people together. And we made it happen. And it was glorious.

I've gotten some great feedback on this piece. I feel like it made an incredibly strong impression in the context of the show and opened some really fantastic doors for me professionally. But more importantly, it feels like a success artistically. This is the kind of work I want to do. Looking at it with some perspective now, there are some tweaks I would make. But the core of the number feels solid and I'm so incredibly proud of the work and of the dancers that brought it to life. So grateful.

Choreographer's Canvas 2011 Production Photos

Still waiting on that footage but until it arrives I can tease out the piece with these production photos that the amazing photographer Ilan Harel was able to grab at the concert. I'm amazed that at ONE performance only we were able to capture these shots. It's a tribute to the photographer, to my dancers who KILLED it, and I guess to my choreography which had some really strong lines and moments that read. Very clean. So grateful to everyone who helped this piece come to life and to the Group Theater, Too which produced the evening. It was a memorable night.

http://ilanharelphotography.smugmug.com/

Choreographer's Canvas 2011

Debuting ANOTHER piece. I gotta say, I feel like I'm really starting to get some nice momentum. This showcase features 15 great choreographers and it's new and different to consider them my 'co-creators' instead of 'people I want to hire me.' Rebecca Thomas, a choreographer I just danced for with R.Evolution Latina, is also presenting. In the space of a month I went from performing FOR her to presenting a piece ALONGSIDE OF her. That's kind of a cool transition!

I'm really excited about the number I'm presenting for a number of reasons. It will be the LONGEST number I've choreographed so far. It has the most complex story of anything I've worked on. There's some really fun costuming moments. Very athletic. Very intense. Strong acting intentions and character. It's a story/theme that I think is worth exploring. I think it's pushing boundaries and will get a reaction. And I feel that there are really well-defined choreographic moments and a structure to the number. After working on something abstract, it's nice to return to clarity. I'll try to get footage, but it might be a bit tricky with this one. Hope to have video up...eventually.

Band of Gypsies 2-The Race

Here's the ROUGH edit of my number. What I was able to capture with just my dinky camera during tech and the one show. Hopefully I'll be able to fill in the holes and get better footage with actual videographer footage down the line, but I love the piece so much I didn't want to wait. So sharing the unpolished version with the world...

Band of Gypsies 2!

Well, it's time. Debuting a new piece tonight. This was a MAJOR challenge and pushed me as an artist in the best of ways. I've never choreographed a piece for dancers with a cast this size before (7!). I've never collaborated with a composer and worked with original music before. I've never had to deal with the logistics of scheduling and getting space for a dance of this size. And the counting and rhythms of this number...well, when I post it eventually you'll understand.

Thanks to Katrina Phillip for spearheading this showcase. Thanks to AJ Hughes, Adam Lendermon, Stanley Martin, Alfie Parker Jr., Zachary Denison, Jose Luaces, and Mark Donaldson for giving me their time, bodies, and sweat. Thanks to Kevin Boursiquot for allowing me to create with his intricate and evocative music. We've worked together, created something beautiful, and tonight we release it into the world. I'm so proud of the product and can't wait to share it!

Band of Gypsies 2

www.bandofgypsies.net

Manhattan Movement Arts Center

May 4

7:30