Exclusive: Dominique Kelley Breaks Down His Viral Choreography from THE GREAT GATSBY

Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World

The smash hit musical The Great Gatsby continues to play to packed houses here at the Broadway theater

where I drop by to catch up with the show's choreographer, award winner Dominique Kelly

Well, first of all, I'm thrilled to be sitting with you here. at your theater right before her performance

How does it feel to be back? It feels magical. It's like being back home

And the thing is, I do not live in New York, so anytime I come back, I'm visiting

But it's like visiting your kids or visiting your cousins or your favorite grandparents

and it's just so wonderful to be back and see the whole cast. Okay, so you watch the show again

So what was it like watching it for the first time in a few months

After watching the show, like after not being around, it's kind of weird because there was a lot of things

I didn't remember. I was like, oh yeah, we did that. And, you know, when you're creating a

Broadway show, there's so many changes that happened. So it was great to come back and be

rekindled with the work. And, you know, of course I saw some things where I was like, I'm glad

that evolved as something else. But there were other things that when I watch, I remember the creation of it, which was wonderful. So let's talk about the creation. What I love about

this version of the Great Gatsby and everything is you've taken the best of the 1920s and put

a new spin on it, right? Yes. Yes. It's everything. that I love about the 1920s, like one of my favorite time periods is the Harlem Renaissance

And that movement and just it harkens back to Harlem and getting down into the floor and

using your body because times before that people had to dance together

But in that era when it came to the advent of jazz music you can dance by yourself And that something that we can relate to now because whether it a TikTok dance or you going to a club a lot of people are dancing by themselves So I wanted to incorporate things that we know

with something that we may not have seen before. Dance steps have really never changed

They've just evolved over generations, right? Absolutely. So when you went back to look at the dances of the 20s

what did you want to take from the 20s and add it into now

I wanted to take the fun of it. I wanted to take like, you know, taking out some of the turmoil because prohibition was such a lively time, even though, you know

alcohol, sales were kind of illegal, but people still found the way to have fun in spite of

And I think that speaks to America. That speaks to like so many generations that if you're going through a tough time, there's fun

So I wanted to show the fun. And then I also wanted to show the down and gritty and the dirty parts of it because, you know

it's very nice to be buckled up and stuffy, but fashion changed the way we danced

So the slits came higher. and then we unbutton the clothes, and I wanted people to be able to feel the fun

and the joy of the party. It's also an energy, isn't it? Absolutely, it's an energy

And the thing is, like, it's not really manic, but it's very joyful and exuberant

And that's one thing about our show. More is more is more. And even with the choreography

you will see everybody being exuberant and also being individuals. You know, this show is seamless

the way you and Mark Bruni worked together with director and choreographer

So what kind of conversations did you have because there's so much like dance and movement that slide us in and out of scenes in the show

I think direction and choreography always go hand in hand. And it was a nice collaborating with Mark Bruney because we would try to one up each other with great ideas

Like for example in New Money there a moment where there a champagne cart going across And we had it stationary and I was like wouldn it be fun if the champagne cart can go from one side to the other And then he goes and then also wouldn it be fun if people come around And I was like and then we add into there So it nice to be collaborating with somebody that tries to one up you with a great idea by you know tagging onto yours

How much pre-work did you do for the Great Gatsby? How much did you add on to your actual dancers and ensemble

Ironically, we did the first like movement lab in December 2020. I knew no one. I might have known Tanari, which was one person in the

the whole cast. And I came on, I was the last puzzle piece because all the other creatives

were hired. So I literally came in and Mark Bruney lovingly lied to me. He said, you know

we'll work on like two dance numbers. We turned out six. Six numbers in about two weeks. And then

from then on, we just sculpted. And a lot of what you saw was from that workshop in two hours

When you're just flowing and going and it just feels right. Like for example, T pretty much

remain the same. Rurring on is close to the same. And the Met, those pretty much remained the same

Other things have shifted, but for the most part, once we found something that worked

we like to stay with that and then like create things around that

So like, you know, a good amount of changed, even from paper mill up until here, we've changed some numbers

and realized what worked and what didn't work and, you know, the story we wanted to tell. But for the most part, the bones of the show remain the same

So what do you look for, like when you were casting the Great Gatsby or recast the show

what do you look for in the room? I know it's going to sound very Hollywood, but I'm always looking for stars

I'm looking for individuals. I want people to negotiate with me in the room

I want them to be my muse, and all the dancers you see up there, even down to our swings and understudies, they are their own people

They do the choreography differently. Also, too, everybody has their own costume

You don't really have to jump into somebody else's. So they have their own lived experience and they bring it If they feeling a little more femme today if they feel like a finance bro if they feeling like an earthworm whatever they feeling that day they can bring to it

because there's pockets of the choreography where it's free to them to just choose

and to be an artist because it's very hard doing eight shows a week sustainably for your body

but also for your mental. So I wanted to give the gift of creativity and improv for our cast members

Okay, it's really exciting for our audience who may not know the great cast, is now having a new production, you know, this production, you have a brand new production in London

Yes. You must be so excited. I am so excited. I am living the life I prayed for

I mean, never in my wildest dreams would I expect that I would have this embarrassment of riches

But to get to do it again is wonderful. And I know we created lightning in a bottle, but I believe lightning strikes more than once

And I'm very excited to go over there and just get to, you know, slot people into certain tracks

but then also go like, what do you bring? Because you get to just meet different people and different artists and then

basically give them the gift that you've already given Broadway. What a journey you've been on with this show

You know, everybody creates a show and they all hope that they open, they get great reviews, and they get to run

This show has that. You know, I mean, at what point did you realize, oh my gosh, we're a hit show, we're running

Like, when could you breathe? I'm still not breathing. I still pinch myself every time

I mean, the fact that I've been away from the show for six months is a blessing because a lot of shows don't even last that long

So to say that, like, I went away and came back and the show still looks great is amazing

It's still not real, and I don't think it'll be real probably for another year or so

It just won't be real to me because this is something I've dreamed about my whole life

Well, it was great catching up with you here and have a great time in London

Thank you, thank you