In this video, Ben breaks down Jesse Robb and Shana Carroll's Tony-nominated choreography for Broadway's Water for Elephants with the help of dance captain Brandon Block. Can you keep up?
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Hello, you big beautiful Broadway world
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It's me, your Broadway buddy, Ben Cameron, back with another since-lating episode of Dance Captain Dance Attack
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I'm super excited because today I get to learn Tony nominated choreography from the Tony nominated Best Musical nominee, Water for Elephants, right here
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I'm super stoked about it. I just saw the show. It is extravagant and gorgeous
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and you may even cry, but you'll clap an awful lot. And who to take me through my steps
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is better than our resident dance captain at Waterford Elephants. Welcome, Brandon Block
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Whoa. Brandon Block, are you ready to have a dance captain, dance at a dance time
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So, our lyrics are, Oh, but we were made of the same stuff as today
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Oh, but we who are made of the same stuff as they. I won't remember that later
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I mean, they is the important part. Right, okay. Because we have, they two, three, four, we go five, six, seven, eight
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Nice big contraction. Our hands are splayed and on our thighs. Yes, a lot of this lives in the nice
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the end, a nice contraction. Good. One, three, four, six, seven, eight
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From here we go, out of the right leg. One, two, three, four, five, six, six, six, six, six
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five, six, seven, eight. So our hands stay connected. We've got to push out
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that left arm or shoulder comes through in our position. We have four of those
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Three, four. Yeah, and throw it down every single time. Five, six, seven, eight
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We go. One, two, three, four. Five, six, seven, eight. One, two, okay
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We step on our downstage leg on the heel. Our arms are kind of twisted
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like we're holding light bulbs and we're twisting. So we got one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight
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And that goes on the ball of foot back. Okay, great. Yeah, I did four, there are actually two
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Oh, what fun. Day, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Oh one two three four five six seven eight Go one two three four five six Six Hold seven eight Hold eight Yeah I be ready for that hole
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So we go, one, two, three, four, five, six, hold seven, eight
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We ball change. And one, two, three, four, nine, six, seven, eight, a one
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That's fun. Yeah, so that, all that is, is scooping back, and these come to our chest
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Great. So in here, and what's when we go? So you're going to all change by the day
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And one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, hold. One, two, two, clap, three, four, three, four, we've all changed
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And five. And five. This is a nice barrel turn. Oh, of course it is. Would this be a Broadway musical without a barrel turn
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Seven, eight. Oh boy. You do what you want. Do I put my left foot behind? Yes
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They tap, ready? And five, six, seven, eight. Oh my gosh, I just stopped my belly button
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Okay, and then we get nice and low on that. Nice at luck. And that line
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Seven, eight. One, so eight. We're moving. Yeah, and five, six, seven, eight
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So we got a shot set. We got one and two, and three, and four
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Shuffle Lop. Cross, yes. Could you believe it, okay. That's tested. Seven, eight
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One and two and three and four. We go five, six, seven, eight
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Five, six, seven, eight. Yes, and don't spend too much time on that last leg
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because we're gonna go. Alright, oh, of course, we're right. Oh, gosh, we're right
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Five, six, seven, eight. A one, two, hold three, four. Cool. Cool
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I didn't think this combo in the show is just the most intense one
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Amense amounts of water. No. Water? There's water everywhere. I mean, for the elephants, for the dancers
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We all needed. We just did. One and two, and three, and four, five, six, seven, eight
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A one, two, two, three, four, and seven the right leg. A five, six, seven, eight
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Five, six, seven. I'm going back into those. I'm doing a shirt. I don't feel like that's what you're doing
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It is kind of going through. You want to think of stepping. But it's more as much of a turnout
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It's more parallel. Yes we going Five six seven That a hard left if we should start I in so we gonna go right to the front Okay We gonna do a right tap left tap
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A right, tap, a left, tap. Yeah, no, it's gonna stay nice and down
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Five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three, four. From here we got five, six, seven, eight
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Five, six, seven, right. I'm gonna keep going. Okay, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight
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Now it's probably, baby, all, two, three, four. Is there a head, or six, seven, four
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Have I just said it? It's giving full lean with it and extend that like that
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And are we saying kind of planted or do we chug into it? Oh, you wanna chug into it. Of course I
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Well, I did want to. I get lucky too. Should we connect from a one and two to three. Yes
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Tell me, tell me what's right after that. And five, six, seven, eight
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A one, two, and three, and four, five, six, seven, eight. Oh, one
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Two, hold three, four, five, five, six, seven, eight, a one. two, three, four, right, right, left, right
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crash, crash, crash, crash, from here, we'll go straight upstate, and then we're just gonna walk down past the thing
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Yeah, and these are like wots. Okay, and that's the combo. That's the combo
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Okay, show me your favorite warm-up. Moment. Okay, well, what do you do
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The thing is, and the favorite warm-up over here. Is at the ballet bar
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Not the ballet bar. I was classically trained. Do sure? Let's go
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That's right. A nice second position. Oh, marvelous. And let's be real
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We need to do at least six grontes beforehand. Oh, just to get these good
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So you just mentioned, Brandon, that not only we're talking about dance and the circus elements that we spoke about just a little bit ago. Uh-huh
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You're also talking about step movement, and you're talking about puppetry. And these are elements that I think are probably not necessarily the norm for a dance captain that have to be up on
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Tell me what you had to learn. Yeah. To become the voice of reason and the beacon of correctness, you know
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Yeah. In this. Honestly like it always been my philosophy of being the best dance captain If you know what I could be is just to learn the best way to communicate with others And the most efficient way to like communicate and know to get what I want but also like
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be a good person. Yeah. And what I found the biggest, there's just a difference in ways that the circus operates
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versus how we operate. That's got to be a totally different language to speak
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Also, just, like, how, like, even with flyers, like, we do lists with each other, like, both, like
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predominantly like Broadway performer dancers with circus artists on their shoulders like doing lifts
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But the way of fireworks is that they give all their body weight to their, to their
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horse, which is their base, so that they know exactly where they are in the world
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But when you're doing lifts off the shoulder, there is a little bit of that engagement and
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elongation that has to happen for it to stay safe. Yeah. So like that was the prime example of like us working together to figure out the best way to do
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efficiently communicate with each other yeah execute what we need to execute all right
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right at time to have a dead to get to death and death to die oh but we are made of
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the same stuff as they how do we keep them on the payroll how do we put food on
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the table lies lies like nothing sweetens the taste of bad meat like a chaser of lies
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Lines, lies, lies, lies. You may say that it's a moral, but our pride's and our lies, lies, lies
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There's our lies, yes, our lies. Oh, our lies. Yes, our lies are our pride, and our pride's and our lies
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and the lions and our pride have got no teeth. That's another dance captain's dance attack
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Give up a friend of Block. Incredible dance captain. For water, for elephants
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Go see the show. You'll understand why he's turning nominated in many categories
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Now it's your turn. Learn along with us. Post yourself doing the Waterfell of Foot's Chorography
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Hashtag D-CDA. Tag Adificial Broadway World. I'm at Bend does Broadway. You want to grab yours
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A random block one went too fast. Oh, yes. All right. Thanks
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Get out to the show. We love you. Bye
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