With four Mainstage shows under her belt, singer-actor-dancer Kristin Culp is a multi-talented member of the Meet Me In St. Louis cast. You may recognize Kristin from one her turns in Bye Bye Birdie, Once Upon A Time in New Jersey, AIDA, or Stunt Girl on the Mainstage where she played various members of the ensemble. What many may not know about Kristin’s endless talents, however, is her work as the dance captain in every one of these shows. Don’t know what a dance captain is? Read all about it in the great interview with Kristin below:
VT: What does it mean to be a dance captain?
KC: The dance captain is responsible for maintaining the artistic integrity of the choreography in a show and is usually also an ensemble member in that show, but could also be a swing or an understudy or in rare cases a lead. That means some different things at different times. During rehearsal, the dance captain learns the choreography at the same time as the rest of the cast, and is responsible for both her track and the rest of the cast’s in the dance numbers. The stage manager also notes where people stand and sometimes takes detailed dance notes, but ultimately it is the dance captain’s responsibility to answer questions about choreography and demonstrate dance steps and combinations that have already been taught by the choreographer. Often the dance captain cleans the big dance numbers as well.
Once the show gets down to the stage, the dance captain keeps her eye on safety concerns with how the dances work on the set and in costume, specifically floor slippery-ness vs. stickiness and spacing, and works to resolve any problems with stage management.
Once the show opens, the dance captain’s job still includes fielding cast concerns and problem solving, but a major focus shifts to training the swings and understudies. A swing is an understudy who covers multiple tracks in the ensemble. Often there is just one female and one male swing who are responsible for covering all ensemble tracks. That could mean knowing up to eight ensemble tracks and sometimes going on with very little notice. The dance captain works with the stage manager to teach the swings and understudies the show. Cast members (who are not understudying) are not called to these rehearsals, so sometimes it is just the dance captain and the swing talking and dancing through multiple tracks in show, imagining where the other cast members will stand. Once the swings are taught, the dance captain might sit out of the show from time to time to take dance notes while the swing fills her place. Based on the notes, the dance captain might hold cleaning rehearsals before performances to maintain the artistic integrity of the choreography. Village has delightfully long runs and it is the responsibility of the dance captain to make sure that show 52 is just as clean or cleaner than show 1.
Kristin performing in Stunt Girl.
VT: Did you study dance somewhere?
KC: Yes. I’ve studied dance seriously since I was 7-years old and began choreographing when I was 16. I went to Point Park University and have a BA in Jazz Dance with a minor in Musical Theatre.
Kristin performing in Meet Me in St. Louis.
VT: How did you end up working for Village Theatre?
KC: I’m originally from New Jersey and moved to Seattle the summer of 2004. Unfortunately I had no idea where Issaquah was and missed auditions for the 04/05 season. But the next year I hopped on a bus from Seattle and found it for generals. That year I did Bye Bye Birdie and Once Upon a Time in New Jersey.
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