THE CHARLENE GEHM MACDOUGAL PROJECT

Musical Theatre Dance Experience

ABOUT THE PROJECT

I feel that historical context is so important for young dancers. It provides relevance to their study and aspirational encouragement to be curious about their lives and careers as they grow and change in the industry of performance over time. When Char passed in 2021, I wanted to do something to honor her and share her life and career leadership values with others. She was a bit of a role model for me, striking awe as this beautiful ballerina from The Joffrey who was actually dancing next to me in Cool. She had such a fun relationship with Jerome Robbins and her technique and theatricality were inspirational. Charlene was a pioneer: a ballet professional dabbling in Broadway, commercials, and print. Then, later in life a philanthropist and writer, earning a BA in Arts Administration from New York University and an MA in Medieval Studies from Columbia University. Developing The Project took some time, but with the support of many people, it has evolved into a program that has legs. Not like Char's, but legs, nevertheless! ~Heather Lea

PROGRAM ROLLS OUT

During the summer of 2023, The Charlene Gehm Project premiered at Ruth Page Center for the Arts in Chicago. During a week-long intensive, dancers were exposed to the choreography of Jerome Robbins, Bob Fosse, and Gillian Lynne. Charlene had her own legacy of performance with Ruth Page, performing as Snow Queen in the Nutcracker and Juliet in Page’s, Romeo and Juliet, so it was meaningful to roll out The Project there. The Project was produced by Heather Lea Gerdes, Char’s friend and colleague, who also taught classes and set performance pieces using on her own experiences of dancing for Robbins, Fosse, and Lynne.

After I retired from the stage and returned to school, I really kept enjoying ballet class - felt so good to move. ~Char

EXPERIENCES BUILD A DANCER-PERSON

The Project is an Experiential Workshop meant to expose dancers to performance and career variety through experiences that broaden, enrich, and empower:

  • Choreography: iconic choreographic styles & sharing historical references of musical theatre by incorporating acting & vocal work in the classroom

  • Agency to Assist: nurturing talents by empowering dancers interested in teaching and choreography to assist as needed

  • Auditions: exposing dancers to fast-paced auditions and the often demanding nature of creating and setting intricate choreography

  • Education: first-hand educational discussions on the business of dance in the performance industries during virtual sessions from top professionals

  • Social Media: encouraging safe social media practices and account building for those who participate in media platforms

  • Alternative & Transitional Careers: sharing experiences nurturing artistic talent in costume design

Choreography that shaped and influenced dance in the performance industry can be attributed to many, but only a few have achieved something truly ground-breaking, perhaps changing the art form forever going forward. Jerome Robbins, with a base rooted in classical ballet paired with other creatives to achieve a marriage of acting and voice with dance in his musical theatre works. It might said that West Side Story did a lot to further this idea in the commercial theatre by using dancers as street kids, and I note that Robbins did more with a snap and whistle than any other choreographer I know. Just as classical dancers study such methods as Cecchetti, Vaganova, or Royal, Bob Fosse created a syllabus of his own. With picture-perfect poses that move and mold to the next, his distinctive style also draws on a classical base to achieve the speed and detail it requires. Gillian Lynne, a classical dancer, created unmistakable movement for CATS, where dancers clad in gorgeous costumes contort and cavort, speaking and singing as animals in an immersive stage world- set and costumes both designed by John Napier. As such and by these examples, exercises incorporating vocalization and theatricality were encouraged in the classroom in homage to these choreographers.

Agency to Assist during The Project offered dancers interested in becoming choreographers, teachers, assistants, understudies, and swings, the opportunity to assist Heather Lea and to help their fellow dancers. Students volunteering for these tasks often possess natural abilities and instincts toward understanding and visualizing movement, music, patterns, working with numbers, and managing people. As such, they are invaluable assets to teachers and choreographers who are often flooded with other concerns during their process of creation. Nurturing these skills may pave rewarding career paths.

Auditions are “not fair.” They are necessary tools to begin a process. Casting decisions are not personal. Behind-the-scenes specs might call for considerations a dancer has no control over: diversity, height, hair color, social media influence, unknown production factors, body of past work, a “feeling,” a “look,” etc. The Project’s dancers experienced a fast-paced audition and were exposed to the often challenging creative process when setting choreography for performance pieces, such as moving their positions, assigning understudies, re-casting, and revising choreography. Yet, here, input was encouraged. Most of the time, this kind of work takes a village to get through it.

Educational sessions covering topics such as the business from a top agent’s perspective, and topics of reinvention and longevity as a dancer with a view to transitional careers as shared by key professionals offered invaluable insight for both younger dancers to hold on to and for older dancers ready to advance and become professionals themselves. Char was the second ever Clarice, so how wonderful to actually see, hear, and learn from the Original Clarice, Marilyn D’Honau during her session!

Virtual Sessions Included: 

  • Meisha Goetz, Director of Dance and Choreography at Clear Talent Group, Los Angeles

  • Frankie Wade Branham, Fitness Educator/Administrator and Dancer as Minnie, Broadway Revival West Side Story (1980)

  • Marilyn D’Honau, Broadway Veteran and the Original Clarice in West Side Story (1957)

Social Media is not going away and it can be a viable tool for classical and commercial dancers alike as they build their careers and embark on work and life experiences. With utmost respect to those who do not participate in social platforms, those who do were encouraged to stay connected to the instructor and were privileged to learn valuable steps toward building a safe, healthy, professional profile from a commercial agent’s perspective. Creating a career in dance requires visual and often audible professional presentation and nearly always requires a measure of support from other resources.

A Costuming Experience, inspired by the collection of ribbons Heather inherited from Charlene was added to encourage and nurture talents of those interested in possible transitional careers of wardrobe and costume design. The experience gave agency to early adopters to coordinate and assist other dancers with the creating of original ribbon belts as part of their performance costumes. Personal connections to costumes, make-up, hair often have a profound effect toward building the emotional inner life of a character - something the dancers could build on with this tactile experience.

Gifts of materials for the costuming experience were funded by a generous donation from Charlene’s husband, Gary MacDougal. Gary also donated custom totes and tees of Heather Lea’s original designs made in loving memory of Charlene so that all participants in the Project’s Musical Theatre Dance Experience would have a memory of her. Thank you Gary. Thank you Char. We love you.


AN ASSET TO HER PROFESSION

Charlene, by example, took opportunities to expand her knowledge as a professional classical dancer by studying and working in other fields of the performing arts, such as musical theatre/Broadway, television commercials, print, modeling, and later arts administration and writing. As such, she was a technical dancer known for her ability to draw on these experiences to bring great theatrical depth to dance roles. Our West Side Story Broadway Revival cast had great respect and fondness for her spirited approach toward dance, art, and life. These are qualities that inspired this first-ever sharing program at Ruth Page. It is my hope that this experience continues to refine and grow in the hearts of those who attended. I am grateful to honor Char in this way. ~Heather Lea

To inquire about curating this program at your school, please contact: Heather Lea Gerdes

VIDEO SUMMARY

WELCOME
From The Project’s Welcome Kit and Page, a message from Heather Lea Gerdes about what to expect. As often happens, changes were made for the performance pieces, keeping the learning experience alive for the instructor as well! 

CHARLENE IN PICTURES
It’s nearly impossible to fully share the gifts Char left for us and the world of dance. By creating The Charlene Gehm MacDougal Project, I hope in my own way I’ve delivered a platform to honor her and her inspirational spirit that also represents a resource of experiential development for young dancers.

When I met Char, a classical ballerina in a Broadway show, I was awestruck that I’d not met anyone from the professional ballet world who’d crossed into the world of musical theatre. Char had a curiosity about the world and used her life experiences to inform the emotional inner world of her dancing characters, traits that often define the musical theatre craft. Her approach toward incorporating living and working in the performing arts stood out a methodology that I might replicate in some way to share with younger dancers, offering a potential roadmap in their own lives and careers.

Here are a few of her iconic photos, a commemorative program about The Joffrey where she's featured on 3 pages, Martha Swope’s stunning images from the Broadway Revival of West Side Story, as Snow Queen in Nutcracker, modeling a leotard, speaking in front of a rapt audience in Bulgaria as a foundation administrator, and her moving obituary in The New York Times, January 10, 2021. 

WEST SIDE STORY BROADWAY ORIGINAL 1957 & FIRST REVIVAL 1980
Charlene, by example, nurtured opportunities to expand her knowledge as a professional classical dancer by studying and working in other fields of the performing arts, such as musical theatre/Broadway, television commercials, print, modeling, and later, arts administration and writing. As such, she was known for her ability to incorporate her experiences to bring great theatrical depth to dance roles. Our West Side Story Broadway Revival had great respect and fondness for her and her spirited approach toward dance, art, and life- qualities that inspired this sharing program at Ruth Page. I am grateful to have honored Char in this way.

This slide show features stills from the original Broadway production of West Side Story in 1957 and the Broadway Revival in 1980, of which, Charlene played the role of Clarice.  Martha Swope photographed both the 1980 Revival and the 1957 original. The background music is Sondheim’s Giants in the Sky from Into the Woods. Sondheim wrote the lyrics to Leonard Bernstein’s score for West Side Story. It was an honor to work with the original creators, I call The FAB 5, the giants of our American Musical Theatre Legacy: Jerome Robbins, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Arthur Laurents, Gerald Freedman.

LEVEL 3 CLASSROOM WARM-UP
Here’s a look at Level 3 dancers warming up and getting a little taste of Fosse’s style. Dancers in my class were an international mix of young talent. They were sharp and eager to take on extra task experiences, like teaching assistants- all part of this musical theatre dance experience. Charlene proved to be an asset to many choreographers and this program was designed with her abilities as inspiration.

LEVELS 1 & 2 ABOUT VOCAL PROJECTION
Here’s a look at Levels 1 & 2 dancers being exposed to a possible mindset of projecting vocally for the first time. You can see and hear them reacting to the idea I’m proposing they try as we work on The Naming of Cats in our workshop practice. Offering a little taste of what’s it’s like to move, breathe, and speak at the same time, I noticed these kids had taken the time to learn the lyrics and were ready to try new experiences. And that’s the point of The Project and Char’s legacy! 

LEVEL 3 CLASSROOM REHEARSAL - HOMAGE TO WEST SIDE STORY
Here’s a look at Level 3 dancers, edited to showcase two casts rehearsing the piece. My choreography is in homage to Jerome Robbins, incorporating motifs from Dance at the Gym, The Cha-Cha, The Scherzo, Cool, and The Prologue. The objective for the dancers was connecting the emotional inner world as street kids experiencing conflict, loss, and hope with movement. And to let us see that experience.

LEVELS 1 & 2 CLASSROOM REHEARSAL - HOMAGE TO FOSSE
Here’s a look at Levels 1 & 2 as they rehearse A Ticket A Tasket homage to Bob Fosse’s style. As younger dancers, they did a fantastic job working with the choreography, and additionally, embracing the Costuming Experience by creating their own Ribbon Belt costumes for this piece.

LEVELS 1 & 2 CLASSROOM - HOMAGE TO CATS
Here’s a look at Levels 1 & 2 dancers learning The Naming of Cats for our workshop practice. My choreography is in homage to Gillian Lynne and the time I spent in the show as an exchange artist between London West End and New York Broadway stages. These dancers gave from their hearts! 

COSTUMING EXPERIENCE GIFT
Inspired by inheriting Charlene’s ribbon collection, I wanted to design a belt-costume and then create an Experience to share with the dancers. As part of The Project’s Welcome Kit, this video explains and teaches the initial concepts of The Costuming Experience for the creation of Ribbon Belts. Gary MacDougal and Char made this possible!

POPPIES TOTE GIFT
Art and design have been in my life as interests for some time. Showcasing a tangible side career for the dancers, a Dearest Light Char commemorative version of this design fashioned on totes and tees was gifted to all the students in The Project by a generous donation from Gary MacDougal and Char.  Here’s a very impromptu video of My Poppies Tote. Thank you Gary! Thank you Char!