Hopefully, dancemakers will soon be able to chass\u00e9 onto the Dolby Theatre stage to collect a golden statuette of their own. In the meantime, we\u2019ll recognize their work here.<\/p>\n In an interview<\/a>, director Greta Gerwig said that she fought hard to keep the \u201cI\u2019m Just Ken\u201d dream ballet in Barbie<\/em>. \u201cI was like, \u2018If people could follow that in Singin\u2019 in the Rain<\/em>, I think we\u2019ll be fine,\u2019\u00a0\u201d Gerwig reportedly said.<\/p>\n Gerwig has a good dance track record: For her 2019 film Little Women<\/em>, she turned to choreographer Monica Bill Barnes<\/a>. For Barbie<\/em>, she broughton London\u2013based choreographer and movement director Jennifer White, with associate choreographer Lisa Welham. White, who has a long list of film, music video, and stage credits, strikes the perfect balance of wittiness and whimsy in Barbie<\/em>\u2019s dream ballet and its earlier \u201cDance the Night\u201d number.<\/p>\n Barbie is nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Ryan Gosling), and Best Supporting Actress (America Ferrera). It is available to stream on Max, and to rent or buy on Amazon\u2019s Prime Video and Apple TV.<\/em><\/p>\n The Color Purple<\/em><\/a> <\/em>is a full-fledged movie musical: Its choreography, by Fatima Robinson, isn\u2019t relegated to just one or two scenes. Based on the stage musical, which in turn is based on Alice Walker\u2019s Pulitzer Prize\u2013winning 1982 novel, the film follows Celie, a Black woman living in the rural American South in the early 1900s. Her long journey to empowerment is driven by strong female friendships and her bond with her sister. (The book was first adapted for film in 1985 by Steven Spielberg.)<\/p>\n Dance is everywhere in this movie: on the walk to church, in a crowded street, at a juke joint. Throughout, Robinson\u2019s years of experience choreographing for major musical artists\u2014Beyonc\u00e9, Britney Spears, Rihanna among them\u2014shine through. The dancing is a blend of social dances from the film\u2019s era, African forms, hip hop, and musical-theater\u2013style movement.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Color Purple is nominated for Best Supporting Actress (Danielle Brooks). It is available to stream on Max and to stream or buy on Amazon\u2019s Prime Video and Apple TV.<\/em><\/p>\n Leonard Bernstein\u2019s collaboration with Jerome Robbins is the stuff of legend: It produced West Side Story<\/em>, On the Town<\/em>, and works for New York City Ballet, including Fancy Free <\/em>and Dybbuk<\/em>. So it\u2019s only fitting that Maestro<\/em>, the Bernstein biopic starring and directed by Bradley Cooper, includes dance.<\/p>\n In a dreamlike dance scene choreographed by Justin Peck (with Craig Salstein as associate choreographer), Cooper and Carey Mulligan, playing Bernstein\u2019s wife-to-be, Felicia Montealegre, watch a version of Fancy Free <\/em>onstage that melts into an original dance number, which they become a part of. The list of dancers includes NYCB\u2019s Harrison Coll and Sebasti\u00e1n Villarini V\u00e9lez, and freelancers Gaby Diaz, Benjamin Freemantle, and Jeanette Delgado. Peck is often called a creative descendent of Robbins; after choreographing 2021\u2019s West Side Story<\/em>, this feels like a natural progression.<\/p>\n Maestro is nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Cooper), and Best Actress (Mulligan). It is available to stream on Netflix.<\/em><\/p>\n Poor Things<\/em>, director Yorgos Lanthimos\u2019 feminist abstraction of Frankenstein<\/em>,stars Emma Stone as Bella Baxter, a grown woman reborn with the mind of a child. In a Victorian-era restaurant, Stone (who honed her dancing chops in La La Land <\/em>and Broadway\u2019s Cabaret<\/em>) finds herself drawn to the music and takes to the dance floor. Rather than imitate the couples around her, she finds her own, intuitive movement style. For a while she\u2019s joined by her lover, played by Mark Ruffalo, but, ultimately, she wants to dance on her own\u2014a choice that helps further the film\u2019s plot.<\/p>\n The scene is choreographed by Constanza Macras, a Berlin-based dancemaker who runs the dance and theater company DorkyPark and recently staged a production of Carmen <\/em>for Switzerland\u2019s Theater Basel. She first worked with Lanthimos on his 2018 The Favourite<\/em>, whose dance scene also delightfully defies convention.<\/p>\n Poor Things is nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress (Stone), and Best Director (Lanthimos). It will be available to stream on Hulu starting on March 7.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n The post The Best Dance in This Year\u2019s Oscar-Nominated Films<\/a> appeared first on Dance Magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With the 96th Academy Awards coming our way on March 10, we\u2019re taking a moment to acknowledge the most prominent dance in<\/p>\n![\"Robbie,](\"http:\/\/thetravelingyogi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Margot-Robbie-center-as-Barbie-in-Barbie.-Courtesy-Warner-Bros.-Pictures-1024x489-1.jpeg\")
Barbie<\/em>, Choreographed by Jennifer White<\/h2>\n
![\"Barrino,](\"http:\/\/thetravelingyogi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/From-left_-Taraji-P.-Henson-as-Shug-Avery-Fantasia-Barrino-as-Celia-and-Danielle-Brooks-as-Sophia-in-The-Color-Purple.-Courtesy-Warner-Bros.-Pictures-1024x576-1.jpeg\")
The Color Purple<\/em>, Choreographed by Fatima Robinson<\/h2>\n
![\"A](\"http:\/\/thetravelingyogi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/2.-Bradley-Cooper-as-Leonard-Bernstein-in-Maestro.-Courtesy-Jason-McDonald_Netflix-1024x683-1.jpg\")
Maestro<\/em>, Choreographed by Justin Peck<\/h2>\n
![\"Stone,](\"http:\/\/thetravelingyogi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Emma-Stone-as-Bella-Baxter-in-Poor-Things.-Courtesy-Searchlight-Pictures-1024x618-1.jpg\")
Poor Things<\/em>, Choreographed by Constanza Macras<\/h2>\n