From Athletic Scarecrows to Vogue-inspired Ozians, Dance Education Major Thomas Fekete Breathes New Life Into a Classic Tale
Curtains and costumes and choreography — oh my!
For this BYU dance education student, Thomas Fekete, the iconic quotation “there is no place like home” might be more aptly stated “there is no place like the stage.”
Fekete spent his summer choreographing Sundance’s “The Wizard of Oz.” He worked as an associate choreographer alongside BYU professor and lead choreographer Nathan Balser and wife Suzie. Because this show is well-known and deeply loved by many, Fekete found innovative ways to approach the choreography.
While daunting at first, Fekete has appreciated the guidance and choreographic talent of the Balsers. With his participation on the BYU Young Ambassadors last year, Fekete said that he learned “how much athleticism it takes to sing and dance for a long period of time.” Through this group and his classes as a dance education major, he has learned various styles of dance: “Those courses have affected the way that I work with others and stay active in my participation.”
To choreograph the show, the team used score sheets instead of listening to a piece of music on repeat. “That was very different from what I am used to,” Fekete said, “but it is important to focus on what is being said and what the score is doing. You have to take all of that into account as you are choreographing a group that is moved upon to take up dance — like there's a purpose behind it.”
At each step, Fekete found himself searching for a reason that these characters would be dancing. He put a strong emphasis on building a coherent storyline. The creative team kept asking, “Why is this character moving? Why are they dancing?” The choreographers decided to give each civilization in “The Wizard of Oz” a cultural inspiration — this gave each character a sense of purpose.
“We thought a lot about the specific dance quality or movement styles for each segment,” Fekete explained. “The scarecrows, for instance, have an influence from the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.” In that movie, there is an upbeat, athletic dance called “Old Bamboo” from which much of the inspiration was drawn. “I'm really excited because this dance is very athletic and very entertaining, and I think it can add a little bit more to the background of the scarecrow.”
Similarly, in the Winkies dance at the end of the show, choreographers took inspiration from Ukrainian dance styles. Leaning into both the new Wicked movie and modern pop culture, the Emerald City was pristine — classic musical theatre and Vogue-inspired movement dazzled the stage.
While beautiful, the staging at Sundance required some serious creativity.
Because the venue is outdoors and nestled between Rocky mountains, the stars provide performers and audiences with a unique (yet impractical) roof. This complicates the crew’s lighting, staging and props. “You cannot fly in props or sets, so we had to roll everything on and off stage,” Fekete explained. “It actually creates an opportunity to create new solutions to these problems; the most creative experiences come from restrictions.”
For example, when it came to creating the catastrophic cyclone, the crew had to get creative — there is not a screen that they can project a tornado onto. The solution? “We used our dancers and different props to imitate the movements of a cyclone,” Fekete explained. “We had to come up with something new — something different that has not been used before to create that cyclone sequence when Dorothy leaves Kansas.”
Fekete had the heart, courage and brains to be creative in his choreographic process; he hoped that audience members leave with a newfound sense of compassion, bravery and knowledge.