| Fosseism: the practice of capitalizing on fear, sex, limited ballet turn out, and hard work.
Bob Fosse accumulated several titles during his career. Referred to as, “an extraordinarily talented actor-director-dancer-choreographer” (Canby, Exasperating 24.), Bob also wrote. Not all critics loved him. He longed for a good review from the New York Times. “In Fosse films and stage musicals, nothing wins over audiences like a loser” (Grubb, Razzle Dazzle 152). Bob often pictured himself as a loser; when successful, he felt pressure to top his success. His drive to succeed, a fear of failure, brought the best of Bob Fosse out. In choreography, Bob excelled. Several of his physical limitations showed in the Fosse dance style. Hunched shoulders, hats, and knocked knees revealed his posture, balding, and limited turn out. Limitations asset Fosse’s work; his struggle brings excellence to audiences’ on stage and film. I first recognized Fosse’s work in Dancin’ at Chicago’s |
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| Shubert Theater. I felt Fosse produced the show for me. Alone in Chicago, compliments of Uncle Sam, I rode the train in for my U.S. Air Force entrance physical. I registered at a hotel they put me up in. Some military morons reiterated the time and location for the physical. After filling out a stack of paperwork, they strictly instructed me to return –before– the ten o’clock curfew. Left to explore Chicago, I stalked the empty sidewalks. The streets’ glistened; washed clean from a earlier rain, the dim street lights reflected off the pavement. An occasional taxi passed by; otherwise, the area lay dead. A lone Shubert Theater sign glowed on the distant corner of W. Monroe. Attracted like a bug, I approached the unassuming building. In a somewhat sleazy district, the theater looked like a live strip joint. A chest high sign with a picture of a long haired lady leaning back in ecstasy, a man glaring down above here in a tux and bowler hat, and sexy legs protruding from all angles, boasted with reviews and citing it’s Tony awards. I purchased a fifteen dollar ticket. I bought my way to heaven. the long climb through purgatory exhausted me. I sat high above, on a lonely cloud, peering down on the elite. Far from the stage, I stared through the tunnel like darkness onto the spot lit Mr. Bojangles. Focusing on the mood, finally relaxed in my seat, I saw my life moving to a new stage. A single tear rolled down my cheek. The |
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| performance of Mr. Bojangles and his spirit, in “Recollections of an Old Dancer”, symbolized a new stage of his life.With my emotions heightened, the show triggered a wave of response. From tears to laughter, my heart poured out to Dancin’. The amusing, “Fourteen Feet,” nailed seven dancer’s wooden shoes to the stage. Each head topped with little swirled boingy, white stripes painted from their arms to their legs down black costumes, and whiter gloves, looked ridiculously funny. Bob’s creative choreographic humor displays itself in the strange shapes, movement, and patterns of silly creatures from another world dancing to — “Was Dog a Doughnut.”
Pieces like, “A Manic Depressive’s Lament,” Kevin Grubb writes, “succeeded because most audiences knew how glibly morose Fosse could be. It was part of his signature” (Grubb, Razzle Dazzle 210). “America,” rekindled my patriotism with George M. Cohan’s, “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” and John Philip Sousa’s, “The Stars and Stripes Forever.” Music ranged from Bach to Cat Stevens. Fosse offered a collage of dances which gave something to most everyone. The powerhouse performance strained the dancers. The high number of listed alternates reflects this. Keeping a constant eye on time, I worried about returning before the curfew. I wanted to stay till curtain call. I owed |
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| the dancers an ovation for a spectacular night. So, I stayed. The night turned to a celebration of spirit, of rejoicing with the audience — each touched by Bob Fosse.I strolled back to the hotel. Lost in the city and lost in euphoria, I happily danced in the streets. I returned after eleven, just before a room inspection.
The next day’s physical possessed some of Fosse’s satiric humor and convoluted choreography. The military exercise went off without a hitch. A Sergeant commandingly marched twenty men and I into a room with two female doctors. He lined us up in a tight ‘U’ formation. In a deep voice, he said, “You will follow my instructions.” In a well practiced and structured form, he ordered each meticulous step of undressing. With our clothes neatly at our sides and our bodies erect in attention, the doctors fondled our testicles with plastic gloves. They inspected us closely. the Sergeant told each recruit to cough. The doctors said nothing. They executed the procedure with precision. Each doctor finished each man at the same time. The rhythm amazed me. To the order of “About face,” we turned. “Bend down and grab your ankles,” shouted the Sergeant. Facing the recruit across from me, we shared a disheartened look. “Now, with your head down, slowly bring your hands up to your cheeks,” the Sergeant barked. Climaxing, he commanded, “Grab them firmly |
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| –now– spread-em!” In this position, it sunk in what came next. The Air Force, unfortunately, accepted me.In Fosse’s later work, Kevin Grubb summarizes theater critics’ consensus with Frank Rich’s New York Times review of Big Deal.
“(With ‘Beat Me Daddy Eight to the Bar’) Mr. Fosse makes an audience remember what is (and has been) missing from virtually every other musical in town…. The dizzying sense of levitation that Mr. Fosse achieves in this dance is one of those unquantifiable elements . . . that defined the Broadway musical when it was going concern. The disappointment of Big Deal is that even Mr. Fosse, one of the form’s last great magicians, can conjure up that joy so rarely. . . . Given that Mr. Fosse had staged some of Broadway’s funniest musicals . . . it’s hard to understand how the book of Big Deal grew to be ponderous and cheerless” (Grubb, Razzle Dazzle 262). Fosse’s commercial success in Dancin’ versus the failure of Big Deal, I attribute partly to the introduction of a story. According to Time, Fosse personally raked in approximately $28,000 a day at some points of Dancin’s 1,774 productions. Disappointed it won only one Tony Award for choreography and with poor critical reviews, Big Deal closed after a meager 70 shows. |
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| Before Fosse’s death, he reportedly started work on Dancin’s sequel. Dancin’ Too died with it’s master. I would suggest to Bob, if he wasn’t dead, a possible sequel to “Fourteen Feet.” Collaborating with the Sergeant I met, he might create a wonderful piece titled, “Twenty-One Sphincters.”Kevin Grubb captures the feelings of Fosse devotes when he writes of Big Deal’s final performance.
“Big Deal’s last performance, June 8, brimmed with memorable moments that came from the knowledge that tomorrow the stage of the Broadway Theatre would be wiped clean of any trace of Fosse’s musical. In the audience were Gwen Verdon and Nicole Fosse, torchbearers of the Fosse legacy, a twinkling galaxy of thespians — many former Fosse dancers — and those hard-bitten Fosse fans who refused to believe Big Deal was on its deathbed. In fact, throughout the performance, they did their best to resuscitate it with wild bursts of applause and standing ovations. At the conclusion of the act-one showstopper, ‘Beat Me Daddy Eight to the Bar,’ they stood and applauded for nearly three minutes, temporarily halting the show as the dancers tearfully embraced one another like triumphant runners taking their victory lap. A cry rang out, ‘One more time!,” which was quickly picked up as a chant in the audience. When the curtain |
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| finally came down on the show, one felt an immense sense of loss and looked for someone nearby to console. As they left, the theatergoers were strangely subdued, almost funereal. A young man with tears streaming down his face placed a single, long-stemmed rose on the stage apron” (Grubb, “Fosse and his followers” 34).As I tearfully read this, I reminisce of the joy Fosse brings and the pain in his loss.
Bob’s dance style distinguished itself. “Bob always used to say he only had ten steps, “dance captain Petiford explains, “he just kept evolving then according to the nature of the show” (Grubb, Razzle Dazzle 254). Film critic Vincent Canby mistakenly implies Fosse’s style is taken from Hermes Pan. “Bob Fosse, featured in an excerpt from ‘Kiss Me Kate.’ was dancing dances then — choreographed by Hermes Pan — that look very much like the dances that Fosse has more recently been choreographing for ‘Sweet Charity,’ ‘The Little Prince,’ and ‘Chicago’” (Canby, Times 30 May 1976). Inspired by Bob, Canby later retracts the comment. |
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| “Note: Bob Fosse, the director, actor, dancer and choreographer, has written to say that one of the reasons the choreography in ta scene from ‘Kiss Me, Kate’ (included in ‘That’s Entertainment, Part 2′), which I identified as looking like his (Fosse’s) later choreography, is that he choreographed it, not as I wrote, Hermes Pan, which makes sense” (Canby, Times 20 Jun. 1976).The tone of Canby’s retraction appears self-centered; nevertheless, it points out Fosse’s 1953 choreographic style looks, to a critic, similar to later works.
Sheridan Morley writes of Fosse, “he created, from Pajama Game in 1954, across thirty years to Dancin’ by way of Damn Yankees and Redhead and Chicago and above all Sweet Charity, a look that was quintessentially and uniquely his — that angular, bent-limbed, leggy look of dancers who seemed to be all elbows and kneecaps and ankles” (Morley, “Fosse’s Footsteps 39). She continues, “Even if you had never heard a note of the score or a word of the dialogue, you knew at once that it was a Fosse show by the first glimpse of the dancing. It was Fosse alone who tore the American stage musical away from the ballroom and the bandstand, only to relocate it in the gymnasium: Fosse alone who first established the on-stage supremacy of the choreographer.” |
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| Morley, a London critic, receives Fosse better than most New York critics. Generally most London critics took to Fosse’s style. Morley goes on, “In that sense he more than anyone else in New York or London reinvented the musical during the middle Fifties: the second half of Pajama Game was, decades before Cats or Chorus Line, the first time that someone had the courage to throw away the plot and go for the look and the feel and the sensation of a show in which the characters really didn’t matter a damn, and from there on he was to work most often and successfully in partnership with the dancer Gwen Verdon when he once married an whom came to represent his long-limbed, urgent electric style better than any of the other new girls in town” (Morley, “Fosse’s Footsteps” 39)Bob, humiliated by New York and Boston critic’s rejection of Big Deal, thought of taking it to London for their opinion. He realized the European cultural difference when researching and rewriting Fellini’s Nights of Cabiria to the Americanized version — Sweet Charity. Fosse told the Times, “There is something ugly about a prostitute in this country. It’s all right in Italy. I wanted to get the nearest thing to a prostitute, a promiscuous girl who sold something for money — a dance, her understanding, conversation, something” (Grubb, Razzle Dazzle 120).
I must conclude with a note of sadness as Robert Louis Fosse |
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| does. Named after his parents favorite writer, Robert Louis Stevenson, Bob made a name for himself. Big Deal‘s failure drove him back to drinking and smoking. Bob, weary and depressed, died of a heart attack. Struggling to please, the critics eventually killed him. |
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| Steam Heat |
| From This Moment On |
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| Rich Man’s Frug – The Aloof |
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| Big Spender |
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| Bob Fosse – by Robert Trudell |
 Bob Fosse - Step by Step Tour |
Posts Tagged ‘curtain’
Self Portrait Assignment
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010I enrolled in a Black & White Film Photography Class (Art-191) at the Arizona Western College (AWC) for Fall. It’s conveniently held across the street from my house at the Yuma Union High School. The Instructor, Joe Medina, also teaches the High School Students.
In our second assignment, “The Self Portrait”, we were instructed to use 2 rules of composition which included Framing and the Rule of 1/3rds. And the part I often find difficult in Self Portraits, we’re required to be in focus.
I tried to get a feel of the composition and experiment with the camera setup by using my digital SLR (Sony A550 with a Minolta 28 mm*1.5 , f2.8 lens) and then mimicked that with the film camera (Minolta Maxxum 7000 with a Minolta 50mm, f1.4 lens).
We were required to take 12 Direct shots of ourselves and 12 Reflected or Shadow Shots. While I spent days planning, drawing and composing my ideas along with gathering the props and outfits, practically none of those themes or scenes were used on film. I suppose some were difficult to execute and others would have me making a ridiculous spectacle of myself in public. While looking ridiculous in public hasn’t always detoured me, it did this weekend.
Mr. Medina (a.k.a. Funky Cold) told us to take all the photos outside in the early or late daytime, so I took mine late at night and indoors. Later I tried opening the windows and using the daylight on either side of the house and studio apartment.
Wanted Poster, $10,000 Dollar Reward, Costa Brava, Spain 1979
Shutter 1/125 Sec, F2.8, Iso 400, 8/29/10, 3:54AM, Lighting 1-300W Florescent, 2-150W Florescent Bulbs
At first I tried to frame my actual head in front of the poster with the Wanted text displayed. It turns out my head was too large, so I put the poster in front and liked the result. Hopefully the Wanted text is in the B/W film version.
Attic Access - Rob Trudell
Shutter 1/320 Sec, F2.8, Iso 400, 8/29/10, 5:00AM, Lighting 1-300W Florescent, 2-150W Florescent Bulbs
Looking for a frame in the above Garage Studio Apartment, I saw the handsome attic access door I recently had installed. The ladder nearly tipped over on this awkward shot and could of left me finishing the 24 frames of film in the hospital.
Attic Access Frame with Ladder
While I had the ladder out, I decided to check if Ray Collier placed the insulation on the Access Door as asked. The answer was “no” and it was missing in other places as well. I did spot this Bat in the Belfry when I had the door open.
Ping Pong Bat in the Belfry - DSC07951
Shutter 1/80 Sec, F2.8, Iso 400, 8/29/10, 5:21AM, Lighting 1-300W Florescent, 2-150W Florescent Bulbs
The next frame I found was the Shower. I figured I could use the shower curtain bar as a pull-up bar and do a Rocky poster pose. The frame was narrow and I had a difficult time placing my elbows naturally.
Yo Adrian - Rocky Poster Pose - DSC07960
Shutter 1/100 Sec, F2.8, Iso 400, 8/29/10, 4:28PM, Lighting North and West Window Sunlight
Next I wanted to take some more photos on a wall without a frame, so I took the curtains from the house and hung them to stage a frame of my own.
Along with the Rocky theme, I found some shorts and a boxing glove. Short 1 glove I used a Rooster Oven Mitt, which I found fitting as my most successful punch is the cold cock.
Knock Out Cold Cocking Oven Mitt & Rocky/Apollo Creed Shorts -DSC07965
Shutter 1/100 Sec, F4, ISO 400, 8/29/10, 6:59PM, Lighting 1-300W Florescent, 2-150W Florescent Bulbs, some Western Window Sunlight
And in Boxing there’s the Weigh-In
Weigh In DSC07966
Shutter 1/100 Sec, F3.5, ISO 400, 8/29/10, 7:08PM, Lighting 1-300W Florescent, 2-150W Florescent Bulbs, some Western Window Sunlight
While looking for some Cartoons of my friend Marek Zochowski’s, I stumbled over some pictures of his long lost children, Ashley and Daniel. I found Ashley on Facebook and let her know she could contact me if she was interested in reaching Marek.
In this photo, I’m wondering if you think I did the right thing.
Vision inside the World Wide Web DSC07975 - Is transparency the right thing?
Shutter 1/100 Sec, F2.8, ISO 400, 8/29/10, 11:40PM, Lighting 1-300W Florescent, Overhead 60W Florescent Bulb
I tried to polish up a Reading Lamp my Mother-in-Law gave me to take a reflective picture of my vision through reading glasses.
Reading Lamp Reading Glass and Camera Reflection DSC08000
Shutter 1/100 Sec, F4, ISO 400, 8/30/10, 1:07AM, Lighting 1-300W Florescent, Overhead 60W Florescent Bulb
Looking for more reflective objects, I shined up the old Mirror Ball for this spotlight shot.
Disco Mirror Ball - Spot Lighted Once Again DSC08006
Shutter 1/125 Sec, F10, ISO 400, 8/30/10, 8:57AM, Eastern Window Light, Reading Lamp
I enjoyed the way Kingston Gee framed a photo of me after winning the 2004 US National U1700 Table Tennis Championship. I tried to recreate a facsimile of my Window to the World here.
Ping Pong Window to the World DSC08016
Shutter 1/250 Sec, F4, ISO 400, 8/30/10, 9:39AM, Eastern Window Light
It kind of looks like a helmeted soldier looking through a castle fortress window to me.
Here’s 1 of the photos I originally planned and diagrammed doing. My Stiga Ping Pong Table is awkwardly placed between 2 rooms divided by a double pocket door. When thinking of frames this was one of the first things that came to mind.
Awkward Table Tennis Table Location DSC08020
Shutter 1/125 Sec, F4.5, ISO 400, 8/30/10, 10:54AM, Eastern Window Light
Another framed location I originally liked were my fireplaces. After experimenting with a few blah poses, I came up with me sitting Indian Style and cradling my gumball machine filled with orange 38mm balls and a white 40mm Nittaku big ball released in the slot. I’ve got a paddle on my knee that kind of looks like a rag to wipe the baby’s burp-ups off with.
Baby Ping Pong Ball Machine DSC08025 - Sitting Indian Style in the Fireplace
Shutter 1/60 Sec, F4.5, ISO 400, 8/30/10, 11:09AM, Eastern Window Light
Running out of light from the East and needing some more reflective photos, I went to the Women’s Restroom to use the Bathroom mirror. I discovered my girlfriend in the shower covering herself and decided to use her to help me focus the camera.
2-Dimensional Hottie in the Shower DSC08029
Shutter 1/100 Sec, F3.2, ISO 400, 8/30/10, 11:30AM, Northern Window Light
She’s a 2-Dimensional Hottie, but she serves her purpose.
When I stepped in the shower myself I found she left a friggin bomb!!!
Blinking Shower Bomb - Oh Crap DSC08033
Not knowing what to do, I peeked around the curtain.
Shh DSC08034 it!
Then I finally realized I had my Safety Glasses to protect my eyes.
Safe Bomb Handling DSC08035 with Safety Glasses
Shutter 1/100 Sec, F3.2, ISO 400, 8/30/10, 11:46AM, Northern Window Light
Whew!
After all that Danger, I needed a cool drink. Would you believe, just when I was thirsty, Iron Man crashes through my ceiling with a Dr. Pepper! It was a plaster disaster, but quenched the craving.
Iron Man Dr Pepper Delivery DSC08037
Shutter 1/100 Sec, F4, ISO 400, 8/30/10, 12:00PM, Northern Window Light
So, I was looking through my desk drawer for something and found this coupon. I know I’ve got lots of them since they all tell me to “Keep” them and I haven’t seen any that tell me to throw them away.
Keep this Coupon DSC08042
Shutter 1/60 Sec, F3.2, ISO 400, 8/30/10, 12:44PM, Southern Window Light
I tried to frame this photo with both the door and the mirror.
Of course I still have my Safety Glasses on as I like to play things safe when keeping coupons and such. Who knows, maybe a pipe could break in the Handicap Restroom and I don’t want it to put out my eye. I hope I’m not being too cautious.
I did a search on self portraits and found one I liked using a door knob reflection. Unable to find a good continuous round shiny knob mounted on my doors, I settled by pulling out an extra packaged knob with a keyhole I had and slipping it in a tripod mounting plate slot. I looked for a more interesting place to slip my newly polished knob in, and found nothing more appealing.
Focusing on Polished Knob in Tripod Slot DSC08050
Shutter 1/100 Sec, F3.2, ISO 400, 8/30/10, 1:38PM, Northern Window Light
Searching for a reflective pool, I sought something with a dark bottom and dark liquid. It occurred I hadn’t had my morning coffee yet and wouldn’t ya know, my favorite black Aztec cups were in front of me in the display case.
Eying the Coffee DSC08055, Mmm, I need that cup.
Shutter 1/50 Sec, F2.8, ISO 400, 8/30/10, 1:54PM, Northern Window Light
Ohh, we need more shiny things! Here’s the pride and joy of my disco lighting collection, mirror with light patterns that moves to the music, and I’ve got an In-N-Out Burger hat I stole from my son, Daniel at the restaurant.
In-N-Out Burger Hat & Disco Light Mirror DSC08058
Shutter 1/50 Sec, F2.8, ISO 400, 8/30/10, 2:42PM, Northern Window Light
It’s getting a little warm in the main house, so I head back up to the Casita Studio Stage. The Franciscan Monk, and Ping Pong Friar appeared with a lit scented Vanilla Candle, searching for what only is found in the House of Guest — me.
Anyone need a Light DSC08069 - Franciscan Monk and Ping Pong Friar soul searching
Shutter 1/125 Sec, F4, ISO 400, 8/30/10, 3:40PM, Western Window Light and Lighting 1-300W Florescent, 2-150W Florescent Bulbs.
I angled a full length mirror at 45 degrees and pointed the camera at it. The 28mm lens on the DSLR wasn’t able to focus properly at this range, hopefully it’s okay on the B/W film camera.
Here, the Rosary Ping Pong Paddle wielding Nun finds herself and in herself a hero — Super RET.
I need some focus in life DSC08072, and in this picture we find Nun. - Ping Pong Paddle Rosary
Shutter 1/125 Sec, F4, ISO 400, 8/30/10, 4:02PM, Western Window Light and Lighting 1-300W Florescent, 2-150W Florescent Bulbs.
And thanks be to me, I pray, thank you me, thank you Super RET, and please open this Bathroom Door so my system may be cleansed once again.
Let us pray, please let me in the Bathroom soon DSC08075
Shutter 1/125 Sec, F4, ISO 400, 8/30/10, 4:03PM, Western Window Light and Lighting 1-300W Florescent, 2-150W Florescent Bulbs.
Gonna Fly Now. The Nun aspires to fly with her Super Hero.
Flying Nun DSC08079 - Gonna Fly Now
Shutter 1/125 Sec, F2.8, ISO 400, 8/30/10, 4:10PM, Western Window Light and Lighting 1-300W Florescent, 2-150W Florescent Bulbs.
And as the Nun flies into the distance, I’d like to thank my Stand-In 2-Dimensional Hottie Girl for her help and focus brought to this self portrait project. Thank you very much!
Velda, the Stunt Double DSC08080
Shutter 1/125 Sec, F4, ISO 400, 8/30/10, 4:17PM, Western Window Light and Lighting 1-300W Florescent, 2-150W Florescent Bulbs.