Starter for Ten | Interview with the choreographer

Alexzandra Sarmiento is an American & British Filipina choreographer, born and raised in New York city, currently working her magic on Starter for Ten.

She is passionate about exploring movement's storytelling ability on stage so what better production to work on than the show that began life as a bestselling novel? 

How do you tackle the rehearsal process?

I believe there's a saying that goes something like, "There is only one way to eat an elephant: one bite at a time", and I think the best way to start tackling a musical is indeed, one bite at a time. I always like to work chronologically - especially with new musicals, script/music/choreography is constantly changing, and working in order helps us see where we came from before we move forward (it sounds like the obvious manner in working, but sometimes it is indeed more efficient and a better use of everyone’s availability to jump around). After getting the first draft of the show up on its feet, the next checkpoint is to do a run through of each act, and eventually the entire show. This helps to see the overall arc and it helps me understand where edits need to happen in the choreography. We're usually up against the clock, so my main goal is to get as many rounds of edits as possible before we start our technical rehearsals. "Tech" rehearsals are when we move into the theatre and start to shape the show alongside our fellow designers (i.e. our lighting designer, sound designer, and set designer, to name a few). Things can still change during these rehearsals and our preview shows, but it's much harder to do so once out of the rehearsal room! NB: No elephants were harmed in the making of this musical.

How do you prepare choreography when working on a new musical? And how much does it change depending on who is in the room?

To be completely transparent, my preparation for a show can look like many things: it can be in the form of an official workshop with professional dancers months before rehearsals, it can look like me in my pyjamas choreographing in my kitchen after midnight during our rehearsal process, it can also look like me listening to the music of the show whilst standing up on a rush hour train during my commute. Before the aforementioned scenarios materialise, the director and I would've had many a meeting discussing our plan for the role of choreography within the show and also would have discussed a “visual storyboard” for any moment where dance will be a feature. Before I even start to make up "steps", I like to take time to fully digest the script and the music of the show so I can start to build the “why” of the movement: What should the aesthetic of the movement be? Why and how do the characters use dance to tell part of the story? How much or how little movement should be used in a particular moment? In new musicals, the script and the music is always in flux before we hit rehearsals (and continues to change even during). So usually, there's loads of emails flying around with updated drafts of material leading up to the time we start working with the actors. As I digest each draft, my understanding of the “why” of the movement also evolves. Once you start rehearsals and start to shape the show with the cast, lots of things can still change as you learn what their strengths are, and folding in the actors' input into your own creative ideas can also change the material.

What did you want to achieve for Starter For Ten?

Regardless of whatever show I’m working on, one of my first ports of call is to figure out how choreography can help contribute to the overall storytelling and what it’s purpose is throughout the piece. The 80’s (which is when SFT takes place) had such eccentric music videos that sometimes featured incidental pieces of dance (ie Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" or Pat Benatar's "Love Is A Battlefield"). In the same vein, I wanted to locate when bursts of movement should occur throughout SFT. I think that anytime dance is used in the show, it's meant to bring a heightened sense of theatricality to whatever moment in question - as if we suddenly go into the "music video experience" of what a character is feeling. I hope that audiences watching the show feel like the dance is indeed magnifying the emotions that our characters are experiencing - from feeling nervous and excited about being on University Challenge, to feeling intimidated on your first day at uni, to feeling like you’re basking in the limelight, just to name a few! 

Can you tell us your favourite 80s dance trend? How much inspiration did you take from the decade?

I don't have a favourite trend so to say, but I just love how in the 80's people danced like they were throwing caution to the wind. I felt like it had such an unapologetic attitude, regardless of what aesthetic was occupied (New Romantics, Glam Rock, Pop, Hip Hop, etc.), and that permeated into people’s bodies and onto the dance floors of that time.