"Freedom and Control": an Interview with Choreographer Jon Cooper by Kathia

Kathia!

I recently watched Classic Stage Company's production of The Tempest. It was very entertaining, magical and very natural.  Despite being a person who often feels confused and burdened by Shakespeare's plays, seeing the performance at CSC actually made The Tempest come to life for me and gave me a better understanding of the story and conflict as a whole. 

Actually seeing the behind the scenes effort and molding that the other members of CSC's production of The Tempest crew inputted into producing the play made me value the performance and the final product much more. When I saw the finished product, one early Monday afternoon, I was completely awed and filled with admiration for all of the people and the production itself. At that moment I realized the fulfillment that long periods of hard work results in, I could only imagine how proud and accomplished the entire crew felt after the end of the final scene on the last day of their production of The Tempest. 

Jon Cooper, choreographer of THE TEMPEST.

   
One person that caught my eye during my rehearsal observations at Classic Stage Company was the choreographer, Jon Cooper, who did a brilliant job of choreographing many parts of the play.  I observed him choreographing the part of the play where the Ariel Spirits are dancing and the head Ariel spirit is singing. 

During our interview, I inquired about the challenges of directing the spirits, due to the different types of harnesses they wore and the lights attached to those harnesses.  To this he replied that working with the harnesses is not as challenging as it seems because of the way that they are set up, they do not really constrict movement. The most constricting harness was Caliban, but it was manageable.  I also asked Jon about his vision or his visual ideas when choreographing the movement of the Ariel spirits.  To this he replied that he wanted that whole segment to flow and look effortless and natural.  He wanted the spirits to look very fragile and mystical as if they are being pulled by a string, he wanted it to be visually appealing.

Caliban and the Ariel Spirits

During our interview, I actually learned the difference between a choreographer and a director.  During my rehearsal observations, I noticed that the roles of the director and the choreographer are actually quite similar, and sort of interlock.  For example, both are concerned with the placement and movement of the actors and the props.  However, Jon informed me that the difference between the director and the choreographer is that that director is not only focused with the position of actors and props but is also concerned with the acting and the emotions that the actors need to convey.

I also asked Jon about his background with dancing and why he loves it.  Jon grew up in Rhode Island, and from an early age he began dancing.  He started off with tap and later branched out to different forms of dance and movement.  He has danced for competitions, recitals and even plays, but he is also learned in choreography and likes to take that position as well.  When I asked Jon which he enjoys more, actually dancing in a performance or choreographing a performance, he replied that he enjoys both because they are very different.  Dancing allows him to do something he loves and be recognized for his talent, which took hard work to acquire. Choreography, on the other hand, gives him more freedom and control to try different things and allows him to display more of his creative thinking, visions and input.