Dominique Kelley on choreographing the West End’s biggest party – The Great Gatsby

What do Robyn, Billy Idol, and Broadway choreographer Dominique Kelley have in common?

They all believe you are your own best dance partner.

“Anytime we look to the past when it comes to movement, whether it’s choreography or stage movement, basically everybody was tethered. You always had to find a partner,” Kelley starts, “But when we came out of the pandemic, everybody danced separately.” It’s what led to the Charleston, a popular 1920s dance style that doesn’t involve touching.

The events of The Great Gatsby unfolded in the 1920s post-pandemic, and surprisingly they’re not so different from the 2020s we’re experiencing now. But the choreographer examines the differences: “Back in the day you would find a significant other and go to the club, or go there to look for somebody. But now not only can you dance by yourself on TikTok, you can go out to a club, you can go out to a party and have your own fun.”

Kelley started professionally dancing when he was young – starring in the Black and Blue Broadway tour at age 13 and then in Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk just two years later. He was homeschooled and only read the F Scott Fitzgerald novel when he landed the gig, admitting: “It wasn’t my favourite story, because I didn’t necessarily see myself or my ancestry in the book.”

However, he can see the relation to striving for the American Dream: “I delved in to figure out how I fit in the material, and more importantly, how the material fits in me.”

The missing representation is something that Kelley has been keen to update. “A lot of times when you’re queer or when your gender identity is different or when you’re taller, or you have a different body shape, you feel like you have to squeeze into a narrative. But with our show, we’re really encouraging people to be an individual. And when people are authentically themselves, they have more fun.”

Kelley’s experience dancing on stage has made him acutely aware of the strain it can have on the company, both physically and mentally. Performing in shows like In The Heights he recalls feeling as though he had artistic freedom on stage: “My main thing is sustainability, freedom and fun.”

“The whole thing about jazz music is improv, so I’ve built improv into the show,” he says, observing that on Broadway he’s experiencing a lot more hip hop and street jazz “telling a myriad of different stories.”

This departure, or evolution, from traditional dance styles like tap “shows that different dance forms can push the story ahead.” It challenges what audiences see on Broadway: “I think that’s lovely because it opens up musical theatre and the love of such to a swath of the community that might not have gotten that inspiration in the past.”

It’s something worth celebrating, as Kelley explains that he gives the company freedom in their marks: “They have their moments where they can break out and be in the front and have fun.”

“What’s been great for me is having all the artists in the room drop their shoulders and go like, ‘Oh, I can really bring myself to the piece’ because the most important thing is humanity, and you need humans to tell the story. I want the humanity of the choreography to be seen by the people on stage, as well as in the audience.”

Kelley asks whether I’d like to eat my favourite food every day, or whether I’d want to go to the same party night after night. That’s what the creative team of The Great Gatsby: director Marc Bruni, book writer Kait Kerrigan, and composers Jason Howland and Nathan Tysen examine – as Gatsby never throws the same party twice.

“It’s all a party for as long as possible until it’s not,” Kelley says, “A lot of what we were doing was trying to protect the possibility of keeping the champagne bubbling for as long as possible because once the events start to tumble it turns into a tragedy.”

Pour us a large one and we’ll cheers to that – a new musical roaring into the West End!