Wicked Choreographer Breaks Down Elphaba & Galinda's Pivotal Ozdust Dance: "It Just Has To Be Real"

Wicked choreographer Christopher Scott breaks down the behind-the-scenes process of the Ozdust Ballroom dance between Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande-Butera). Up to this point in Wicked's story, the two characters have been at odds with each other. That changes when Galinda, who has not yet changed her name to Glinda, joins Elphaba and dances with her at the Ozdust Ballroom. By following Elphaba's lead when she is being mocked and dancing with her, it is a genuine moment of connection that forever bonds Elphaba and Glinda.

While speaking with ScreenRant's Rachel Foertsch, Scott was asked about the emotions he wanted to portray when choreographing the dance. Scott emphasized that the focus was always on what would feel real and what would make sense at that moment for Elphaba and Glinda. He explained that the scene is not about being a bad dancer as much as it is about being a different kind of dancer, which was discussed behind-the-scenes with Erivo. Check out Scott's comments below:

For me, it was always like, "What makes sense for this real moment?" It just has to be real. I think when you're on camera, and you're dealing with cinema, and you can get right in there, you just have to come from a place of reality. I had a lot of deep conversations with Cynthia, and there was always a thing where it's like, she's not going to be a bad dancer in this, because that's not who she is. It's not about being a bad dancer. It's about her being a different dancer. So that was kind of the approach. And then from there, it was just a process of experiencing it so that we knew if we were on the right track. It wasn't just like, "Okay, here's a dance. Let's hope it works." It was like, here are some ideas. Here's some movement. We're going to develop them. We're going to keep everybody else out of the process. We're going to bring Ari in when it feels right. We're not going to overteach her anything. If she's really supposed to follow Elphaba, then let's let her really follow, and let's see if it is reality, because musicals are tough sometimes, and people always have that thing of, "I don't understand why they start singing and dancing." So for me, that's my job, to make sure then that there is reality to it, so that when people watch it, whether they really believe in musicals yet, at least they get to watch it in a way that's like, "Oh, that didn't bump me out." And to do that, you have to have a process.

What This Means For Wicked

The Choreography Contributes To One Of Wicked's Best Scenes

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The intent behind Scott's choreography shines through as the dance becomes one of Elphaba and Glinda's best scenes. Elphaba's dance style is unconventional, but it is visually impressive and entrancing to watch, and becomes beautiful when Glinda follows Elphaba's lead. Not overteaching Grande-Butera and only bringing her in after developing and practicing several dance ideas with Erivo helped make the dance and the overall scene feel like a natural inclusion to the story.

Related Wicked Ending Explained & How It Sets Up Wicked Part 2 Wicked: Part 1 builds up Elphaba and Glinda's friendship, leading to a tense ending in The Emerald City that sets the foundation for Wicked: Part 2.

This approach, along with not trying to dance poorly, was not only a smart choice from a narrative standpoint, but also a wise decision given the strengths of Wicked's cast. Erivo, Grande-Butera, Fiyero actor Jonathan Bailey, and many other cast members have extensive musical theater backgrounds. It likely would have felt disingenuous if Wicked tried to make its musical theater actors dance poorly. It is more effective to simply have them dance differently.

Dance Choreography Is A Key Element Of Wicked's Success

Wicked's reviews have been largely positive because of the movie's ability to succeed as a musical. While much attention has rightfully been brought to the cast's vocal performances, credit also needs to be given to the movie's dances and the choreography behind it. If the choreography had not been effective in the Ozdust Ballroom dance scene between Elphaba and Glinda, the development of their friendship would not have felt as authentic, which would have undermined the entire movie. Instead, the dance scene is one of Wicked's most beautiful moments and has helped make the movie a cinematic triumph.