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[0:09] Rob Russo: Welcome to DANCIN' Man, a Fabulous Invalid podcast featuring exclusive behind-the-scenes interviews with the cast and creative team of Bob Fosse's DANCIN' on Broadway.

[0:17] Jamie DuMont: I'm Jamie DuMont.

[0:19] Rob Russo: I'm Rob Russo.

[0:20] Jamie DuMont: And we're your hosts.

[0:21] Rob Russo: We're also excited to be co-producers of DANCIN' on Broadway and thrilled as always to be back in the Rosevale Cocktail Room at Civilian for another conversation with a member of the cast.

[0:29] Jamie DuMont: Yes, yes.

[0:30] Rob Russo: And joining us this week is cast member Jōvan Dansberry.

[0:33] Jamie DuMont: Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, dancing marks Jōvan's second Broadway show after King Kong, where he was one of the amazing puppeteers.

[0:41] Rob Russo: He's also appeared in the Metropolitan Opera, at Encores, on TV, on stage regionally. He's done it all.

[0:46] Jamie DuMont: He has.

[0:47] Rob Russo: We may have to talk to him a little bit about the puppet work in King Kong.

[0:50] Jamie DuMont: Well, we know we love a puppet.

[0:51] Rob Russo: We do.

[0:52] Jamie DuMont: We did a whole episode of The Fabulous Invalid, our first podcast about the puppets of King Kong.

[0:57] Rob Russo: Which you should listen to because it's pretty great.

[0:59] Jamie DuMont: All right. Well, should we talk to Jōvan?

[1:01] Rob Russo: Let's do it.

[1:12] Jōvan Dansberry: Thank you so much for joining us today.

[1:15] Rob Russo: Oh, thank you so much.

[1:17] Jōvan Dansberry: Thank you, thank you, thank you. I'm so happy to be here.

[1:20] Jamie DuMont: Good. Well, you should be rested, right? Yesterday was a day off. Today's a Tuesday.

[1:23] Jōvan Dansberry: Yes, I actually am rested. And this is like the first time, not the first time, but maybe like the second week where I'm actually like, oh, I'm not spending the entire day in bed trying to conserve energy for the week of the show.

[1:37] Jōvan Dansberry: It took about six weeks for me to finally figure out how to do that, but I'm like, oh, I actually know what to do with my days off and like have enjoy it, you know. But yeah, I'm rested and ready for the night.

[1:47] Rob Russo: Do you have plans for your days off now moving forward or are you just gonna take it day by day?

[1:52] Jōvan Dansberry: Um, well, I think I will have plans later on, yes, because my partner and I have like a place out east, and so like I already have a plan that later on I'm gonna be out there, like and like on my way home. You know, there's other people who do like Ronnie has a place. So I plan on spending some time, you know, out away at the beach um on my days off. But yeah, but getting social, seeing your friends, having that balance between social life and eight shows a week is actually very hard to navigate. Luckily, I feel like I'm finally learning how to do that.

[2:20] Jamie DuMont: Well, this actually is a great segue to the next question, which is talking about the show being a marathon. And you just sort of referenced that you're just getting your sort of sea legs in terms of figuring out your downtime. How do you get through the show? What do you what do you how do you prepare? How do you keep yourself sane and fit and ready to go?

[2:41] Jōvan Dansberry: Yeah, you know, I really had to figure that out because I tend to normally get into very athletic and physically demanding shows like the one I was in before was King Kong, and having to figure out how to find that balance within the show was always hard for me. But um with this show, because it does not stop, I actually found that choreographing my water breaks and choreographing times to stretch or choreographing times to lay on my back and breathe were actually very easy for me. I think when there's a show that's just go, go, go, and you don't have any time to stop to make sure that all of those resting periods or those periods to recover are actually also choreographed within the show.

[3:22] Jōvan Dansberry: Um, we started adding electrolytes into our waters on the side of the stage. Even those things really helped me find a way to just get through the show. There was moments that I was like in the middle of the America section and I was like, I don't think I can do it. I can't I cannot do this big kick to like a knee drop in the at the end of this show. I'm not gonna make it, I'm not gonna make it. But of course you do. Like there's no there's no way not to. But um yeah, I think after like finding exactly when to drink water, how much electrolytes and how much to eat, when to eat, you know, I was like, Oh, I needed to eat uh two and a half hours before the show. So I just didn't feel full or I didn't feel bloated or anything like that. Finding all of those things just needed to happen.

[4:05] Jamie DuMont: Are you stretching during the show? Are you you do you have stretch breaks when you're not on stage?

[4:11] Jōvan Dansberry: Uh yeah. Well, Jacob and I started uh doing like, you know, split contests and like stuff like that in the back in the middle when the girls are doing "Hey Big Spender," you'll catch us like on off upstage left, like just doing our left leg split sometimes, and just like we found ourselves being like, I need to be stretching when I'm really warm.

[4:30] Jamie DuMont: Is that common? Or is that just is that a Jōvan thing, or is that is that common practice in a dance-driven piece like this?

[4:38] Jōvan Dansberry: Well, I am not the most flexible dancer that you will meet. So for Jōvan, that is not normal common practice, but it is something I'm very grateful that I started doing. Cause I am not the one that people will come to and be like, oh, get Jōvan, he will definitely do that till he will definitely that's not my thing. But I was like, okay, well, if I'm sitting here for like a split moment, I'm not like running up to my dressing room or anything like that. A nice three minutes off stage is the perfect time when there's space to go ahead and get into a lunge, do some push-ups and everything, and keep the body moving.

[5:12] Jamie DuMont: And I love that you've built that into the show.

[5:15] Jōvan Dansberry: And I constantly build it into my show. It's like something that's just like a habit of like, okay, I'm sitting over there, I will go ahead and do my push-ups, or I'll go ahead and do a split, or I'll go ahead and get into a straddle and stuff like that.

[5:26] Rob Russo: Well, we ran into you and actually met you for the first time on the day that DANCIN' was announced for Broadway.

[5:33] Jōvan Dansberry: Yes.

[5:33] Rob Russo: I was wearing my Bob Fosse sweatshirt.

[5:35] Jōvan Dansberry: Yes.

[5:36] Rob Russo: I believe you took a photo of it.

[5:38] Jōvan Dansberry: Yes.

[5:48] Rob Russo: So funny. Well, so it's now been about six months since then, which is hard to believe. The time has flown by. So how what has your experience been, you know, in that time, right? Take us through the journey of DANCIN' from San Diego to Broadway, tech rehearsals, opening. What's it been like?

[6:06] Jōvan Dansberry: Well, I think that from the start of just even like getting the announcement that I was gonna even be a part of the cast, it was just having to always put your mindset back in the idea of being back on Broadway, eight shows a week and figuring out exactly how to pull yourself together for that. And then when we got back from San Diego, I remember being so anxious of just knowing when are we gonna do this? When are you gonna do this? At the same time, always just being so excited that this company was staying together. Like we were always, like I say, in text messages with each other, and I was like, oh, we're building this family on the side. So whenever we come, it's gonna be wonderful. And then so when we got back from San Diego, you know, I did some other jobs. I was doing some film and TV stuff. I was doing um, you know, other musical things and workshops and everything, but constantly knowing that I was preparing myself to do DANCIN'.

[6:59] Jōvan Dansberry: And what I am very grateful for is that this was my first time doing an out-of-town try-out. And I've never had that experience of being able to be fully prepared for what I was getting into on Broadway. I've having done the show and getting, you know, let's say, I guess eight months off, I knew exactly what I needed to prepare for for this show. Um, so I changed, you know, I was working on my diet, I was going to the gym a lot. Um, I got into back into trampoline cardio to build up my endurance. And so preparing for that and for the show was wonderful. And then once we got into rehearsals, walking into a room with everybody and you know seeing everybody again is like, oh, we've done this. Like, run right, jump back back into it.

We jumped right back into it because our very first day we had a ballet bar, and I was like, oh, you know, like normally musicals, you like sit at the music stands and we're gonna do meet and greets and we're gonna chat, and then you know, there's nothing. Oh, they were like, no, ballet bar. I was like, oh, we're jumping right into it. Got it.

[8:01] Jōvan Dansberry: Um, but then what's so great about this show is that it sits in the body so well. And I remember the first time we like just heard "Crunchy." A lot of us looked at each other like, should we just run it? Like, just turn on the music and see, like, you know, and all of us are like, I'm really nervous. But dance, that's what's so beautiful about dance, and especially this choreography, is that it sinks in. I think I see it in Wayne, like 40 years later, when he moves, it just, it's like fine wine. It just gets into the body so well. And that I was very grateful that after that time in San Diego, when we started working on the material again, I just felt like I knew myself as a dancer more. I knew the material more.

And then the tech process in itself is just like now you're just the elements just have to come in. But even those elements, not a lot of them changed so much for me. I don't the audience sees something different probably than what they see in San Diego, but for me, it just felt like I was just diving more into movement that felt good.

[9:03] Jamie DuMont: Something that I hadn't really thought about is how that out-of-town tryout really laid a foundation for you all to sort of take that as a baseline and then go even beyond, right to go deeper to get more comfortable is not the right word, but you know what I mean, accustomed to, right? To figure out all the tiny details that if you were just opening cold on Broadway, you know, it would have been a different experience.

[9:24] Jōvan Dansberry: Of course, of course. And then all of that comes from what is that different elements of being away from your family, being away from your community of New York, and then which brought us very close together, but then bringing that and being more in a comfortable landscape of what you're used to every day outside of the theater helps. And then I guess at a town trials, there's a lot of changes that normally happens for other musicals, but the choreography couldn't change. Right. Which is great for a dancer because that is what I'm very comfortable with, right? So all I can do instead of worrying about, you know, like people that worry about lines and music changing, I'm not worried about the what I feel most comfortable in.

So I can really dive deeper into some of the work. Watching Dailise and like what her hands do at different moments, I like started taking that in more because I actually had the time to feel like I knew what I was doing with my body that I could take in some more details, which is really nice.

[10:17] Jamie DuMont: I always say it's a shame that you know shows get reviewed right when they open. Because, you know, a month later, six months later, a year later, of course, everything is gonna get deeper and more refined. And you know, I wish they would come back, you know, for every show.

[10:21] Jōvan Dansberry: Of course.

[10:32] Jamie DuMont: And see it again. Because of course, you know.

[10:35] Jōvan Dansberry: You know, I mean, I guess what makes an opening is in fact the critics coming, right? That's like the definition of it, you know. But like, you know, or even audiences, early audiences, or I mean, this is a show that calls to be seen multiple times just because of the sheer size of it.

[10:47] Jōvan Dansberry: And oh, definitely.

[10:48] Jamie DuMont: And also based on because it's so physical, right?

[10:52] Jōvan Dansberry: Um, we're the we're a physical presence. And so how I dance something that day is going to change month to month, right? Like, I feel my one moment where we're walking in "Big City Mind," and I'm in this, you know, I'm this uh, I guess I'm a businessman, we would call it. I don't really yeah, I'm a businessman, I guess, in this green suit, and the way I have interpreted have changed how I walk out has changed depending on what I feel that day, depending on my interaction with Dailis that has changed a little bit differently.

[11:21] Jamie DuMont: And so, not that it's choreography or anything, but just the staging and dancing and movement has changed, and that will happen all the time.

[11:29] Rob Russo: Yeah, that's what makes it live theater, huh?

[11:31] Jōvan Dansberry: Of course, that is very true.

[11:34] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, but it's it's a good thing to remember, right? Because most people might see a show once, right? Most people won't see it more than once, you know.

[11:41] Jōvan Dansberry: But it is happening every day or eight times a week.

[11:41] Rob Russo: Eight times a week, yes, it is.

[11:45] Jōvan Dansberry: Yes, it is and it's evolving, it's always evolving.

[11:47] Rob Russo: Well, you mentioned earlier being in King Kong, which I saw several times.

[11:51] Jōvan Dansberry: Ah, okay.

[11:52] Rob Russo: Okay, so you did get to come to the show multiple times.

[11:54] Jōvan Dansberry: I did, I did.

[11:55] Rob Russo: And talk about a big show, and you know, something that was, I mean, unforgettable as an experience. What was your role in that company?

[12:05] Jōvan Dansberry: So I was actually a part of the King's Company and in the ensemble, and so dance wise, I got to work with Peter and Gabriel, and I remember saying to Peter and Gabriel at the same time, I'm like, Do you guys ever touch the floor or am I gonna lift you this entire show? Which was really fun because I actually and I made it in a good way as well, because I do love partnering.

[12:24] Jōvan Dansberry: Yeah, but I was like, I am picking you guys up this entire time. Um, so I was in the ensemble, which was really wonderful and great choreography by Drew McConey. And then um, I was also a puppeteer, and as a puppeteer, I was the left paw. I like to say I was the nice one because the right paw would pick, you know, pick the characters up and throw them down and punch things and punch walls. And I was the one that would like scoop some water and offer water and like you know, the very nice one. I really, really enjoyed that show and that process because I had never seen myself as a puppeteer at all.

[13:01] Jōvan Dansberry: We actually did uh an episode on our first podcast about the puppeteering. What I loved about that experience and talking with them was really learning how intricate the puppetry was and how choreographed. Speaking of choreography, every moment was was very specific and and choreographed. Completely everything was very specific at the same time, everything had to go based on your physical intuition, and no show was ever the same because um the way that the puppet worked with the automation would not always operate at the exact time that you needed, or you know, we're doing carabiner clips and everything in the dark, and like something might go wrong.

[13:42] Jōvan Dansberry: And so you constantly had to be so aware. And I remember wearing these in-ears and just having your stage manager say, "All right, keep him alive for a little bit." And you know, and like even here and keep him alive, all that meant was grounding something and like something else can move the body. There was not exact choreography, but you just had to be one with Kiko, we called him. Um, and once again, I like call and you say him because it was not a thing. It felt like a real living puppet, which was wonderful. And keep him alive, is that like vamp? Like, yes, like you, you know, uh, we there was a moment where the puppet walked to the very edge of the stage, which was such an exciting moment for the audience.

I remember there was one moment where the automation wasn't bringing him back at the right time, and you just heard keep him alive. And so here you are, just like standing, and you're just like, he's looking around, and you're just like slowly moving his arms and his elbows and everything, making him look big until the automation could kick in, and then you just put them down, keep them alive, a vamp. That was incredible because it's 17 of us that had to feel like one. Um, and I love working with teams like that. And I feel like that's maybe that's kind of like what happens. I guess I get to be in the team kind of show. So there was King Kong, and then there was dance in another show that is just really only operates because everyone comes together to pull their own selves as individuals, but also as a cohesive movement.

There's a level of trust that you must have developed working on King Kong that now can inform how you dance in DANCIN' and any other show that you work on. So much about it is that you trust that it all someone's going to make it work. That is the beauty of live theater that things might happen. Things will someone might not get a shoe on and might not make their entrance or something like that, but it will always come together and people will always pull through. And I love dancers because I think dancers in the end make sure that it will pull through. Maybe the worst, not the best thing for us always. We're kind of always like, we'll make it work. And sometimes you're like, no, if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. But we will always make it work and we will always make sure it like looks good.

[16:02] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[16:03] Jōvan Dansberry: I think. Yeah, we talked to Yani about DANCIN' Man, and she mentioned how she feels a little lonely at a moment in that, right? Where she's sort of at in front of everybody else, right before she starts the hand thing. And I thought that was such a and then the hand thing starts and everybody joins in, and then she doesn't feel lonely anymore, right? She's oh, they're here, they've got, you know, whatever, whatever the specific words she said. And I think that's such an interesting thing to think about being on a stage with 20 other people or five other people or whatever it is, and to think that you feel lonely and isolated, because you're surrounded by 1200 people in the audience, you're surrounded by people on stage, but it is lonely.

[16:44] Jōvan Dansberry: Well, I think it and it's interesting to hear that word lonely, or is and there's also pressure in that loneliness because at her where she's feeling loneliness, I actually can see her the whole time and based on my position, and I feel like all of my energy is going directly to her. And so there's a little bit of pressure that okay, this is on me. And I understand that. Like in King Kong, there's a moment where in the dark, if I don't clip this um carabiner into this exact loop at this time, Lauren cannot jump off of King Kong to make his arm fly up. And part of me is just like, if I don't get this in right away, the show might have to stop. And so there's a little bit of loneliness and pressure in that. And you're like, oh my gosh, this is all on me. But at the same time, it's also as cohesively, this all can work together, and everyone's like, "You got this" and cheering you on at the same time. Because it's in service of a larger thing.

[17:40] Jamie DuMont: Of course.

[17:40] Jōvan Dansberry: It's like the definition of teamwork.

[17:42] Jamie DuMont: Of course.

[17:43] Jōvan Dansberry: But there's such a crazy duality in the idea that I am by myself in this moment. In that moment. Pressure's a better word than lonely.

[17:49] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, they both can work hand in hand in hand.

[17:52] Jōvan Dansberry: But um, yeah, it is I think that's what she's experiencing. Uh loneliness in this pressure that she's the only person that has to deal with this at this moment.

[18:00] Jamie DuMont: Oh my gosh.

[18:01] Jōvan Dansberry: Yeah.

[18:02] Jamie DuMont: Oh, yeah.

[18:02] Jōvan Dansberry: Well, I'm wondering if you could share with us a little bit about what the audition process was like for DANCIN'. We've heard a lot of different stories, and each one has been unique. So I'm curious, what was your experience?

[18:13] Jōvan Dansberry: Um, well, I think for most people will say that this was our first live and in-person audition back from the pandemic, and I really did not know what to expect. And I had just had a meeting with my manager right before, maybe a week before the audition, that I was like, you know, I'm I had been with the Metropolitan Opera for years beforehand, and I really liked that schedule because you might only have like two shows a week or four shows a week. And I was just not knowing if I was looking forward to doing musicals again. And so we had this meeting, we were sitting there at I think Elmo. I remember JC say, okay, so you don't want to go to this audition. I could do I can do I could say no to this, and it was Bob Fosse Days.

I was like, oh wait, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, hold on, forget everything we just talked about for this last hour, and of course I'm going in for this. And so um, not knowing what to expect, you know, especially like I said, after the live in-person audition notice, I was like, maybe there's gonna be 15 people in here, we're all gonna have to test. And I remember walking in and everyone was there. And that was actually really exciting for me, as much as it can feel like a competition, like, you know, because we all want this job. I was just so happy that everyone came back. Knowing that everyone had these conversations of being like, I don't know if I want to do dance anymore, I don't know if I want to be in this industry anymore.

And seeing people come back, meaning that everyone to me was like, what else can I be doing? Like I want to be doing this, especially this kind of show. So though there was pressure, I was just happy to be dancing with everybody. And the audition process was so cool. They created this great combo of like all of these elements of these shows that of snake in the grass and crunchy and all these kinds of things. And I remember just having this look at Wayne and being like, Yeah, like you get me, right? Like I just love dancing sexy like this. And so like you see it, right? And he was like, Yeah, I see it. Like, I like you. And then um, you know, went to my I went to my call back to sing. And I remember singing in a song, and Wayne and Daryl were just like, You you can sing, but I do not like this song.

And I was like, Okay, I can sing another song for you. Um, and then I sang another song. And they're like, Yeah, thank you. Uh you could that that was great. Thank you. Thank you so much. I was like, you will never hear the other song ever again. I went to my book in the room, pulled it out, ripped it in front of them. And I think that's that got Wayne really I think Ray was like, Yes, bravo. And you know, like I think he just wanted to see personality in that room.

[20:47] Jamie DuMont: Well, taking a step back, tell us where did you grow up and what was your early training like?

[20:52] Jōvan Dansberry: So I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and then we moved out to the suburbs, and my parents actually met dancing. My dad was a dance teacher at the local community college. My mom had gone there for her elective, and they met there. My dad was also still teaching at local dance studios, and um, so I don't remember a time when I wasn't in a dance studio.

[21:06] Jamie DuMont: So it's in your DNA, forget about the studio.

[21:16] Jōvan Dansberry: Okay, my dad still teaches Zumba classes, so like he is probably moving as we speak right now. So it's always been there. My parents have always been very supportive of the dance career. So I, like many people in the show, was a competition dancer. And I really love my journey in that because it as much as technique and company work and team, and of course, teamwork is there, it does teach a lot about performance. And that's what I think I always knew I had. That was like the only thing that was like kind of like the what I knew I could deliver was performance. Didn't have the best feed, didn't have the best turnout, didn't have the best um, you know, tricks. But I felt like I can just offer like, especially in those big jazz production numbers, just fun and excitement and performance.

[22:03] Jamie DuMont: So as you're growing up in your dance family and you're taking class and you know, all of this. When does Fosse enter the picture? What's what's your earliest memory of being introduced to his work? Because clearly, by the time this audition comes around, you go, yes, I know exactly what that is, and I want to be a part of it.

[22:22] Jōvan Dansberry: Well, I think that there's a moment that we all well, we all saw Fosse at all, but I definitely saw the VHS tape of the Fosse show. And then there's always the Fosse-esque that you think that you know a lot about Fosse. And so, of course, you take those classes or you see Chicago, the movie, and you feel, and they everyone says that is Fosse. So I always felt like in the back of my mind, I always associated with some very um, of course, sexy movement, which I and um the syncopated movement. I just really loved it. I love the style, I love the shapes of it. And but it wasn't actually until I was here in New York City that I started working with some people. I started working with some of the things with the legacy.

I worked with Lloyd Colbreth. People would call me in to do certain performances and showcases for the uh Chita Rivera Awards, and that's kind of when I started diving actually into a little bit of the work. And that's kind of like how I started forming and more a better well-rounded idea of Fosse. But it wasn't actually until this show that I really understood the depth of his choreography.

[23:27] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, I think it's a surprise for a lot of people who just as you just described think they know the Fosse style based on its distillation and other forms. And then you go to the music box theater and you're like, oh.

[23:39] Jōvan Dansberry: Right.

[23:39] Jamie DuMont: Okay.

[23:40] Jōvan Dansberry: Completely. And I think this is an education. His name was an adjective, you know, or like a way to describe movement, which honestly kind of is a great legacy in itself. If you have no way to describe it, but you're like, but that's like the Fosse way. But at the same time, it can get us into a hard position to really understand.

[23:59] Jamie DuMont: I want to tick through some of the moments in which you stand out. Every company member has several of them. You are no exception. It begins with percussion two.

[24:13] Jōvan Dansberry: Oh yeah. Um, which is uh one of my favorite numbers for a variety of reasons, but I think because you enter on a trampoline, it's singular for that alone.

[24:24] Jamie DuMont: Um is that entrance?

[24:27] Jōvan Dansberry: Okay, so I remember when we first walked into the studio for the workshop, and I saw the trampoline there. And I mean, I had done, like I said, actually had done trampoline cardio, I had taught it and everything like that. And so, like, that's where your eye drawn to. You're like, why is this here? And then Wayne goes, Oh, that's an entrance for percussion that you're in. I was like, ha ha ha ha, whatever, you know. He's like, No, I'm not joking. And I was like, We enter the stage using a trampoline. How is that gonna work? And then when we started learning the choreography, he said that in the original, they would climb a ladder and wait as the women did ding, and they would just hop off of it, jump off and onto the stage.

And I remember just thinking, there's got to be a better way. Like, there's no way we're gonna climb a ladder and just wait. And I remember the first ladder we had, it was like really firm and tilted, and like it would propel you, maybe. And then we did it, and I and it kind of morphed at the first time we were running, we would jump off, and then we would try to attempt this roll, and we were always like, wait, like this landing's not feeling weird. And then Manny actually came up with the idea to do the forward roll. And I was like, you know what? Let's go for it. And so that's how the entrance got there. And it's something that just really we say to each other in the wings, ready or not, like it's we're doing this, and actually it's really exciting because I actually do love that entrance a lot.

[25:59] Jamie DuMont: What else in percussion do you find challenging?

[26:01] Jōvan Dansberry: Of all the numbers that I'm in, that is this number that's in my wheelhouse. Though it's very challenging, like I said, I love athletic movement and it's groovy, it's fun. It does sit right in a pocket of movement that I'm very comfortable with, but there's several things in percussion too that I'm also kind of like, Oh, I really hope we get through this. That jump over Manny and Yamon, the heel toe at the end, that I was just like, I hope we make it through this. It's two counts of eight too long for me. That I'm just like, I really hope we make it through. There's a lot of moments where it's just it doesn't stop. And so um having to control your breath and everything, but I will say that because it's one in my wheelhouse, and we kind of like cheer each other on silently.

I don't know if you can hear it, but we're like, come on, boys, let's do it. You got it, let's go. Okay. The like your mom is like revving us up the whole entire time. And so it's very, very exciting moment in the show for me.

[27:00] Jamie DuMont: Definitely.

[27:01] Jōvan Dansberry: And no matter what the audience is on any given day, that number just is the jolt.

[27:06] Jamie DuMont: Of course.

[27:07] Jōvan Dansberry: Right.

[27:07] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, yeah.

[27:07] Jōvan Dansberry: Like, oh, if folks were skeptical before, or they're not sure, or whatever, or they're a little tired, whatever. That number comes, and people are like, okay.

[27:19] Jōvan Dansberry: It's kind of like this thing where like we all know it's like to kind of like work it's because it's a boxing number, but it's like we all know what it's like to work out and be like, oh, I'm feeling good right now. And there's like this moment in the where you kind of catch eyes with somebody in the audience, and you're like, oh, you feel on it, you're feeling it, the music is good, it's a vibe, okay. But I also have to pull back sometimes and be like, okay, wait. I am not to I'm not trying to go to the audience and have that fun vibe with you. We're still boxing. And Wayne had to bring me back sometimes because, like I said, it's such in my wheelhouse. I was used to performing like I was a competition dancer and all that kind of stuff, and be like, oh, I can perform this and like smile and everything that's like, no, we're in a boxing gym.

Pull it back sometimes. And to find that moment where you're still an actor. Right. It's so easy to just to dance this through and be like, oh, I want you guys to applaud because you're having a good time, and still have to turn on the actor, and you're like, okay, but have a good time working out as a boxer. And I was like, okay, I get I get what you're saying. And having that conversation with Wayne was really nice.

[28:22] Jōvan Dansberry: Speaking of making a connection with the audience, a favorite moment of mine is during "Sing Sing" when you come out, you strut onto that stage, you hit that pose, right? And I correct me if I'm mistaken. Do you wink?

[28:37] Jōvan Dansberry: It depends on what I'm feeling in that moment. Yeah, I'm sure I do. I probably wink a lot in the show. Or maybe it just feels like a wink. It feels like a wink. Feels like a wink. A good wink, though. You know, it's like a full body wink. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I really do love that moment in the show, mainly because I get four extra counts of eight to breathe. Because everyone else is on stage. And the first two entrances before that, I am it feels like shuffle. Um, or like, you know, when you it in gym class when you went from one line to the other, one line to the other, and all that kind of stuff. That first entrance with Manny and Jacob and Nondo feels like that. And so when we get off stage, I am trying to catch my breath.

And I'm very grateful for four counts of four sets of eight more. Um, but then that entrance feels so just it is feeling it. It also feels pretty iconic in a way that I remember seeing "Sing Sing" videos and being like, oh, I really love that entrance. Don't know why. You know, it's four counts of eight, but it just feels like a quick moment with the audience, which I really do enjoy. I do sometimes feel like I change it up. I definitely hit that pose that I love, and then all of a sudden it just my focus just goes somewhere, and I like catching an eye or two with somebody and just give them a like, hey, you see this? All right, we're about to tear it up, and then it just goes from there for another 15 more minutes.

[29:55] Jamie DuMont: Just a casual 15.

[29:57] Jōvan Dansberry: Yes, you know a casual 15 more minutes. Why not? You can't be the first cast member to talk about the breathing, but I can't remember another cast member who's been so honest about I just I'm just grateful for a chance to breathe, right? Because it's important.

[30:11] Jamie DuMont: Well, you all make it look so easy that we forget that it's a marathon, it's so athletic, you don't have a lot of opportunities to catch your breath.

[30:21] Jōvan Dansberry: Once again, this movement just grows on you and it seeps into you. That breath is the only way to make it through. We can't talk to you without talking about "Joint Endeavors."

[30:33] Jamie DuMont: Okay.

[30:33] Jōvan Dansberry: Yes, yes. I mean in a show, a very uh a very sensual and sexy show.

[30:40] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[30:40] Jōvan Dansberry: Because it's Fosse, of course, to bring in that adjective, right? I can't think of a sexier moment in the whole show than your little duet with Colton.

[30:52] Jōvan Dansberry: It gets there. It gets pretty. It gets it, it goes there for sure. And once again, we were talking before we uh we were putting together questions for this, and we said, your track is really the like lifting track.

[31:05] Jamie DuMont: Yes.

[31:06] Jōvan Dansberry: You said that about "King Kong" too, right? That's sets like a theme in your career.

[31:09] Jōvan Dansberry: Yeah, you know. Which I was actually surprised if this was all the lifting that there was gonna be in because I what I just thought. I was like, we're gonna partner all the time. I and I both said it were like we just are gonna part of the whole entire time, right? And I was like, Oh, there's a lot of duets, but there's not that much lifting. Yeah, but um, yeah, that was the ultimate lift, which I did, yeah, and that's what I love to do. Yeah, but and it's with Colton, which I love. I do really love that duet, and which is so special because you know, it comes from "All That Jazz," and it's more a series of shapes of partnerships that we had to create these transitions with Karen versus them being exact choreography of how these transitions come together.

And so finding those moments into the transitions was actually something that I will say is going back to what we said earlier, has morphed even in these last couple of weeks. Colton and I have finding how we feel about the number and what is our attraction to each other. Is there an attraction to each other? Is it just about, you know, two individuals getting what they need? All of that kind of stuff has morphed. And I don't really talk to Colton about how he's how they're feeling at the time. Um but I kind of like that play of like, where are we in this? And let's just have a good time. There's some mystery to it.

[32:30] Jamie DuMont: And you want to maintain that too, right? Because it makes it more interesting.

[32:35] Jōvan Dansberry: Of course. I've always asked a lot of people who've come to see the show about what they thought about that moment. What was the energy around you? And a lot of people say you could definitely feel everyone is into it. And it's about if they feel guilty, or you know what I mean? Like they're like, I feel guilty about how I feel right now. Or, you know, sometimes we get applause, sometimes we don't. But I don't think anyone walks away not interested or not excited or entertained.

[33:02] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[33:02] Jōvan Dansberry: It's just about like how they're experiencing that moment in the time. What I love about it is that obviously during "Big City Mime," you get a whole section with you know the massage parlor and the you know the club and all that, right? And that's all very, you know, sexy and sensual. But there's something about the three duets in "Joint Endeavors," because it's so focused and it's not loud and it's not big and bright, but it's that's the opposite of all those things.

[33:28] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[33:29] Jōvan Dansberry: That almost feel like the hottest moment in the whole show. For that reason, because of the intensity of the performers.

[33:37] Jamie DuMont: Of course.

[33:37] Jōvan Dansberry: And it also just comes out of somewhere where you don't expect. Right. However, there's always this side of Bob that I think we all know is there.

[33:46] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[33:46] Jōvan Dansberry: Right. And they're just like, oh, we are gonna show it. Oh, we are gonna do it. And I also think it comes to the idea of these duets that once again were created on us, so that it feels very intimate and sensual because it's uh I think we have a tour.

[34:01] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, yes, that's exactly.

[34:04] Jōvan Dansberry: You may have just answered this, but do you have a favorite moment in the show, whether it's yours or someone else's?

[34:11] Jōvan Dansberry: I have several, but I will say one that I just really love is not for any particular reason, but I think it's actually in "Crunchy Granola" after the introductions, right when the beat drops, and then the crowd like starts cheering, and then you're like, Oh, we're about to go on this ride all together. When I say a ride, I mean because once that beat drops, we do not stop. And I think that's the moment where I'm like, okay, I made it on the stage because I did not know if I was going to. I was so tired before it. Okay, here we go. Now you're in it. So that's a r yes, right in it. And so that's one of the moments that I'm actually just like, it just feels like a rev up in a really exciting moment.

And then I really love "Dancin' Man." I really do. It's our first time all 16 of us are on the stage together. Those lyrics are absolutely beautiful, and I really enjoy just the whole entire uh journey that Bob did choreographically with the percussion on the body with the big exciting movement at the end and how it ends. I think it's a beautiful, beautiful number. It's called "Sing Sing Sing" is a crowd pleaser. Like you cannot be a performer and not feel like that is the most exciting thing to perform every single night. Um and also I really really love my duet with Colton. I love partnering. I love the feeling that I get um performing it and um and showcasing that side of you know my talents. So there's a couple.

[35:40] Jamie DuMont: Yeah.

[35:40] Jōvan Dansberry: Well, it's hard to pick one.

[35:41] Jamie DuMont: It is a couple of things.

[35:46] Jōvan Dansberry: Right. I think "Dancin' Man" is like a lot of people's favorite, right?

[35:49] Jamie DuMont: But yeah.

[35:50] Jōvan Dansberry: Because it means so much to you all.

[35:51] Jamie DuMont: Of course.

[35:52] Jōvan Dansberry: You know, of course, definitely. And it doesn't, and you can't beat just being able to watch certain numbers in the show, right? I love being able that we have monitors because not many shows allow you to do that and have a monitor on the side. So I love watching.

[36:04] Jamie DuMont: Yeah, yeah.

[36:05] Jōvan Dansberry: Seeing how high Colton's gonna do his cannonball jumps.

[36:08] Jamie DuMont: Oh, yeah.

[36:09] Jōvan Dansberry: And then make fun of them if you know they don't go as high as they're supposed to.

[36:15] Jamie DuMont: Like could have been better.

[36:19] Jōvan Dansberry: They're gonna love that one.

[36:21] Jamie DuMont: That's amazing.

[36:22] Jōvan Dansberry: That's amazing. Well, now going through this experience and getting to dance this eight times a week. What does Bob Fosse mean to you?

[36:30] Jōvan Dansberry: Well, I think there is an impact. And when you say impact, I think it's it's legacy, which is interesting that Nicole came up with that as the word that she's using for the for of Redon Fosse legacy because it's an impact that you know takes a journey through dance. I think seeing what Bob's work has done for dance with style for so many people, for celebrities in their work, and then what it has actually done for me is impacted my dance. I feel like such a better dancer because I've had this opportunity to learn this work and do this work. Um, and I I've heard it, I've people have come up to me, people I've worked with for many years, when I go and do like a small job with them, like you're just dancing so differently in a really exciting way.

And so I think it's an impact that this choreography and this style has had on dancers and dance. And so to me, it just it I'm very grateful for that, and I think it's a legacy. Um, like I said earlier, I think it's crazy that a name has become an adjective or a way to describe something. I mean, the idea of them maybe to say, Oh, that's so in the Jamie-esque way, or the you know, like could you imagine? Like that would be like incredible. And so I think it's a legacy, and it's very grateful. And there's so there's not many choreographers I think that can that are household names like that. And so um the legacy and impact that it has on dance is really incredible.

[38:08] Jamie DuMont: That's so smart.

[38:09] Jōvan Dansberry: If you say Fosse that you know exactly what that means, yeah or falsified or would a fossil neck do it, and then that's an house. Everyone knows. It's very Fosse. It's like, oh wow, like there's and you look put another word there, and you're like, I can't, like, you know, like it's just very that is what I feel like it is, and which is so interesting. So specific. I wish I wonder what Bob would think about that.

[38:37] Jamie DuMont: You know, I can only hope he'd love it.

[38:40] Jōvan Dansberry: I I'm sure. It would probably embarrass him, like a human being gets embarrassed by those guys. And then everything like that.

[38:46] Jamie DuMont: Oh, no.

[38:47] Jōvan Dansberry: I would think secretly he would love it. How could you not? Right. Particularly when you think about what it means, right? If you think about his choreography and and and his whole approach and what makes him so unique, is that everything he did, he designed to fit his own body and his own insecurities and his own quote unquote shortcomings as a dancer. So for that then to universally mean great dance or a specific style that everyone knows what it means. I I would I just can't imagine that you wouldn't like that.

[39:24] Jōvan Dansberry: Yes, I completely agree. And I think that's why I've also gravitated to it so much because I see sometimes the vulnerabilities I have in my dancing in my body sometimes, which we all do, of course, as dancers, but um, like I say, like not the best turnout, not the best feet, but being able to just have style and perform, which is what Bob was doing, it just feels so good on the body, and I'm very grateful to be able to have that experience to showcase that as well.

[39:52] Jamie DuMont: Oh, and so are we. Thank you so much.

[39:54] Jōvan Dansberry: Thank you so much for joining us.

[39:57] Jamie DuMont: Thank you.

[39:58] Jōvan Dansberry: I really appreciate it.

[39:59] Jamie DuMont: Thank you for having me.

[40:06] Jamie DuMont: "Dancin' Man" with footsteps on the sense Bob Fosse's dancing is now on Broadway at the Music Box Theater. For tickets and more information, visit DancinBway.com.

[40:21] Jamie DuMont: "Dancin' Man," a Fabulous Invalid podcast, is a production of O and M etcetera and the Fabulous Invalid LLC, and a proud member of the Broadway Podcast Network. Special thanks to Civilian for hosting us and to our audio engineer, Kyle Moore. If you liked this episode, we've got over a hundred episodes of the Fabulous Invalid Podcast that you can check out, including a two parter on the life, work, and legacy of Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon. You can find us online at thefabulousinvalid.com and on social media at Fabulous Invalid, and on iTunes, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.