A BEHIND-THE-SCENES INTERVIEW WITH CHOREOGRAPHER, ALYSSA HAKAN

 

Hello! My name is Gracen Miller, I am a senior in highschool and am thrilled to be returning to the Landers stage during Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as a Featured Dancer. I had the privilege to interview my friend, castmate, and choreographer, Alyssa Hakan. She will be graduating from OTC in May and will continue her education studying dance, theatre, and film at Lindenwood University. She is currently on a national tour as a Tap Into The Network Apprentice. Alyssa and I both got involved with Springfield Little Theatre when we were young through the summer camps. Alyssa said “This is what made me realize I belonged on the stage.” Below is our interview!

G: How do you juggle being in multiple shows and choreographing multiple shows at the same time? 

A: I like keeping myself busy with something I enjoy and want to continue pursuing. I stayed organized with choreography by making videos for myself and writing down the choreography so that it would be easy to teach. 

G: Amazing! How did you get the opportunity to choreograph Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?

A: I choreographed the tap numbers for The SpongeBob Musical and the musical, White Christmas both with Springfield Little Theatre and was then asked to choreograph this show because Jessica loved the numbers and my other choreography pieces.

G: What do you pull your inspiration from and how did you make it your own?

A: I pulled a lot of inspiration from the movie and showed the featured dancers clips before learning choreography to get into character and understand the overall vibe of each dance. I enjoyed adding my own style to this show by making “Me Ol Bamboo” a tap number and adding unique numbers such as a lyrical dance to “Hushabye Mountain.”

G: Showing us the movie clips before we learned the combo was for sure a huge help! With these more stylized numbers, was it important to you to have a featured dancer ensemble?

A: This show has a variety of fun dance numbers and it was so important to have a solid group of talented dancers. This show would truly not be the same without the featured dancers.  All of the featured dancers share a special passion for dance and this is a unique bond that forms quickly on stage. Everyone is always on board for extra rehearsals and is willing to put in the work to make the show amazing. The dancers are positive and hype each other up. I absolutely loved working with this group and am excited to see them excel.  

G: Aww thank you Alyssa! You’re so fun to work with and I am so excited I get to share the stage with you. I know you have quite a bit of dance training and a talent for choreography, what is your training specifically?

A: I have extensive training in tap and have worked under the mentorship of Chloe and Maud Arnold from the Syncopated Ladies. I was a part of their tap company in Los Angeles and performed as their opening acts for their Syncopated Ladies Live Tour. I have training in all dance styles and have trained with NYC Rockette Summer performers, Springfield Ballet, Rhythmic Souls Dance Company in Dallas, and Joffrey Ballet. I started choreographing at the age of 14 and knew this was something I wanted to do as my career.

G: You are such an inspiration! Lastly, why do you think fellow dancers will enjoy this show? 

A: Fellow dancers will love this show because of the unexpected and exciting dance numbers presented. I did not stick with just one style of dance. I included musical theatre, tap, lyrical, jazz, and a mix of other different styles. My dancers have a certain honesty and bring the characters to life. Especially in “Hushabye Mountain” where we enhance the mood of the song and share a side of the mother’s story. I am so grateful to the amazing director Jessica Bower for this opportunity. I am so excited for this production, come see the show! 

It has been an absolute privilege to work with Alyssa during this rehearsal process, and I love how she has stylized the show through her choreography. The entire cast and crew has been working incredibly hard and is ecstatic to share this experience with the community. Being able to grow as a dancer and performer through this show is a joy. Come see these larger-than-life musical numbers and the cast of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Landers Theatre from January 27 through February 12! For tickets call the box office at 417-869-1334 or visit SpringfieldLittleTheatre.org!

 

XOXO,

 

Photography in the blog is courtesy of Brooke Blair (www.brookeoliviaphotography.com) and Emma Elliott (SLT Social Content Creator).