Carnival: A Choreographer’s Ball
Once a month, limber and lithe Los Angeles dancers create a line of svelte bodies that weave amid the tireless buzz of the Sunset Strip. Stretching, spinning and straightening their trendy threads, B-boys, hip-hop heads, classically trained ballerinas, freestylers and modern and funk dancers begin to convene around 8 p.m. (though the club’s monthly choreographer’s ball doesn’t kick off until eleven). Before stepping foot inside, you’ll witness skillful twirls and deep stretches peppering the strip, and if you listen closely, you’ll catch whispered counts...”1, 2, 3, and 4.” As you enter Key Club, it’s impossible to ignore the infectious energy of the city’s most cutting-edge dancers and choreographers who eagerly fill the dark West Hollywood venue.
Carnival: A Choreographer’s Ball is a monthly showcase presented at L.A.’s Key Club where dancers and choreographers are given free reign to produce and perform for their peers. Nine years ago, Carey Ysais, a dancer, choreographer, director and dance instructor, felt the need for a forum where choreographers could work sans third party pressures—such as a music video director or a film script—which, according to Ysais, inhibit absolute creativity. “My whole idea was to give choreographers a place to express themselves freely and without restraint,” says Ysais. “Carnival is a place where they have five minutes of freedom to work completely and artistically.”
Carnival has exploded since it’s humble beginnings and continues to sell out month after month in L.A., as well as in satellite choreographer’s balls in New York and London—there are even plans to expand to Tokyo and Australia. But when Ysais originally hatched his L.A. blueprint for Carnival, an unanticipated byproduct blossomed. The event is not only a place for choreographers to step outside the industry-determined box, but dancers—well-seasoned and eager novices alike—are given a platform to demonstrate their talents for top agents, choreographers, and, arguably the most important spectators: fellow dancers. “The choreographer’s ball is completely supported by dancers, dance agents and major studios, though I didn’t set out to create what [Carnival] has turned into; I just wanted to do a killer show for dancers,” he admits. “Through osmosis in the industry, casting agents for every movie and video—along with anything else dance-related in Los Angeles—come down to check out the talented artists that perform.”
In less than a decade, Carnival has evolved from a dance concert set in a nightclub, which Ysais thought would “peter out after six years,” to a perfect storm of the industry’s top working choreographers and instructors, who collaborate with talented dancers, who, in turn, have an opportunity to perform for casting agents who frequent the monthly show to scout for fresh faces. “Agents come to me all the time and say, Who’s that girl in front? Who’s that dude that did the back-head-spin-flip-spilt-dynamite-cowboy?” Ysais laughs. “It’s great for me because I can always turn people on to new choreographers, dancers, opportunities and jobs.” And by people, he means the “best of the best,” including high-profile bigwigs—choreographers for Jennifer Lopez, Janet Jackson and Prince are regulars—who lounge in the second and third tiers of Key Club, peering down at the explosion of experiments-in-dance playing out below.
While viewing performances, Brian Friedman, Cris Judd, Eddie Garcia and other choreographers of their caliber not only recognize talent, but they also use Carnival as an opportunity to work with new dancers. While choreographers typically form “families” of dancers that they work with time and again, the monthly ball is a venue where new performers are often employed. “Choreographers and dancers don’t get paid for the show, but dancers get to perform for working choreographers under circumstances where they wouldn’t ordinarily be involved,” says Ysais. “Since directors, agents and casting people attend every month, usually 25 to 30 percent of the dancers get work from the show.”
According to Ysais, any movie company that’s casting a production attends Carnival and many dancers have landed their professional start from the show—including Robert Hoffman, who was cast in “You Got Served” after he was spotted in the show. “It’s the first feature film that he was hired to choreograph, where he also had a big part—it totally launched his career,” explains Ysais. “He’s also the lead in ‘Step Up 2’ and his career is continuing to blow up.”
As a rule, studio dancers who are chosen to perform in the ball are initially spotted honing their skills in dance classes or “getting down” at clubs. “Choreographers always need fresh blood,” Ysais adds. “If you put yourself in class or participate in scholar showcases—basically if your face is out there—choreographers will get to know who you are.” The dancers that are singled out to participate in Carnival—and continue to prove themselves on stage—are not only exposed to throngs of working choreographers in the audience, all of whom continually scan for new faces and talent to hire for projects, but have an opportunity to exhibit their talent to their contemporaries. “So many people prove themselves on stage at Carnival,” Ysais explains. “The pressure is immense because you are dancing for your peers, agents and hundreds of people. It’s gnarley-high stakes every time.”
With 14 choreographers involved in Carnival each month, at least 150 dancers are given the chance to participate in every show. “The whole event has turned into a high-caliber professional showcase,” adds Ysais. “Once you break into Carnival, you raise through the ranks pretty quickly. A lot of choreographers who participate [in Carnival] also teach a class, so if you stand out in class, they are going to use you for Carnival, and if you stand out in Carnival, another choreographer will want to use you, and so on. It’s a ladder climb, to be sure.”
Ysais is rooted in southern California, but opportunities for neophyte dancers to participate in Carnival and to display their talents to industry headhunters are not limited to the Los Angeles scene. Folks on the eastern seaboard have been lining up for New York’s choreographer’s ball for five years and our neighbors across the pond have been grooving at London Carnivals for four years. Soon, there will also be regular balls in Tokyo and Down Under in Oz.
If your students are interested in commercial dance choreography, the choreographer’s ball offers a promising avenue for getting a foot in the door. “Choreographers know that this event is there for them—for giant names and the up-and-coming,” says Ysais. “You have to put yourself out there,” says Ysais. “It’s about using all of the possible avenues.”
For more information visit www.choreographerscarnival.com.