Putting the Steps Together

Theatre for Young Audiences productions always provide fun for the creative team because of their interesting challenges. Sometimes that means deciding what an actor playing a naked mole rat should wear onstage, or how to build a ladder to the moon. In the case of The Incredible Book Eating Boy, running through March 16 on the Julianne Argyros Stage, choreographer Annie Yee was tasked with choreographing dances for seven songs written in a wide variety of musical styles.

“When I first got the tracks, I really loved listening to them,” Yee said, identifying musical theatre, pop, funk and gospel as the genres. “They were fun and varied, which allowed me to create movement for these different styles.”

If you keep your eyes peeled during each musical number, you’ll notice an even wider variety of dance styles, including jazz, classic musical theatre, pop locking, 1970s social dance, gospel and contemporary.

It doesn’t stop there, either. In the number “I Ate a Book,” you’ll see a nod to tap with a time step, and kids might recognize a “Fortnite” tribute. In the titular number “The Incredible Book Eating Boy,” there’s a gospel section with movement that was inspired by Alvin Ailey’s Revelations, a modern dance piece performed to African American spirituals.

Yee also incorporated a little bit of ASL into the dance choreography.

“I love ASL because it feels so much like dance,” she said. “The ASL choreography is incorporated into the dance and will highlight key lyrics such as the title of the play.”

Part of the inspiration for that choice? Yee’s personal experience dancing hula. In hula—and indeed many other cultural dances, including some from India and South Asia—specific hand gestures and movements tell the story.

Encouraged by her mother to learn all types of dance from many cultures, Yee has been dancing since the age of 5. Besides hula, her studies included the standard jazz, ballet and tap, but also branched out into the circus, Chinese dance and modern dance. She received a merit scholarship to Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the largest modern dance company in the United States.

“All these types of dance and my experience influence all my work as a choreographer,” said Yee, whose varied experience also includes her time as a Rams cheerleader and Laker Girl. “I feel knowing many types of dance gives me the opportunities to create choreography for many kinds of shows from musicals, to Shakespeare, to period and cultural dance.”

Children’s theatre has a wealth of opportunity. With so many different songs, Yee said, “There are more chances to create different types of dance in one show. I love doing them all!”