Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Stephanie Beatriz and her new musical co-stars teach us how to be better on the dancefloor.
We give a lot of attention – well-deserved attention, don’t get it twisted – to stunt performers and on-screen fighters, but we don’t give a fraction of that attention to those who have to take part in huge musical numbers on the big screen.
Big dance moves, while singing (or lip-syncing) to the song, emoting their hearts out… and then CUT! Back to the start of the scene, and do it all over again.
The cast of In The Heights had to do exactly that, and when we caught up with some of them ahead of the movie’s release, we had to commend them for their apparently endless energy!
You can check out our interview with some of the cast right here:
We needed to know how they kept their energy levels up in between long singing/dancing/acting takes, and it turns out they’re just like us, needing loads of water and coffee. Except for the one day when someone rented an ice-cream truck for the day to treat the crew, and it turns out that some of that ice-cream was alcohol flavoured. Sounds perfect!
But did they have any tips on how to be a better dancer? Asking for a friend…
Famed Broadway performer Daphne Rubin-Vega told us the following: “Behave as if you can absolutely dance. Do not even- Take it out of your mind that you can’t dance. Like, of course you can dance!”
Dascha Polanco, who you might know best from Orange Is The New Black, agreed wholeheartedly, adding: “And I think you just have to feel it. Just interpret. Use your body and just feel it. And move according to what you feel. That’s it.”
But Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Stephanie Beatriz had the best and most succinct advice: “Yeah! Also alcohol helps.”
In The Heights is released in Irish cinemas on Friday, 18 June, and we also chatted to the movie’s director Jon M. Chu, as well as the show’s Pultizer Prize-winning creators Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Hudes, and you can check out all of those interviews right here.
Check out the trailer for the new movie right here:
Clip via WB UK & Ireland
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