Esther Antoine grew up dancing hip-hop with her siblings and her cousins. But it wasn鈥檛 until after she graduated college with a computer science degree that Antoine realized she could take hip-hop as a class. 鈥淟ike five, six, seven, eight? Really? It鈥檚 not just something you feel?鈥� Antoine remembers thinking.
Turns out, that natural feel is the secret weapon that landed Antoine her Broadway debut as the dance captain/swing for Ain鈥檛 Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations, which currently plays Broadway鈥檚 Imperial Theatre. Sergio Trujillo鈥檚 Tony-winning choreography fuses hip-hop, b-boy, Motown mega-group, and musical theatre movement, and it鈥檚 Antoine鈥檚 job to maintain Trujillo鈥檚 vision. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e not just steps,鈥� says Antoine. 罢丑补迟鈥檚 where that feel鈥攖he soul鈥攃omes in.
As the female swing, Antoine knows the material for all of the female tracks鈥攊n order to perform them when a castmate calls out. As the dance captain, Antoine knows the material for all 16 tracks in the show鈥攊n order to give notes to the cast, lead rehearsals, and teach new company members.
By day, unlike most of her castmates, Antoine is often in rehearsal with new dancers. By night, if she鈥檚 not performing, Antoine sits at the back of the house to note the show. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really paying attention to detail,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 how the choreography is being taught and paying attention to where the hands are placed, where the feet are placed, is the head slightly tilted?鈥� There鈥檚 also a psychology of movement Antoine must transmit to every dancer to nail the aesthetic of the show and communicate the emotional world of The Temps.
For example, 鈥淚 Wish It Would Rain鈥� finds the Temptations hearing that Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. has been assassinated. 鈥淭hey stand there and then they get on their knee and they look up when they have to sing, look down when they don鈥檛 sing,鈥� Antoine says. 鈥湴粘蟛钩兮檚 one way to explain it, but there鈥檚 more behind it.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a heaviness because you just heard this news. Instead of just saying 鈥榞et down on your knee,鈥� the way you get down on your knee is as if somebody punched you in the gut,鈥� she continues. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a contraction there, but it鈥檚 an intentional one. Imagine getting that news. 罢丑补迟鈥檚 the way you get down on your knee.鈥�
And Antoine knows that level of motivation for every step and the ethos of every character in the show, especially the five Temps. 鈥淒avid Ruffin is very dynamic. Paul Williams, he鈥檚 the most full-out. Eddie Kendricks, he鈥檚 more of a crooner. Melvin Franklin has more of the laidback choreography. And Otis Williams, he鈥檚 the one who鈥檚 in the pocket. He has the style. He has a groove.鈥�
Thanks to Antoine鈥檚 eye, we can say the same of Ain鈥檛 Too Proud.
Ain鈥檛 Too Proud鈥檚 Sergio Trujillo Breaks Down His Tony-Winning Choreography of 鈥淐loud Nine鈥�:
