PC: You appear at the memorable wedding in TWILIGHT: BREAKING DAWN PART 1, do you not?
PB: [Laughs.] Yes. Actually, it was really funny – as you know, Bill Condon, the director, wrote CHICAGO and so he brought me in to choreograph TWILIGHT: BREAKING DAWN PART 1 and PART 2. And, so, I showed up on set and we were all having a good time, and, then, when I showed up on set for the last day of filming, where we were doing the big wedding scene, and I go into my trailer and I find there is a suit there. So, I say to the AD, “Why is there a suit in there?” and, she says, “Bill Condon wants you to get into wardrobe.” And, I say, “What?! What do you mean ‘wardrobe’?!” And, so I put on the suit and I go onset and Bill is there and he puts his arm around me and says, “I got you in CHICAGO and now I’m gonna put you in this one.” And, so, he put me in the scene.
PC: Was the dancing in TWILIGHT: BREAKING DAWN all Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, specifically in the wedding scene? That 360 camera shot is so sweeping and beautifully rendered.
PB: Oh, yeah. That was all them one hundred percent. We had rehearsal with them for that scene specifically. Also, there was a Steadicam pass that we did that was actually with Jackson Rathbone and Ashley Greene dancing and they were actually doing swing dancing and flipping around and all of that stuff, believe it or not! [Laughs.] They all had fun – we all had a lot of fun on that scene. I loved working on TWILIGHT.
PC: What a great story.
PB: Yeah, it was really fun. It was nice of him to do that.
PC: How did you get involved with Bill on TWILIGHT in the first place? Was it just the CHICAGO connection?
PB: I’m not sure - we never actually met on CHICAGO, but my girlfriend Sharon Leal was in DREAMGIRLS that he directed so she had known him. I had never met him before TWILIGHT, though. One of the producers called me - I just got a random phone call one day and someone said, “Bill Condon saw your material and he would like to meet with you.” And, so, I was actually filming the TV series HELLCATS at the time, in Vancouver, so I just went over to the TWILIGHT set and I could not believe how hi-security it was - I mean, you could not get on the set!
PC: Even if you were welcome - or invited, as you were?
PB: There were seriously security guards everywhere, but, luckily, my name had been left at the door so I got in.
PC: What was the atmosphere on set like?
PB: Well, I got there and went to the theater that they were shooting in and we all clicked - we just jammed and it all came together right away. I mean, the next day I was working on the film!
PC: That fast.
PB: Yeah - it was a really great experience and they really set up a nice environment for everybody on that. Bill, because of his musical background, really respects the choreography and the choreographer. There is a new surge of dance going through film and TV right now - within the last seven years, really - and there is a new respect for choreographers. Prior to that, I felt a lot of the time like I was being hired as crew, whereas now you are being hired as an artist.
PC: You get more respect.
PB: Yeah - especially on a set that Bill Condon is in charge of; he really has that respect and the reverence for theatre and theatre practices like that.
PC: Is that not always the case on a movie set?
PB: Definitely not! You know, sometimes you go on to a movie set or a TV set - like I have in the past - and you are recognized as a crew member and not as an artist. Now, I think that as a result of these shows about dancing being more in the forefront and more up on the screen in front of people, it’s actually been a really good thing for up-and-coming choreographers; they get more respect.
ENJOY.. Miko XD
GOD bless you
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