The Joy is in the Work: Remembering Ann Reinking (FULL FEATURE)

The actress and tony award-winning  choreographer Ann Reinking has died   Mourning the loss of a legend tony award-winning  choreographer actress and dancer ann reinking has died   She performed on Broadway for nearly 30  years first gaining fame in Chicago in 1977.   Nearly 20 years later she reprised her role as  Roxie Hart opposite co-star Bebe Neuwirth There she is on stage with Chicago co-star Bebe  Neuwirth, Reinking was known for her bold style of dance seen in the revival of  Chicago Ann Reinking was 71 years old Ann Reinking was a Tony award-winning  choreographer an iconic broadway actress and dancer She was the star of movies like  Annie and All That Jazz What do you may not know is that she was a passionate arts  educator an artistic director a mentor to  several generations of young people this is that  story this is her story told by us her students it's an unspoken law or rule in the world of dance you pass on what you know   this particular craft is at its best when it's passed from one person's  hands to the next with all the opportunities she   had she chose to funnel so much of her passion  and time into building up future generations of   artists and now i realize you can see it you can  experience and investments on stages and screens   and in classrooms all over the world shifting the  world the way she taught us the way she showed us so annie i saw an advertisement in dance magazine  for broadway theater project installment   and was on the faculty and i thought well  i might as well audition so i sent him   a tape i did who's got the pain  from dan yankees i met enron king   at broadway theatre project in 2000 and i remember  her walking into the room and just being in awe   of this legend she radiated this positive energy  she was eloquent and she was hysterically funny thank you it took a lot to get into this where do i start with hand ranking i remember the  first time i saw her i went to the abt studios for   the audition for broadway theater project um i  remember going up to the fifth floor i think and   peeking through there was like you know a  little hole about that big peeking through   and seeing ann practice hot honey rag i was  like mesmerized i mean i had already known   who she was from annie danced around  my house like i was grace farrell   it was that moment that i saw her in her black  mock turtleneck gorgeous pants that were tied   around just below the calf and then it kind of  bell down a little bit you just saw her gorgeous   legs and just all of her lines and it was just  the most beautiful thing i'd ever seen and ranking   enters the room and it sent a chill down my spine  because again being in the same room with somebody   that you had always dreamed of working with  and getting that opportunity was was absolutely   terrifying i was number 12 they called my number  i was at the center of the pyramid one two three   the first eight counts of music my feet slip  out from under me my body hits the deck and   i faceplant full on youtube fail video and i  remember looking up annie stopping the music   in the silence yelling are you all right and i  remember thinking why is this happening to me   and also feeling like the coolest person in the  room that n ranking had just stopped the world   to make sure i was okay being a teenager is just  a darn tough time it's just all there is to it under normal circumstances and then on top of that  they are on their own in a three-week what is a   jokingly called a boot camp for singing dancing  and acting and it actually is probably quite true   they start at 8 30 in the morning and finish  at 10 30 at night it's pretty merciless you   have to really like doing this otherwise  it would just be you know a camp from hades but they seem to like it a lot because they   did it all day and all night with uh three  breaks for uh absolutely scrumptious cafeterias i'll try to distill the experience of being one  of the first 50 members of the musical theater   project of tampa and then returning three more  summers i learned how important it was to do   everything in your power to make  something the best it can be i learned so much from ann it shapes everything i  know about being a performer and who i am and also   as a teacher as well she could be hard she could  be demanding and possible with those demands at   times but she never lost her sense of humor and i  think what she taught me is that you become what   you model if you are modeling uh um mediocrity  or laziness that's what you embody if you're   remodeling excellence if you're constantly  striving and raising the bar impossibly high   we may never actually reach that  particular goal but the joy comes   and the process of trying to strive for  that i didn't think i would get picked   but i was picked and we had the greatest  time ever i can't even begin to tell you   i was a number that was choreographed by  miss ann reinking and that was memorable i still remember the song till  this day uh oh new orleans is a   great big old southern town with  hospitality you will surely find i just remember having the time of my life and  suddenly at one point i got into a little trouble   i broke curfew uh they were like hey you broke  curfew uh you're acting mischievous we're gonna   have to send you home and and ryan king saved  my life she said jerry i see something in you   but you got to see it too i'm going to give  you a chance to stay and prove yourself   and i worked as hard as i could and made sure  i didn't break any more rules and after that   about a month or two later she invited me to  uh the gregory hines show this experience was   mind-blowing for me because gregory hines has  been my idol since i was you know two years   old there's a story that is infamous among  those of us who were at mtp in the first   few years we were running through the showcase  and it was late at night it was probably 11 at night at one point and stood up and she stopped  the rehearsal course okay let's stop butt   stop let's stop there made the musician stop she  made every dancer stop she made everyone watching   stop and listen she told us that you have a great  responsibility as a performer she said it is like   you are a physician and the number is your patient  and then she said you just let the [ __ ] patient   die we're gonna take it from the top places and  everybody scattered to places and when i tell you   none of us could breathe that woman knew how  to make you hear a lesson it was one of the   greatest gifts of my life to not mince words  like she did she passed on to us as teenagers   the privilege and the responsibility we have as  as performers i first attended mtp or btp back   when it was called mtp in the summer of 1994 and  i was in two pieces that i remember the first was   a little song directed by anne with myself and  six other people and we sang if i if i had a   million million dollars tell you what i do i give  some part of something to everyone a nickel the   unicycles it was a really really sweet piece  i remember just being like this real feel-good   sweet piece so one of the first songs that i did  at the broadway theater project was low down blues   from the musical you be by you blake sung by  gregory hines now i knew who gregory hines was   way before i came to the project he was somebody  i looked up to coming up as a kid and knowing that   he was going to be there that year and i was going  to get a chance to sing the song that he's saying   i knew i had to handle my business and under the  direction of people like anne ranking and debra   mc waters and mary walker they brought out of me  something that i didn't even know i had in myself going through a process with someone at  the musical theater project especially ann   is it's a work of art i was always like hey what's up what's going on  and she was always like hey what's up how you   doing uh you still doing that thing you're gonna  be in my number later right you're gonna give me   that sofa stuff you're gonna do the riffs you're  gonna do the rides you're gonna do your thing   i'm like yeah it'll be she was just  always a very happy person around me   and um i love that because it was always a breath  of fresh air to come into one of her classes   i trusted her to be able to do some of  the things that made me feel uncomfortable   so i was like ah it's not really my  comfort zone it's not really what i do   but if you're smiling and you're supporting me and  you're saying give me the the atta boy i'ma do it   and i feel cool with doing it if it was somebody  else i'd be like no sorry can't do it not my thing   i'm gonna be in the back probably out of all the  years i attended the broadway theater project   my first year was my most favorite performance  and that was in a song called wrong note rad she taught us such a sense of comedy  and humility and how to be humble it was   pretty amazing and ranking changed who we were  as artists young aspiring professionals she gave   us a sense of maturity that maybe we weren't  ready for at the time it developed it came out   and in everything i do and everything i've  ever done i have always lived by her words   to be versatile to do everything she taught  us this sense of excellence that i don't think   you can acquire from just any old place one of my favorite memories was during the second  year i was there there was a talent night it had   nothing to do with the final showcase me and  two of my friends john holly and patrick wilson   were the mcs for this event and at one point  i presented and ranking with the can of spam   as though it were some kind of award it  was gagging of course but she was visibly   and audibly moved by this can of spam  and she said you guys don't understand   when i was just starting out trying to break  into the business i lived on cans of spam   i was taken aback by this expression of  truthfulness and vulnerability an anecdote i   knew nothing none of us knew anything about this  moment of humanity i'll never forget that any   nor you years later i appeared as sir benavir  and the broadway production of spamalot   coincidence i don't know i've got a lot of  memories of the lovely and ranking but but   there's one that sticks out to me above all others  because it resonated through my entire career   and i mean that and it was something very simple  and she probably wouldn't even remember that   she said it to me but it happened in 1993 i  was a camper at the broadway theater project   and i already at the time felt a little old  i was on the older side i think i turned 21   that summer and and a lot of the time i felt like  because i was in theater school between my second   third year i was an actor and a singer and  and and yet there were all these kids and   much younger than me that were incredible dancers  and i felt really out of place but i knew that   this would only make me a better all-around  performer so i embraced it and i loved every   second that i had to take her classes politicians  morticians and i have reached the conclusion one day uh after class i was in the hallway  changing and and i think she could probably tell   that i was internalizing some of my frustration  like i just felt like i was a little beat down   but i was trying really hard and she said to me  she came up and said you know i turn she goes   you could be a dancer i just kind of looked at her  and kind of tried to smile it off and she she just did that if you want and walked away nobody  else really heard it and it didn't seem   particularly profound she just said you could  do this if you wanted to but what i realized   and i i went back to that moment so many times  in my career because as actors and as performers   all we want is to feel comfortable right  you want to feel comfortable to fail   you want to feel comfortable obviously to succeed  but you need to be in a space where you can give   everything that you've got and feel open and she  provided that environment she wasn't telling me i   was gonna be in a dance company but she knew  that if i worked hard at it i would succeed   and so i carried that with me throughout  my entire career i still do honestly um   and i always love joking with people well  you know anne reagan thinks i can be a dancer foreign by the end of 1995 summer season the project  had outgrown tampa preparatory school on the   campus of the university of tampa taking a  different direction and continuing to grow   at the university of south florida finally  in 1997 the musical theater project that we   knew and loved then became broadway theater  project which is still going strong today and i attended btp in 1998 99 2000 and 2001.   some of the best three weeks of my life when  i was 16 years old i was honored to dance my whole relationship changed with annie that year  and she really became a mentor and a champion of   my talents don't get me wrong i was still very  much starstruck by andy and i have the journal   entries to prove it on july 23 2000 workshop was  fab gwen surprised us all and showed up and today   anne asked for tyler haynes and i to go down the  floor first and i wrote on the 24th and played   with my hair and had me tell my school adventure  to the tv guy anne gave a speech that made me cry   because it was about being able to watch us grow  and see how we've matured and how we have lifelong   friends from the project and our rehearsal anne  let noah wear her wrap and now her pants smell   like anne no joke and gave me the confidence in  the tools that i use every day and this little   girl from nebraska earned her equity card a month  later and i made my broadway debut at the age of 21. she devised a segway that had to get us  from new york new york from on the town   into skid row from little shop of horrors in which   hundreds of frenzied new yorkers crossed  all around the stage and then exited   every which way and every witch wing until  just one tiny busy new yorker remaining me she made a little vaudevillian  step an hand ranking step   just for me and built a long percussive sequence  on the spot with jim rungo our wonderful drummer i walked all over the stage appearing again and  again to almost exit but not and then turn on a   dime and march a little more and then turn again  until i finally went all the way upstage turned   the corner sharply walked all the way across the  stage bringing on the cast of skid row until they   were lined up across the upstage edge ready for  their number and i continued on my way exit stage   right wasn't that i had a solo it wasn't that  i wanted to be a star that i wanted to show off   it was that annie trusted me she entrusted  this moment to me this tiny wordless moment   in which 13 year old me strutted around the  stage and said both so much and nothing at   all it was a lesson for me in character physical  comedy mood tempo pacing structure flow surprise   and it was as defining a moment in my life as  i can remember from that moment no question   i wanted to be a choreographer i wanted to be  a director i wanted to be a maker i wanted to   make some young dancer a moment like annie had  made for me hello i'm megan reinking i was in a   number called shoeless joe from damn yankees  i was the lead soloist of that lots of ideas is that number where it lined up in the show uh  was right before a big tap dance number and all   of the dancers that were in shoeless joe were  also in that one so she had to figure out a way   to get everybody off the stage  change their shoes and come back and i was the only one really who i think  that wasn't in that next number so what   made the most sense was to have me stay on stage  sing a reprise of the big solo of shoeless joe   while everybody else left changed  our shoes so they could get back on   i have a zero filter on my face so anything  i'm thinking or feeling just shows very clearly   here and my confused face am i really trying  hard to figure things out also looks a little   incredulous judgy she explained it very  quickly i'm standing there under a lot of   pressure really trying hard to figure it out  and giving her probably what looked like a   what are you talking about face my name  again is megan reinking no relation out   of nowhere she's yelling at me in front of  the entire teaching staff everyone is there   don't ever look at a director like that don't  ever look like you're confused just figure it out   i am not sending you to new york city with my name  with that kind of a work ethic so i'm giving you   a huge opportunity so don't [ __ ] it up i simply  said okay i just want to know what you want me to   do i'm confused and i want to get it right now she  made a complete 180 after i responded like that   and i remember even walking off of the rehearsal  space to some of the other students there   and seeing they're just stunned expressions  i remember somebody saying how did you not   just burst into tears and run out of the room i  would have i would have ran out of the room and   that hadn't occurred to me because that wasn't  personal that was business that was rehearsal   you know that was about the work you know what  i like about this is everybody's different   there's nobody who looks alike there's no  homogeneous look it's just like life itself   i try and mix it right off the bat there are all  types of bodies and i respect all the bodies it's   not this kind of body that wins or that kind of  body that wins or this kind of face that wins   or that kind of face that wins it all wins when  i first experienced ptp it was all very new to   me but the magic was every time that i opened  my mouth every time that i shared the response   was magnanimous it literally transformed me  the response affirmed and confirmed me and   it was actually actually the first time where i  felt that my black body my black life mattered   because the performing arts school that i was  kicked out of they would ask me well why do you   always do something black i was like what do you  mean you know but august wilson james bond why do   you have to do things like by then why could you  do crypto debts or you know shakespeare and i was   like well if i don't who will but when i went  to btp they welcomed all of me like all of who i   was and where i come from and it was really  magical for me annie was such a gift to this   universe i'm so fortunate that i got to experience  her magic and her sacrifice to the younger   generation you ain't never done nothing for me  but take now it's my turn i'm asking for my gifts   i showed you the rivers of jordan for nothing i  ain't walked through the battle of the south of   death dividing on the other side i'm asking for  my gifts i'm standing here ready to collect i'm   staying here fully by the fire the holy ghost  and i ain't feeling nothing i'm asking for my   givings i want the salvation that belongs  to me i don't want nobody else i'll go on tell you a story i remember when i did btp finding a quiet moment  and talking to her and she asked me about what i   wanted to do with my life and i told her that i i  didn't know i wanted to be a performer but i also   thought maybe i wanted to be a writer and  she asked me why i felt like i had to choose   between those two things and she started  rattling off the list of all the people   that she knew who who did both and more and  she just instilled in me she kept saying to   me she says don't limit yourself just just try  things just just just try and and you'll find out   in the trying what you're capable of doing uh  and it was you know it wasn't the kind of um   speech from someone in her position to someone  younger that felt sort of canned or wrote or   trite it really felt like it came from her and  um and it came out of her ability to see me   uh and in that moment i really did feel seen and  i felt heard and and important and and i like to   think that to anne in that brief moment that we  have together that i was i was so impressed and   challenged by the top high level students around  me by the amazing teachers and above all i was   impressed by the noble genuine generous and super  professional and ranking who taught us so much   about musical theater i especially remember  the final show that we did i was very proud   to play a very funny role in a monty python's  classic sketch um a role of a big movie producer oh and it was a new experience for me to play  in english and to be funny in english and i   remember that it was a blast the audience loved  it and laughed so much and i will never forget   that experience that amazing summer back in  2000 in tampa florida and so thank you btp   and thank you and ranking forever someone  begged her to do the roxy monologue from chicago   and it did take quite a while  for her to give in but she did   and hey you can look at this monologue on a  piece of paper it's not like it's shakespeare yes but when anne ranking opened her  mouth as roxy hart the room stopped   hello some guys are like mirrors and when i see myself i'm always the kid oh you've got another guy like that i just have never witnessed joyous  bubbly creativity and brilliance up close we're just her approach to that little monologue has affected  me my entire career the first time i ever took   andy's class i was a kid it was a broadway  theater project i was so excited and i'm in a   room full of like the best dancers in the country  she gave us a combination to do across the floor   and i will never forget it because it was  not really a combination it was basically   just walking it might have been an arm here and an  arm there by and large didn't look like dancing to   me or what i knew of dancing to be we all start  to do this non-combination across the floor and   and she's like i know what you're  thinking you're all thinking we can do   quadruple pirouettes why isn't she giving us that  well i want to see what you can do with nothing obviously she's a legend she's got stock  quality you could feel it uh a mile away she   has so much heart so much love and passion for the  arts and for the future of the arts her passing   the torch onto us is an unbelievable gift and i  don't think anybody's done anything quite like   it before i don't know if anyone will be able to  to match it she set the bar incredibly high for   how artists support the next generation  the friendship is saying and it means   good in your own skin communication is key not  only for the teachers to communicate this to a   kid but also for a kid to understand that what  they have to say is valuable that the techniques   that they're learning in this school is only to  give them more vocabulary to express themselves   i met him at bradley theater project when  i was 26 years old i was kind of towards   the end of my ballet career and i really  wanted to make the transition into broadway   so my friend sarah ellen minskoff recommended  this school she found it in dance magazine it   was above and beyond my expectations what was  that what i was exposed to in three weeks time   so much so that when i went back to my ballet  job i made it a point to work on my voice for   about two years with mary walker working on  my voice getting ready for the transition   hopefully into broadway i was so inspired by the  incredible students that were there ready for   work and many of them have gone on to incredible  careers um my first roommate was lauren notaro who   is now a major broadway choreographer annie's  teachings really had a lot more to do with um   a lot longer than just my time at broadway theater  project with her it was watching her have a full   career watching her have her own ups and downs  watching her persevere sometimes being in style   sometimes falling out of fashion and annie  just kept going kept teaching kept working and you see when you're in the road that it feels  a lot as an artist that things you know that   there's lots of stops and turns and zigzags but  it's when you look back at a long long life a long   career that you see just how much you've done and  how much you've accomplished and how much how much   how much she has also passed on all of this work  and yet to me what is this quintessence of dust   man delight's not me no no woman neither so by  your smiling you seem to save something so i   am eternally grateful to the great and ranking  um for not only her dancing and her teaching   but her continued lessons that i think all of  us will come back to with each stage of our   own artistry we'll see another part of  what she has taught us down the line oh one of the things i'll always remember  about annie is for the performance   and of course she has the greatest legs i mean  no one will ever top those legs and so for the   for the final performance of btp she would always  wear like this kind of big sweater but then this   like micro mini skirt and woman rocked it i mean  nailed the mini skirt look and to the point where   i realized thinking back i have always worn  a mini skirt to premiere be it a mini dress   or a mini skirt i i totally stole that look  and i now wear mini skirts too oh my premiere thanks annie the picture that i submitted of  me with ann even talking about it and shaking   because it took all my strength to ask her  for a picture all of it i was so scared of her   but i really wanted to be able to document  that i had been around her and that's how   much i respected her and how much she inspired me  and thinking about it i start shaking again and   i'm that teenager again going up to anne shaking  and saying and can i please have a picture with   you and her being like of course crystal is  like oh she said my name like she talked to me she was just my hero and when she took that  picture with me i remember touching her hand and um just feeling so much love and so much inspiration and happiness  to be near her just near her i first met annie when i was 15 at broadway  theater project and throughout my entire career   whether it was probably theater project for years  as an apprentice and then as an assistant um or   through fosse the first non-equity national tour  to chicago where i luckily met my husband annie   was a part of my life she was a beautiful soul  that inspired all of us and i am forever forever   grateful for her teaching for her technique for  her love for understanding and just her beauty of   life i think james mountain was teaching  that day and all of us were just hungry and   tired but we were very inspired and we had just  finished up and was giving us some sort of like   last minute information before we went off to  dinner and we had rehearsals that night we started   to just still listening but we just started  to gather our stuff like our backpacks and our   um bags and our rollers and our shoes and did not  like that and was very bristled that all of these   young adults were disrespecting her that way she  stands up out of her chair and says did i say we   were done and a thunderstorm comes crashing into  the auditorium right when she says it foreign   that all of us are terrified and anne is even  shocked by her own power i don't even know   all of us stop moving then start laughing  because we were in for a lecture that day   but because that broke the tension she just  giggled and was like go to dinner you guys when i think back on annie the first  thing i think about is her energy when she   loved something that you did oh my gosh it was  right there right there on the surface and you   could feel it because she was so alive so present  so in the moment and it was contagious you won and   he wanted more and more of that and we all worked  so hard at broadway theater project to just give   our best so that maybe we'd have just a little  bit more of that bit of annie because it was just intoxicating oh so ann called me out in a song i was singing and  she said you're still playing the coquette   whoa so i dropped the ingenue crap and um and i  took that direction with me everywhere after that while i only knew annie for four or five years i  still think about her today and i think about her   whenever i start a new show if i'm directing  a new show i often think about her in big life   changes i think about the work i think about how  passionate she was about getting the work right   and how the true joy happens in the rehearsal  room here i am learning from and ranking   learning passion heart love of  the craft and learning to love   each class you're gonna go to each  plie neck roll each vocal exercise she really helped a lot of us pursue our dreams  and do things that we never thought we were going   to do i remember the love she had for all of  her students how she nurtured her students and   recognized the talents and everyone no matter  what they were and appreciated those talents   i remember specifically one day during a dance  class that she wasn't teaching but she came in   to watch we finished the combination  and she looked at us and she said no   you're not really hitting the precision and the  detail and from the chair she was sitting in she   shot her weapon-like legs out into this arched  pose and a shockwave went through the whole   dad's studio and just blew everyone away and  i think every dancer in that studio that day   their talents went up about two notches  just from that demonstration now quiet ah i would be very happy if there's a  star that comes out of the project   but i don't really care what would make  me the happiest is when i look at these   kids down the line that they  can handle the craft of living one of my years of broadway theater project i was  assigned a sonnet and i walked across the stage   and i couldn't remember some of the words annie  and some of the other faculty members were out   in the the house of the tampa performing arts  center which was the largest theater i'd ever   performed or rehearsed in in my life i was so  scared and ashamed and frustrated that i was   having trouble remembering my  lines annie just didn't seem   flustered at all she didn't seem bothered at  all she just she just seemed to have this faith   that i would get it she was very soothing she  didn't add to my stress she but she also didn't   you know cut it out cut the number uh she didn't  let me off the hook and but she really believed in   me i feel like was most important was it created  a reference point for me of number one i can make   my mistakes and and get back up on the horse  and number two um i can deliver under pressure is i was doing free to be you and me with 70 other  people and we were running around in an amoeba   of course and then once we like nailed our  traffic in we were running the number and   i messed up and just like ran right into somebody  so we stopped and anne just like looks at me i   don't know what i said you know she was just like  fix it my eyes started watering and she just looks   right at me straight in the eyes like with her  like big scary beautiful blue eyes and says   don't you dare cry oh my gosh yeah try not  to cry when you're 15 and embarrassed and   it's like you're the second time away from home  um but that really yeah just snapped and stuck   with me and you know i think helped me become a  professional the second year i came back i was 15   the day that we got there i found out that miss  ranking had put me in her number it was called   rag she had just created it for the missouri  state ballet it was part of the sweet candor it was goofy and it was fun  it was kind of like you know   none of the very like sexy sultry bossy stuff  that we know her for it was much more silly   i was able to serve as her dance captain  and assistant down there on one of the   ballets that she was creating when she  was working on this ballet with us um   which i love that she called this you know  commercial dance style of ballet was just like   that was her world that was her embodiment  as a dancer and she's so valued technique what it meant to work with miss reinking i had  seen how exacting she was and how terrifying she   could be so i was terrified i was terrified  to be in this number but i'd also seen the   incredible joy and generosity and love she  brought to every single thing that she did huh i still don't think i've ever worked that hard  in my life it's because everybody in that room   was so honored to be there what was great was  when we were working together she just kept   advising me on how to be the best dance captain  possible how to be the best mentor possible   to these younger and my age dancers of the  time it was just so impressive to watch her   mentor every single one of us into creating a the  value system for the next generation of dancers   i know like myself so many of us have a special  place in our hearts for miss anne ryan king   and she means a lot to a lot of different people  people are gonna remember her as an amazing artist   a mentor a friend a teacher an inspiration but  she should also be remembered as amazing comic   there was a year broadway theater project  where she loved bonnie bishop's impersonation   of mary katherine gallagher at the dorms  i guess we were all messing around and i   started uh imitating that skit from saturday  night live that molly shannon used to do mary   katherine gallagher she was the awkward teenager  that would do really like physical comedy but   she'd always like fall over at the end and show  her ass or you know she'd get real nervous and   put her fingers in her armpits and all this  anyways i was doing it for the kids and they   thought it was funny bonnie would get up and  do it whenever we had a break or we needed   some comic relief from our late night rehearsals  well bonnie was going to do it for a workshop i   wish there was footage of it hopefully some will  turn up i hope there's a video of that somewhere first i think anne was mortified because she was  looking at me and you know i was doing the moves   but i was doing them as mary katherine gallagher  and i think at the beginning she was watching me   like oh my god why is this girl dancing in  front of anybody how did she get into this program i think ann realized oh it's a joke and  then she just bawled her eyes out crying she was   laughing so hard and anne ryan king decided to get  up and do the impersonation right alongside bonnie it was a lesson in comedy obviously it  was a lesson and giving yourself fully   over to the character with no regards  for your own safety and it paid off in   dividends because still to this day it was  the funniest thing i've ever seen in my life annie wouldn't accept anything other than  incredible and there was one number that all   of the boys were doing to give a man enough rope  and i remember thinking that it looked pretty good   but it was not up to her standards and she let it  go another week and she looked at it again after   had been rehearsals for another week maybe  not even another week maybe a couple of days   and it still had not come as far as she wanted  it to be and she said okay we're pulling it from   the show and she said it with just you know  it didn't matter how much time had been put   into it how much effort it was not up to her  standards therefore it was not going to be   put into this production and that really stuck  with me that the product that we are producing   um it doesn't only say something  about us as the performers   that it says something about our producers and  the creative team that are putting it together   and that we only want to be showing our best work  and if it isn't our best work then it needs to go   back to the drawing board and we need to continue  working on it until we get it right there's so   many fun things i one lesson that i always think  of too is anne was never afraid to move slow and now look if i dance like anne or look  like anne i'd probably move really slow too   i would spend as much time on stage as possible she knew how to build something slowly  that would create suspense and intensity and   even it could be a comedic moment that built up  to it slowly she could really milk those things she would always say protect your downside  in other words like it's not good to just be   good at what you're good at what aren't you  good at what needs work like bring that up   because you are all of that you are that whole  yeah that stuck with me protect your downside what i loved about broadway theater project is  they always kind of pushed you to work on your   weaknesses which is super hard in high school when  you're performing in front of your peers but that   is something she instilled in me was like ashley  you were born to sing but you can dance and you   can act and you have to work on it but you can do  it in my second year i'll never forget she cast me   as one of the leads and don't tell mama and it  was a big dancy number and i was so freaked out   and i went up to her which i don't even know why  i had the um guts to do so but i said i don't i   don't think i this was right for me i don't think  this i'm i have to you know dance like you and   sing like somebody else and and she goes ashley  why would you put yourself in a box when the rest   of the world is going to do that for you and i  still get choked up thinking about it because   she's right as we all know the world will put  you where they think you are but if you tell   the world who you are then you get to choose  and that in that moment i remember being so   moved and i went and i learned the choreography  and i have to say i looked kind of good doing it give a working girl a chance and i was proud  of myself did i grow up to be a fosse dancer   no but i grew up to be me and i danced on a  broadway stage i tapped on a broadway stage   i've done monologues on a broadway  stage all because she told me i could   at a very very young age i will never forget  that gift that she gave me the gift of just to be   myself in an orlando sentinel interview anne noted  that at the broadway theater project we teach the   emotional and the psychological ramifications of  having to sell yourself and how to handle it and   we teach the political side now she didn't just  mean the politics of show business but also life   see at btp the students have often studied  material that did not shy away from the   complex issues and in particular material with a  strong social conscience please say it again peace peace i have a dream that one day my four little  children will be able to live in a nation where   they would not be judged by the color of their  skin but by the content of their character and so   my fellow americans ask not what your country can  do for you but what you can do for your country   with malice toward none and charity for all  let us strive to bind up the nation's wounds   and to help out those who have borne this  battle and their widows and their children black men and white men jews gentiles protestants  and catholics we'll be able to join hands and   sing an old negro spiritual free last friend  laughs thank god almighty we are realized i   am not a drug addict i want i need your money  i could be out robin and stealing right now i   don't want to be doing that and i'm sure you don't  want that either i'm sorry my clothes aren't clean   i'm sorry i'm home i'm sorry i don't have a job  i'm sorry i have to interrupt your afternoon   but i don't have a choice i have to ask  for your help i can't change my life   you can please please book in your hearts and do  the right thing thank you had a special way of   sensing the exact thing one of her students  needed to work on in that specific moment   in order to continue their growth and she  would often give individual assignments like   handing a student a recording of a vintage i  love lucy episode or a jack cole dance piece   from a tv variety show and simply say can  you go learn this i think it'll be great now when i think about anne ranking one of the  many things i remember is her giving me some   of the best advice which was to become a  triple threat she said if you can dance   as well as you sing and act you will always work  that advice has kept me in this business to this   day and i am forever grateful for the director she  was to me the choreographer friend and mentor and   for that advice ann created this school basically  to teach us to discipline ourselves and to show   us you know this is what professionals do this is  what it looks like she took it very seriously and   she taught me to take myself and my art seriously  she was a model for here's what making a living   in the arts looks like that left a huge impression  on all of us because you know at that age you're   just wondering like can i do this one of  her other favorite expressions was to be an   artist is to be a salmon swimming upstream you  know you just are constantly swimming upstream   and maybe you're swimming upstream and it feels  difficult because you're looking for a job or you   don't feel like your your abilities  are matching up with your aspirations   or maybe it's an internal struggle you know maybe  you're lucky enough to like reach some level of   quote unquote success where you feel like a little  bit stable as an artist you feel maybe financially   stable or you have some recognition or some fame  but even if you get to that place you still have   the internal struggle of like your ego and your  um self-doubt you know that stream that current   to swim up against and uh but you just gotta keep  doing it if you're an artist that's what you do   i'm afraid that you'll play lonely games too games  you can't win because you'll play against you   all alone whether you like it or not  alone will be something you'll be   quite a lot we're all brought up with fairy  tales i have a real issue about fairy tales i   think fairy tales are good because of a lot  of the imagery that's involved working out   problems how do you get to love romantic  love which is the next step for a child   the only trouble is you've found romantic  love you quote unquote live happily ever after   the quote i think should be and they  continue to solve their problems together i met annie ranking when i was 14  at the musical theater project and my first impression of her other  than the fact that she was in ranking   was her generosity and her light and  her love for the work for the art she took me under her wing i remember  feeling like that feeling a sense of i just remember feeling there was an understanding  that my life might change here it might be altered   for the long run and um and that's exactly what  happened i leave you've just finished the punching   you're coming around there were so many moments  in my career where i was it felt surreal that i   was being allowed to do these roles that she did  the trumpet solo and roxy heart sweet charity and   through that time working on these roles   she she helped me she allowed space for  me to bring you know dailys into it and   at the same time gave me the the juice  and the history of what it originally was like working on roxy for example she  she would break down the monologue and   and you know take a little chunk over  here and be like okay this is what i did   but on this little part over here i feel like you  have a little bit more gwen in you over here so   i'm gonna give you what gwen did here so  she just like tailored it to me and um i mean so now i feel like she's given  me a gift of my roxy from just some dumb   mechanics wife i'm gonna be roxy  yes who says that murders not enough she's now part of the fabric of who we are and  that says a lot about who she was and still is thank you it was amazing this past fall we got  to bring anne ranking in virtually to texas state   to do a master class with my students recently  had the pleasure of taking class with her again   and to have that moment to be back in the studio  whether it was zoom or not when you're doing   that flick kick it's about the leg flashing  out and returning yeah it should be pumpkin   very fast watching her love dancers  work with us encourage us give us   positive feedback and constructive feedback you  try and hold that for as long as you can then   boom i mean the woman just loved dance she loved  dancers and artists and i will remember her deeply   in my heart as changing my life and changing  the lives of many of my close friends this woman   that has inspired so many and inspired me and  shaped who i am as an artist to get to then watch   my students learn from her and get to experience  her brilliance it was a magical moment is years everybody that she has let into this program  she knows she knows by name and she's watching   all of us and it's a lesson where i was like real  icons real legends real stars don't miss a thing   and they're always watching and looking to  who inspires them and who they can inspire   i remember when i first moved to new york and  i had one of my first auditions and i had anne   rankine's name on my resume and when i finished my  audition they said you would have made annie proud i just feel so blessed and so thankful  to her for the gifts that she gave us   you know she had so much talent and  she decided to put a program together   and share all of her knowledge and all  the people that she worked with with us and i know she's going to be greatly missed but  her legacy is going to live on through all of us   i ended up getting a pretty uh hefty scholarship  to be able to go to the program which was the only   way i could go and it was then that this world  um for me as an artist and this uh like the real   foundation really began and ranking was someone  who i when i was there she saw something in me   that i and here's the thing i didn't really i  will say in again in my teenager-ness if you will   i i didn't quite know the magnitude of who i was  really working with and i'm actually glad that   that was the case because i was able to really  be me and so it was not about this um it was just   really this like artist working with a teacher  uh a mentor and in my head you know now i look   back and i'm like like a young young artist  working with literally a legend which is just mind-blowing beside us come to me come to me because when you're holding your own time and you  remember something that you learned here   that can help your child because this the  stuff you're learning has more feelings i called her mama mama  ranking the people who went to   mtp what later became btp and if you  were one of annie's kids you were in and she trusted you and uh she gave you everything  and uh she sure gave me a lot she gave me a lot   once you became one of her kids she  never made you feel like a stranger my first year in new york i attended gwen's  memorial and it would was at least a year since   i'd seen her and the moment i walked into the  auditorium i looked down the aisle and i saw anne   and i was expecting to walk up and interrupt her  and try to remind her of who i was but at least a   hundred yards down the aisle she turned around and  said david and ran up to me and gave me a hug and   after that i would see fosse a few times  and hang out after the show by the stage   door and she'd come out and we would talk like  we're best friends catching up about old times   i am one of hundreds maybe thousands  of artists and theater makers   that have become anne ranking's legacy  and will continue to be her legacy and what's beautiful when i think about style and  and style and and as a dancer style just becomes   part of you it becomes your style because it's in  your body and all those summers imitating anne and   trying to move like her she's now in all of us  in the way that we move and it's easy to see her   in the mirror every once in a while like every  time i i try and you know like isolate a hip   or a shoulder or a finger or a focus  even that's anne that's her in in me how wonderful to admire your peers and  your friends artistically in his people that was also a great gift that ann bestowed  on all of us because you just won't find people   that are more hard working than anybody who  went to those camps and we loved it you know   because we learned really early that the  joy is in the work it's not in the accolades   or the reviews it's in the actual rehearsal  room and every chance you get to step on stage   that i heard her say over and over and over again  the joy is in the work and we found so much joy   what i've held on to is anne's quote the joy  is in the work because i think about that with   what i bring to work today and by work i mean  everything i mean you know what i'm choosing   for my livelihood the joy in the teaching the  joy in seeing the growth of the little ones   the joy of all the creation and performing  that i got to do in theme parks and   touring the work of being a mom and a wife and  a member of society that is that is valuable   work and i've never let that leave me that has  stayed with me even as my path you know got   pretty uncertain even as there was struggle  for me i never forgot that lesson that anne   imparted to me she was uh  influential and dynamic and stoic and graceful and loving she was annie ranking and she touched so  many of our hearts she touched so many of our lives changing our lives   changing every part of who we are i know for a  fact that if i hadn't met annie i would not have   had the confidence and skills to accomplish so  many of the dreams i've been able to in my career   thank you annie it was like master class  of the gods or in your case the goddesses   um i'll never forget the power the eloquence the  grace and the precision with which you gave us   our lives as young artists taught us the  value of work and that you stay until the   work is done well annie we want to carry  on your legacy you'll always be with us   your unparalleled work ethic is with  me today i will hold on to that and   i want to thank you for teaching me to  celebrate the work to celebrate the highs   after curtain call you used to invite us  into your dressing room to celebrate you'd   say good work everybody great job now let's all  have a toast and you'd pop open the champagne   and we'd all toast each other and toast the  work thank you annie cheers to you so annie   i know you are up there bubbling away dancing  with all the other legends and amazing people   that we have lost know that you are in my  heart in my soul and in my mind and i love you and my tribute to you is the space that you  created for me and so many of us when we were   young i don't even think i knew how much i needed  it but i can trace so many parts of my life now   back to that influence starting when i was 14  and this is what i'll say i use those skills   every day in my work my life in my mindset and  fortitude your example will not be forgotten   and i know all of us will carry it forward thank  you anne thank you annie thank you for being   who you are thank you for dedicating your life  to the beautiful art form of dance and dancers   and storytelling and see you up there i love  you i hope you're dancing with bob and gwen   so i just want to take a moment to say to   annie rankine the icon the legend  the inspire the mentor and my friend   thank you rest in joy rest in peace and rest in  the most dynamic world that you know how to create   you will be missed just seeing all of these  posts from people telling their stories whether   they're funny little anecdotes or touching stories  everyone has such amazing things to say about you   and it says so much about who you are as a person  as well as the legendary artist that you are   and i hope you know that thank you i love you i  want to thank you we love you annie we got annie   annie you will never be forgotten and we will miss  you always we love you anne you will forever be   in our hearts i love you and we'll never ever  forget you and annie like i said before your   legs are so long that you can be dancing down  here on earth while you're up there in heaven on sunday december 20th annie was laid to rest  the same day i went to see my family and i parked   my car on the street and looked out my window and  saw that i parked directly in front of one single   bird of paradise flower and as i stared  at it something inside me just felt that   it was annie it was annie telling me somehow  that she was okay that she had transitioned   and i shared that with a couple of my friends  one of them being anna white who i met at btp   and the next day she sent me a cnn um and ranking  in picture article and the very first picture that   appeared as i scrolled down was a picture i  had never seen before of annie and it was a   very young annie holding a single bird of paradise  flower she gave me that sign that she was at peace   and she had transitioned and she's watching  over us and she will forever be a bird of paradise sometimes people leave you halfway through may deceive you you decide what's good you decide alone but no one is alone   mother isn't here now who knows what she says nothing's quite so  clear you've lost your way you are not alone   believe me no one is alone with something's bound to linger farewell thou art too dear for my possessing  and like enough thou knowest thy estimate   the charter of thy worth gives thee releasing  my bonds in thee are all determinant   for how do i hold thee but by thy granting  and for that riches where is my deserving   the cause of this fair gift in me is wanting  and so my patent back again is swerving   i self thou gavest thy own worth then not knowing  or me to whom thou gavest it else mistaking   thy great gift upon miss prison growing  comes home again on better judgment through the maybe is have i had thee as a dream death flatter  and sleep a queen but making no such matters please join us in a moment of silence to honor our  teacher the unforgettable and ranking and to honor   the other members of our mtp and btp family so  lovingly assembled by anne who've also passed on i was going to tell a dirty joke no i can't so so so your voice is constantly with me and i  just want to thank you i feel so honored   and so blessed to have worked with you and  had the connection i had really and eric   thank you for doing this this is amazing what  a treat i love you thank you i love you too so so i attended a summer program called  the broadway theater project   run by the legendary and ranking well uh i'm  supposed to go to college but that's not definite   great meet me here tomorrow after  lunch and prepare your best 32 dollars okay and the cares that hang around me through the  week seem to vanish like a gambler's lucky streak   when we're out together dancing cheek to cheek so you

Channel: The Joy is in the Work: Remembering Ann Reinking

Views: 9,901

Rating: 4.9691119 out of 5

Keywords: ann reinking, Chicago the musical, annie the musical, annie, bob fosse, fosse, broadway, patrick wilson, michael james scott, ashley brown, dancin, choreographer, choreography, dance, dancer, dancing, documentary, film premiere, film., movie 2021, 2021 movie, new movie, david havery, chase brock, darren lorenzo

Id: aX5cx_Q1xrs

Length: 97min 6sec (5826 seconds)

Published: Mon May 17 2021