👐 JAZZ HANDS 👐

by Wendy Yang Clark

Get ready to jazz things up with our Fosse-Style Broadway Dance Workshop this Saturday! Guest teacher and triple-threat Nili Bassman will teach the iconic style of Bob Fosse, bringing his timeless moves to life on the studio floor. Here’s a short interview with Nili about her life as a Broadway dancer and actor, and what it’s like doing jazz hands night after night. 

Nili’s workshop is this Saturday, May 11th at 2:15 👐👐👐

Nili Bassman on Broadway in Chicago

Wendy: Hi Nili! So excited for your workshop this Saturday! Let’s start with your journey. How did you first become interested in dance, and what led you to pursue it as a career?

Nili: I really can't remember ever wanting to do anything else. I danced around the house from the time I could walk. My mom actually says I danced before I walked. I remember making up dances when I was just three or four. My parents put me in dance class when I was five and that was just it. I just loved it. I was extremely shy as a kid, but the one place that I wasn't shy was on stage dancing. My dance teacher was actually the one who said to my mom, “Put her in an acting class because she's very shy and I think it'll, bring it out of her”. And so my mother enrolled me in an acting class, and that was that. That was the end! I was like, oh, I'm an actor! But even before I could use my voice as an actor, I could use my body to express myself through dance.

Wendy: You've achieved so much in your career - Broadway’s Chicago, roles on Blue Bloods & The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and most recently, a lead role in the feature The Strange Dark. What role has self-confidence played in your journey, and how do you cultivate it, especially in an industry where scrutiny is often high?

Nili: I think the only thing that keeps you going in this business is self-confidence and having a village that believes in you. I think the most important thing is that your self-confidence comes from some place that has nothing to do with the industry, because if you rely on this industry for your confidence, you will be crushed. And you’ll fail. The self-confidence has to come from who you are as a person and who you surround yourself with and the way you refuel yourself, because self confidence does not come from this industry. I mean, there's adoration, and there is fame, but for very few. Neither of those is the same as having actual self-confidence as a human being. That’s what keeps you going in this business. And the confidence comes and goes, it's not a constant, it definitely comes and goes, don't get me wrong!

Wendy: It comes and goes for all of us!

Nili: Yes, for everyone!

Wendy: How do you see movement contributing to overall well-being, and how do you incorporate this philosophy into your choreography, your teaching, your art, you know… everything you do?

Nili: I mean, I'm biased! I think dance is the epitome of health and life. It’s the purest form of communication, I believe, and the purest form of expression. Because anyone can do it - you don't need another person to see you, you don't need music, you don't need words, you just need yourself and your breath and your body, whatever that is for you.

Dance has definitely kept me in shape throughout my life, kept me flexible - physically and emotionally really because it teaches discipline and confidence, and how to make a commitment to something. But most of all, for me, it's always been my most natural way of expression. Like I said, I was extremely shy when I was little, but when I was dancing, I just felt very free to be me.

Wendy: Can you tell me a little bit about what your Broadway Dance workshop will be like?

Nili: It's gonna be a lot of fun! We’ll start with a warm up, we'll do some movements in the center and across the floor to get the style of Bob Fosse a little bit more into our bodies. And then I’ll teach some choreography from the musical Chicago.

Nili backstage with her young daughter

Wendy: How long were you in Chicago?

Nili: I was in Chicago for the better part of four years and then I took six years off, had a family, did other jobs and then I came back and did it for another year.

Wendy: When you’re in a long running Broadway show like Chicago that's choreographed by a (deceased) legend like Bob Fosse, does the choreography evolve and change over time, or is it cannon and you’re dancing the numbers exactly how Fosse choreographed them years ago?

Nili: It has a general shape that is consistant because it's telling the same story. Night after night, after night, it's a brilliant story and it was brilliantly choreographed. So there's no need to reinvent the wheel. But, in the time that I was there, there were a lot changes and Ann Reinking used to come in and she would see the show periodically and say, “You know what, I'm gonna shift this, or switch these. This three counts of eight can be more interesting or cleaner.”

Anne Reinking was the original Roxy in the Broadway revival of Chicago. She was Bob Fosse's left arm. I feel very lucky that I got to work with her. She was a genius. I mean - incredible. When there were different leads coming into the show, she adjusted cheorography for different actors playing Roxie and Velma, depending on what worked best for their particular bodies. But even in the ensemble, sometimes there were extremely subtle changes (which I'll talk about more in the workshop) like, instead of two circles with your finger, we're gonna do one circle with your finger. Sometimes they were tiny and such a challenge for the mind when you have already developed that muscle memory. And then sometimes she'd come in and revamp a whole routine. I remember changing Razzle Dazzle, revamping almost the entire number at one point. And that's really fun for us. You know, when you've been doing something for a while, it's nice to shake it up a little bit!

Wendy: Thank you, Nili! Last time I danced All That Jazz was at a theater summer camp when I was in second or third grade.  We wore fishnets and a little black swimsuit and had bowler hats and canes, and it all felt very sexy!

Nili: In second grade?! Hah! Hilarious!

Wendy: I’m looking forward to revisiting it with you this weekend!