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Multi-Award Winning Director/Choreographer Chet Walker has garnered acclaim onstage in theaters across the globe, in television, film, music video and all commercial media.
Perhaps best known as Creator and Co-Choreographer of the Tony - and - multi-international-award-winning FOSSE , Chet has directed and choreographed original new musicals with noteworthy success, as well as having mounted extraordinary recreations of classic musical productions in close collaboration with shows’ original creators. His original works range from CIRQUE DU SOLEIL , to original dance works created for Compania Internacional de Teatro Musical , the international Jazz/Musical Theater Dance Company which he co-artistic directs in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and JACOB’S PILLOW where he serves as Director of the Jazz Program.
Chet Walker began performing on Broadway at the age of sixteen when he appeared in the first revival of On the Town . Other Broadway credits include: Lorelei, The Ambassadors, and four Bob Fosse musicals: The Pajama Game, Pippin, Dancin’ and Sweet Charity .
As director/choreographer, Chet’s extensive professional stage credits include Sweet Charity in the United States, Holland, Japan, Mexico, Norway and London’s West End, the tenth anniversary tour of La Cage aux Folles, and Dory! A Musical Portrait at the Will Geer Theater in Los Angeles. Other productions include Chicago , 42 nd Street, A Chorus Line, Follies, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Working, and Kiss of the Spider Woman.
For television, Mr. Walker assisted on the NBC special Loretta Lynne Country in the Big Apple , and is a contributing choreographer on Just Dance for Japan’s CTV. His work has been seen on THE ROSIE O’DONNELL SHOW, SHOWTIME , and several international television networks. His work is also familiar to fans of video and has been seen in several television commercials.
Chet originally conceived the 1999 Tony-Award-winning musical Fosse which also garnered an Outer Critics’ Circle Award and the Toronto Theater Alliance Award for Choreography. Other award nominations for Fosse include the L.A. Critics’ Award and the Outer Critics’ Circle Award, both for choreography, and the Olivier Award for Conceiver of Best Musical. Chet is also recipient of the L.A. Dramalogue Award for Best Choreography for Best Little Whorehouse in Texas ; Sweden’s equivalent of the Tony Award for Best Choreography for Annie Get Your Gun ; and Chicago’s Joseph Jefferson Award for his co-choreography of Pal Joey at the Goodman Theatre.
Chet is currently at work on two new musicals entitled The Reel: Valentino and Ain’t That A Kick in the Head, The Songs of Sammy Cahn. Recently, Chet directed and choreographed two world premieres in Buenos Aires Heat! A Dance Opera, and Night Chase performed by Julio Bocca and Ballet Argentina. This year he has added to his credits Singing In The Rain in Madrid, The Producers in Argentina for which he has just been nominated for an ACE Award for Best Choreography, and The Dancing Man in Norway. Later this year will see his new production of The Producers in Tel Aviv and SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS here in the states
Chet Walker is Artistic Director of 8&ah1 Productions Inc. , a nonprofit Musical Theatre Dance Company. 8&ah1 premiered an original Dance/Opera entitled Seduction Off Broadway in 2000. The following year, the company performed Confessions of Love in the Doris Duke Theater at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. Later that season, at the Ted Shawn Theater, Chet choreographed Anger, part of The Seven Deadly Sins, collaborating with other esteemed choreographic celebrities of the dance world: Robert La Fosse, Richard Move, Annie-B Parson, Lawrence Goldhuber, David Dorfman, and Jamie Bishton. Additionally, Chet Walker, in conjunction with Ricky Pashkus, has launched Compania Internacional de Teatro Musical , a new international Jazz/Musical Theater Dance Company, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This year, as Director of the Jazz Program at Jacob’s Pillow , Chet will travel to Greece, Norway, Argentina, England, France, and Italy teaching and awarding scholarships to the school at Jacob’s Pillow.
Class Description
Adv Pro MUSICAL THEATRE DANCE: Although
the class begins with a set warm-up based on accepted jazz and ballet
technique, the class quickly moves on to stress the unique styles peculiar
to the musical theatre world. Traditional and not so traditional jazz,
lyrical ballet, hot mambo, sultry tango, sweeping waltz and much more
make this class a powerful musical and stylistic experience. This class
is for the advanced and professional level only.
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