Choreographer Christopher Scott: ‘I wanted this movie to feel like we’d never seen In the Heights before’

Q&A Christopher Scott

What was your first professional theatre job?
Dancing at the American Music Awards with Mariah Carey.

What’s your next job?
Fox’s upcoming TV series The Big Leap, about a group of underdogs putting on a hip remake of Swan Lake. I’ve also co-produced the Disney movie musical Sneakerella, a modern reimagining of the Cinderella story.

What do you wish someone had told you when you were starting out?
How difficult it is. Also how to maintain relationships throughout this crazy career – so much time goes into being a choreographer. Our tools are other human beings: you have to make sure they feel good about what they’re doing and are physically taken care of. And you have to serve the director and the story.

Who or what was your biggest influence?
Charlie Chaplin – Modern Times and The Kid are among my all-time favourite movies. I watched them long before I was in this art form. I didn’t realise how deeply connected I was to his quest to showcase beauty in everything until I started reading his books. As a choreographer, my biggest inspiration is the dancers.

What’s your best advice for would-be choreographers?
Talk to other choreographers. People love to share.

Do you have any theatrical superstitions or rituals?
I like to yell at the dancers – it gives them energy and you can feel it affects the performance. So before the show starts, I’m constantly shouting: “Let’s go.”

In the Heights was created by Miranda before Hamilton and ran on Broadway from 2008 to 2011. Scott first saw the show in London, where it premiered in 2014. He was bowled over by Miranda’s talent.

“Lin has changed Broadway forever,” Scott says. “He’s opened up a whole new path for young artists to create shows. He’s set an example for where Broadway can go, not just in his lane – hip hop – but for anything.”

For the film version, Scott worked closely with director Jon M Chu, who directed Crazy Rich Asians, and director of photography Alice Brook. Their job was to dissect the show and put it back together as a movie.

They’d been warned they’d only get Miranda for a couple of days. “And then he was there every day. We were at the park one time rehearsing a Benny and Nina duet, and Lin’s there with his wife, Vanessa. He said: ‘Hey, keep going,’ and I thought: ‘Oh no I’ve got to choreograph in front of the Man.’ And he said: ‘No, no, I just wanted my wife to see it because this is where we had our first date.’ The park was where he was falling in love with his wife, and then he’s watching us create this routine and getting emotional. And I thought: ‘Ah man, you really put your heart and soul into this movie.’ ”

Scott was brought in by Chu after they worked together for a decade on the web series The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers, about a group of dancing superheroes. “We have a really good process of sitting down and throwing out a ton of ideas. For us, there’s no stupid idea.”

‘Lin-Manuel Miranda has changed Broadway forever – he opened up a new path for young artists to create shows’

But Scott was clear he needed to hire a team of associate choreographers who specialised in Latin styles. “There was no way we were going to mess that up. It’s time it was represented properly. The contribution of Eddie Torres Jr, the Latin choreographer, was invaluable. Not only was he creating these incredible iconic dance moments, he was educating us every day. He loved the history. Because you have to go back to where it comes from. It’s rooted in Africa and the slave trade. If you’re doing bomba or merengue, the Puerto Rican dances, there’s a rhythm for it.”

Refreshingly, the film features dancers of all ages and shapes. “We cast more than 200 dancers, which was a huge deal for me, because employing dancers is one of my favourite things to do. They work so hard, they’re so talented. And a pet peeve of mine of mine is when you watch a musical everyone looks like a dancer. Because that’s not how the world looks. And those people are out there, you just have to find them and they blow you away every time.”

For the big Carnaval del Barrio number, they needed dancers aged 60 and over. “It’s hard to find them because no one’s calling them any more, so they’re not in the casting system,” Scott says. “Eddie told me: ‘Chris, I’m calling people’s mums, their uncles, their grandparents.’”

But they did have Lillian Colon, who starts the clapping for the Carnaval number. “It was such an honour to have her there. She was in the original company of Ballet Hispanico. There’s so much history that the dancers put into this movie.”

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Scott grew up in Maryland. When his mother separated from his father, she moved him and his sister to Hollywood to give them better opportunities, and Scott joined Hollywood High School. Being cast in West Side Story changed his life. “I was one of those kids who thought musicals were corny and uncool,” he says, apologetically.

To hone his tap-dancing skills, he spent weekends as a street performer on the Venice Beach boardwalk, where he fell in love with breakdancing. When he was in 11th grade, choreographer and actor Debbie Allen visited the school to audition dancers for the opening of the American Music Awards with Mariah Carey. Scott was one of three chosen. When he received his pay check for $650, he thought: “I’m going to do this for the rest of my life.”

He worked as an actor and dancer and taught dance classes – “I liked creating steps” – then moved organically into choreography when he met Chu and Adam Sevani on the film Step Up 2.

They started a dance crew and challenged Miley Cyrus to an online dance battle on YouTube. “We were free­styling and then Jon said: ‘Do something with these water bottles.’ I’ve always liked props, so I did, and we taped it. And he’d say: ‘Make something else.’ ”

This led them to create The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers. Scott feels passionately that street dance can be a high art just like ballet.

‘I’m very curious about Broadway now. It’s on my bucket list’

Scott co-choreographed Gwen Stefani’s Just a Girl residency in Las Vegas, and designed choreography for the 82nd Academy Awards, Dancing with the Stars, and America’s Best Dance Crew. He made his So You Think You Can Dance debut in 2011 and received Emmy nominations for outstanding choreography for his work on the show in 2012 and 2014.

In the Heights is a new career high. And he’s just worked on Aaron Sorkin’s drama series Being the Ricardos, about Lucille Ball and her husband Desi Arnaz, starring Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem. “What an incredible project to be part of – that script is just beautiful,” he says.

Scott admits he longs to do more theatre. “I’m very curious about Broadway now. It’s on my bucket list. The benefit is you can fine-tune a whole number even after the product’s come out. With film, once you’ve put it out into the world, it exists like that forever.”

CV Christopher Scott

Born: 1983, Takoma Park, Maryland
Training: Hollywood High Performing Arts Magnet Program
Landmark productions:
Film:
• All Styles, Showtime (2018)
• Being the Ricardos, Amazon Studios (2021)
TV:
• So You Think You Can Dance, Fox (2012-present)
• Good Trouble, Freeform (2019-21)
Online:
• The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers, Hulu (2010-11)
Agent: Bloc LA

In the Heights is released on June 18