Dancers recall working with theater legend Fosse

Kimberley McGee

Friday, May 18, 2001 | 8:51 a.m.

Broadway dancer Lynn Sterling remembers the first time she met a legend.

It changed her life.

He looked slightly older than she expected; his once-thick head of hair had thinned, and smoke from his ever-present cigarette curled around his tall frame.

But when award-winning choreographer and director Robert Fosse moved, he lit up the stage.

"When he started to dance," Sterling said, "the energy level went up 1,000 percent. He was the coolest, sexiest man."

Sterling now dances Fosse's trademark moves in the Tony award-winning musical "Fosse," which plays Tuesday through May 26 at the Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts.

The Broadway musical re-creates memorable moves and moments from the showman's career, such as the dark, steamy scenes in "Chicago," and rare musical numbers from his earlier works that had not been seen before this production.

Fosse was well-known for his slinky, sexy dance moves since his first choreographed number, at 15, in the early '40s on a New York stage, in which showgirls suggestively maneuvered ostrich feathers to Cole Porter's "That Old Black Magic."

Fosse died suddenly in 1987, as he walked down a street across from the National Theatre in Washington, D.C., just hours before the curtain rose on the opening night of his revival of "Sweet Charity."

The musical tribute to Fosse's influence is co-choreographed and co-conceived by Tony Award-winner Ann Reinking, a Fosse protege, and Chet Walker. The production is directed by Tony Award-winner Richard Maltby Jr.

The show features 32 dancers performing classic Broadway numbers such as "Steam Heat," from " The Pajama Game" (1954), and "Big Spender," from "Sweet Charity" (1969).

In 1973 Fosse was the first director to pull the equivalent of a hat trick in the entertainment business. He won an Oscar as director for "Cabaret," a Tony for Broadway's "Pippin," and an Emmy for Liza Minnelli's television special, "Liza With a Z."

As a detailed choreographer, Fosse taught Sterling and her fellow dancers unforgettable -- and unmistakably Fosse -- moves.

Fosse looked for dancers who were comfortable being sexually desirable, she said. He worked to draw that ability from the dancers so that the audience in their theater seats could feel the heat from the stage.

"Fosse just brought that quality out really subtly and elegantly," Sterling said. "You had to pull it out of you and force it into the audience."

Her brief tutelage under Fosse began in 1987 when she was chosen to dance in "Sweet Charity."

"I only had those four months," Sterling said, "but it altered my life. When he died, the big thing was just wanting to be able to (perform his) choreography that was so special."

On "Sweet Charity's" opening day Fosse worked with the cast until 6 p.m., Sterling said.

"Mr. Fosse believed a company was at its best if they were exhausted on opening night," Sterling said. "All day he was brilliant. He made little changes in the show, and it was amazing. We could not wait to get onstage and do the show that night."

The cast received a standing ovation. After the curtain fell, the cast was informed that Fosse had died.

"It was hysteria," Sterling said. "We were all looking forward to the after-party and hanging out with Bob."

Those few months with Fosse honed Sterling's skills as a dancer, she said, and was the highlight of her career.

"Working with him changed the way I perform," Sterling said. "He took you right to your performance peak."

"Fosse" dancer Lloyd Culbreath has danced in Fosse productions since 1985's, "Big Deal."

Under Fosse, dancers learned to ooze sensuality and confidence with understated movements, Culbreath said.

"Not only was he a great choreographer, great director, but he impressed upon everybody that they were an actor on the stage and had to contribute to the evening," Culbreath said. "You couldn't just sit there like a piece of wood and do your bit."

Fosse's style called for concentration and passion in each isolated movement so that the overall effect stirred the audience.

"The moves are angular and staccato and very musical," Culbreath said. "They are amazing."