What does Merlina’s dance have? She holds you captive from the first intense look she gives you.
The bangs extend past her brows as she gyrates her shoulders, and then with reckless insouciance, she flings one arm over her head and then the other before taking commanding steps in a straight line. It is that vigorous walk of Merlina, that cold gaze of Merlina.
But with this dance, Jenna Ortega, who plays the lead in Netflix’s ‘Merlina’, has something to say, something to show. From one disembodied jolt to the next, the dance escalates into theatrical daring, eccentric humor. It is the defiant dance of a maverick. It’s a celebration of the weird.
Choreographed by Ortega, who brings a dark charm to her portrayal of Merlina Addams, the viral dance from episode four, ‘A Gloomy Night of Dancing,’ is experiencing a robust afterlife on TikTok as countless teens live the steps. on their own terms. The song she dances to, The Cramps’ 1981 classic “Goo Goo Muck,” has also seen a surge in streaming.
The dance is a choreographic extension of how Merlina moves through the world: direct, demonic and utterly captivating. On the show, Ortega’s sarcasm may leave his face expressionless, but behind the facade of his rigidity, her Merlina is ready to pounce. When he dances, she’s just as direct, taking a postmodern approach with a face that doesn’t give anything away. She doesn’t comment on her move; she runs it. The strange whim of the choreography manifests itself in her body and only in her body.
Ortega thanked choreographer Bob Fosse and other people who influenced her dancing on Twitter: Lisa Loring, who played a younger Merlina on ‘The Addams Family’ in the 1960s on television; singers Siouxsie Sioux and Lene Lovich; actor Denis Lavant and “archive footage of goths dancing in clubs in the ’80s.”
But as the influences flow from Ortega’s body, he somehow makes them his own. The loveliest dates from a vintage scene in which Loring’s Merlina teaches Largo to dance ‘the Drew’. As if she’s on ice, she spins her tiny feet at breakneck speed and swings her arms back and forth, encouraging Largo to give it a try: “Relax a little,” she says, “let go!”
Those words are at the heart of Ortega’s dance, which, like many captivating on-camera dances, comes as a surprise. Dressed in cascading black ruffles, Ortega slices through space the way her character speaks: abruptly, sharply, poignantly, but with momentary hints of sentiment. She is relaxing; she lets go. Within reason.
This is not ‘Singing in the Rain’—the mere thought of finding solace in a puddle would elicit a sneer from Merlina—but a crooked left turn down a slippery road. With her hips jutting out and her arms behind her back, Ortega glides in and out of frame. He takes on Merlina’s deadpan charm with a sequence of interrupted moves. At one point, he rocks his head from side to side, and at another, he disappears, only to return—in a reference to the character Fingers—with her hand touching her friend’s shoulder.
As Ortega glides from one experiment in motion to the next—there are Fosse’s famous arm slaps as she leans forward, emphatic twists of the body, and snaking arms in a nod to Morticia Addams’ castanets—she seems free, as if would have unleashed a dance spirit within her. Who cares what other people think?
That’s the point: Merlina’s dance is an empowering dance, and it’s for everyone. Dance like you don’t care who’s watching you, and most of all, be weird. That’s what Merlina would do.
By: GIA KOURLAS
BBC-NEWS-SRC: http://www.nytsyn.com/subscribed/stories/6516273, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-01-03 22:00:07
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