Dance theater - Melinda Roy, a former dancer, and Jonathan Butterell ,a trained actor, have become choreographers

Dance Magazine, May, 2003 by Sylviane Gold

Some people say that choreographers are born, not made. But if you ask the newest members of the Broadway choreographers' club, they will tell you that sometimes, choreographers happen by accident.

Melinda Roy, who joined this elite group with the line dances, two-steps, and swing numbers she designed for Urban Cowboy, is a former principal with New York City Ballet who never dreamed of choreographing. And Jonathan Butterell, the choreographer of Nine, trained as an actor; his dance experience had been confined mostly to parties until a few years ago.

Although Roy, 43, spent eighteen years at NYCB, she says choreography was nowhere on her radar screen when she retired in 1996. The road to Urban Cowboy began when she patented a purse that could be attached to a boot, leaving a lady's arms unencumbered. She went to try it out at Denim and Diamonds, a country music club in New York City, and "became addicted" to country dancing.

It wasn't that much of a stretch. She'd grown up in Lafayette, Louisiana, to the sounds of country music and zydeco. "That's where I got rhythm," she says of the accordion-driven dance music that rules Cajun country. When a friend needed help juicing up a fashion show, Roy gathered a group of sexy men and Women to show off the clothes along with some dance moves. In 1996, they morphed into The Outlaws, an eight- to ten-member country dance group that works special events.

The late Broadway producer and director Phillip Oesterman knew Roy and her Outlaws. So when he decided to turn James Bridges's 1980 film into a Broadway musical, he asked her if she wanted to be the choreographer. The show had its ups and downs--Oesterman died, the original music director left--but Roy kept reworking her dances. Lonny Price, who took over as director, says he feared that she might have to be replaced after the show's tryout run in Miami. Instead, her choreography got raves. "She's a real discovery," he says.

Butterell's choreographic talents also came to light in a roundabout way. He grew up in public housing in a tough part of Sheffield, England, and caught the acting bug from the old movies he'd see on Saturday afternoons. "I think that's when I learned to dance," he says--"watching the work of Jack Cole and Hermes Pan."

Although the 35-year-old had landed roles in West Side Story and Carousel early in his career, dancing was mainly an avocation until he was cast in Peer Gynt. "Matthew Bourne came in to do some movement on the production," he recalls. "And since I could dance, I helped him out, demonstrating for the others. He asked if I would be interested in coming to class for a while, so I went." When Bourne's assistant on Sam Mendes's production of Oliver! became ill, Bourne asked Butterell to assist. "I don't even know what that means!" Butterell told him.

He learned quickly enough. "I just helped and played," he says. "And because I was green and he was very open, I felt free to express my views." Mendes then asked him to choreograph Company for the Donmar Warehouse, and he responded with the same words Roy had used to Oesterman: "But I've never choreographed anything in my life!" Company changed that, and then British director David Leveaux asked Butterell to choreograph his Donmar production of Maury Yeston's 1982 musical, Nine.

The original, directed by Tommy Tune, had starred Raul Julia as an Italian filmmaker who recalls the women in his life. Tune arrayed the women on boxes that filled the stage, and while the production was stylish, it hardly registered as a choreographic event. The Donmar version, which stars Antonio Banderas and Chita Rivera, eliminates the boxes and brims with movement.

Roy and Butterell are now officially Broadway choreographers, although Roy isn't the least bit sure she wants to choreograph again and Butterell says he prefers to think of himself as a director. But as they both know, accidents do happen.

Sylviane Gold writes about dance and theater for Newsday and other publications.