Everything Traces Back to Grease and The Hand Jive

How The Hand Jive Inspires Everything I Do In Filmmaking.

Watch the Hand Jive in Grease again. I know you think you know it by heart, but watch it again. We know that dance that Sandy and Danny do that climaxes the entire plot of Grease by heart, but reeeeeaaaaallllly take a look. I’m not alone in saying that Grease was on constantly in the house growing up- I know my audience. But let’s talk about how masterfully this scene in particular is directed.

I learned in college as a musical theater major that in theater history, one huge milestone was when the dance sequence in Rogers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma actually MOVED THE PLOT FORWARD. This was the first time that choreography in a musical, was essential to the storytelling. So, if you missed this number, you would be confused about the rest of the plot. Huge. Another example is in Rogers and Hammerstein’s Carousel. In the number Soliloquy, Billy sings about what is on his mind, and makes a descision to steal and risk his life in order to create a life for his child within the song. Again, this moves the plot forward. Miss the song, miss the plot.

The plot movement that takes place in the Hand Jive is complicated and exciting and executed masterfully with director Randall Kleiser at the helm.

Every character has the spotlight in the Hand Jive even if only for a second. Each character’s costume PERFECTLY represent their characters thanks to costume designer Albert Wolsky, and their look is meticulously thought out and expressive of who they are. You can just see the pre-prom glam sessions that took place to assemble the looks.

Vince and Marty further their flirtations and Patty Simcox’s dreams of the perfect prom decoration are crushed within the first seconds of the number, and the war has begun through dance immediately. Each character’s choreography is perfectly tailored to their personality and objective. It’s even weird and original choreography- this group of houligans is not a bunch of cute bobby-sockers. What’s more, they also remain one hundred percent believable unlike the iconic percision of the gorgeous choreography in West Side Story which takes us to a hightended reality. All of what happens in the Hand Jive could actually happen! And at 8 years old, didn’t we watch with our mouths agape hoping to all that is holy that it all would happen at our own prom one day?

But my absolute favorite? That camera work- at 1:58. When the percussion begins, I get a physical reaction to seeing the unhinged verite. When I first started making films, my DP Andres would go insane because of how many times I would say “you know, it should be active and visceral. Like the Hand Jive. It should be like we are watching something we aren’t cool enough to be watching. Like the Hand Jive. It should be like we are in the middle of chaos. Like the Hand Jive.” I mentioned it so much that he finally got me a book about Grease for Christmas so I could learn exactly how they did it. The genius setups of Bill Butler as the DP, and the choreography of Pat Birch come together to create complete magic in this scene. We are truly a fly-on-the-wall of the best and most dramatic night of all these lovebird’s lives.

According to Grease: The Director’s Notebook, in the Broadway production (don’t get me started- not a fan) Sandy didn’t even go to the prom! And Cha-Cha was a wallflower that Danny took onto the dancefloor. Quite a different story.

By the end of the Hand Jive, we are in a totally different place from where we started with all the characters. It’s all brilliant. I could watch it on a loop for hours and actually that’s exactly what I did today. Have fun rewatching and reliving this incredible moment in cinema.

Watch Grease

Grease: The Director’s Notebook

Get Cha-Cha’s Costume (you know you want it)