Check out our interview with Canadian choreographer Heather Laura Gray who on November 2nd was nominated for two Children’s and Family Emmy Awards (both for Nickelodeon/Paramount+) by The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for her work on the movie musicals “Snow Day” and “Monster High: The Movie” and on December 16th, 2023 she won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography for “Monster High: The Movie”.
Heather has had notable success and the recent nominations will mark her third nomination for a Children’s and Family Emmy Award, her first being for her work choreographing the Paramount+ movie musical “The J Team” starring Jojo Siwa. She has also choreographed for Academy Award Winner John Ridley’s (12 Years a Slave) feature film “Needle in a Timestack” starring Cynthia Erivo (Bron/Lionsgate Pictures). Starting with the first musical episode in season 2, Heather was the series choreographer on The CW’s “Riverdale” for 6 seasons, which wrapped filming in June of 2023.
Follow Heather @hlghlg
Hi Heather, please tell us a little about yourself.
I’m a film & TV choreographer that started out as an actor, dancer, and singer for the stage and screen who also has choreographed stage, site specific and project based dance company work.
Can you share a bit about your journey into choreography and who or what were your major influences?
From a young age, I had a natural inclination to create dances and perform them for my family. Initially, I focused on acting and later developed a strong passion for dance. That borderline obsession led my music teacher into giving me the opportunity to choreograph the school musicals in grades 6 and 7! During that period, I was really inspired by the immense talent of Janet Jackson, Paula Abdul, and Debbie Allen. These remarkable women left me in awe with their incredible abilities.
As I pursued a professional career in acting, dancing, and singing, my desire to create through dance never left. I started producing and choreographing my own full-length stage shows, however, I realized that in order to fully realize my creative potential, I needed a broader understanding of choreography. So, to expand my knowledge and skills, I began dancing for other contemporary choreographers and taking any workshop opportunities available. By observing their processes, I was able to continue developing and refining my own work. There eventually came a point where my body couldn’t keep up with the extreme level of athleticism required for dance company choreography, yet I knew my relationship with dance wasn’t over. I decided to take on the challenge of choreographing for the camera.
Congratulations on your Emmy win for Outstanding Choreography! Take us through that moment.
Thank you! It was such a rush of adrenaline and having never experienced anything like that before, it felt very out of body. Calming down enough to be able to read my speech was not going to happen, so I just went for it and hoped the words came out of my mouth. You get 30 seconds.
Where do you hope to go next with your art?
I’d really love to use my skill sets to choreograph a feature musical and to develop projects to write and direct. There is so much to explore.
What is your process for creating a new piece? Do you start with a concept, music, or movement?
That’s a great question. It can be any one of those depending on what the choreography is for. For me the type of project really determines the approach. Developing a full-length contemporary dance piece is very much working the skill of authorship or being an “auteur”. So, it really is all about discovering the why’s of the piece and then actually discovering the piece itself by journeying into the unknown.
I usually start with a concept or feeling I want to explore and then find a way in through writing, music, a physical concept, a prop, lighting, projection, anything… anything that sets off a spark or that you can feel might eventually. It becomes about finding the building blocks to crafting a moving structure that creates a unique audio, visual, and sensorial experience. On the flip side, when working in more commercial spaces with a narrative like a musical for stage or screen, it’s all about taking in the script and/or the music and envisioning it. Then finding ways to communicate your ideas to a director; ideas that you think are possible based on the timeline, budget and skill sets of the talent.
What has been the most challenging piece you’ve choreographed?
In one of the pieces I choreographed for Academy Award Winner John Ridley in the feature film “Needle in a Timestack”, it required a lot of specificity layered with nuance within the contemporary dance company language. I was creating the entire structure from scratch by drawing as much as I could from his script and direction without music to be able to envision it and set it on the dancers. It was an incredible challenge that I’m very grateful for. I’ll never forget the look on this face though after he watched the dancers perform it in rehearsal.
Getting to do the work made me realize that losing my way at times in the pursuit of developing many skill sets, was all worth it. I related to the term “jack of all trades, master of none” but it was all key for me to be able to contribute to a project on that level and advance my understanding of the craft.
How would you describe your unique style or signature in choreography? Is there a theme or message you consistently aim to convey?
In my mind, I don’t have a consistent signature style and that’s deliberate. Instead, I prefer to focus on honoring each project and bringing it to the highest level based on my skill sets, rather than imposing a signature when it might not fit. I believe this approach stems from my background as an actor, where the emphasis is on finding a way inside the life of a character and making choices there. Of course, there are going to be inclinations or choices that become clear identifiers for any creative. But I respect and value the necessity of signature style makers… that is a huge part of what pushes any art form forward.
How do you work with dancers to bring your vision to life? What qualities do you look for in a dancer?
I look for multi-style trained dancers who have the skill sets needed for a specific project including some experience with acting and/or singing. That their values are aligned with working together and using their amazing skill set to elevate the project to the highest level, not making it about themselves.
After talking through everything with the director, I work out all of the choreography & musical staging. Then I set it on a smaller group of performers (a skeleton crew) who must be able to dance, act, sing and learn very quickly in order for me to shoot a “pre-visual” or rough version of the choreography for the director to see and shape. They are special beings!
What would you say are the greatest lessons you learned so far in this business?
Be resourceful and collaborative. When you are behind the camera, it’s all about what can you make happen with scenarios you are given.
Now tell us about your two Children’s and Family Emmy Awards nominations for the movie musicals “Snow Day” and “Monster High: The Movie”? That’s amazing!
I appreciate that! These nominations have helped me take a moment to reflect on my journey. Just getting the chance to do these musicals was reward enough but being nominated with other choreographers that I have so much respect for is an honor.
What other notable projects have you been part of?
I’ve choreographed the TV series “Riverdale”, from the musical episode at the end of season 2 to the end of season 7 (just wrapped in June of 2023). There were six musical episodes plus a Josie & the Pussycat variety musical with many other numbers spread throughout.
Also previously mentioned Academy Award Winner John Ridley’s feature film “Needle In A Timestack” with Cynthia Erivo.
What’s your advice for newer dancers?
If you are interested in commercial dance, be a good generalist of most styles and have one you approach more like a specialist. I’ve learned quickly that being a multi-style choreographer, I can be limited sometimes by dancers that I didn’t realize were not familiar with a certain style. I also think everyone needs to know how to properly lift someone or be lifted because it will usually show up at some point. Especially right now there is so much fusion in musical theatre with street styles, contemporary, ballroom into musical theatre jazz language.
Like never before there is access to either free or very affordable training whenever you want it. You don’t have to be a master; you just need to know how to apply what the choreographer is giving you. There is barely ever enough time to fully teach a skill set unless you are the lead actor who’s been given a year to six months to train.
But I have to tell you this, when I’m in the space with dancers who have diverse training, it feels like the possibilities are endless. Then it’s about me feeling out what works best based on my conversations with the director, the script and amount of time we have to rehearse.
If you could meet someone living or dead, who would it be and why?
I would love to meet the amazingly multifaceted director Julie Tamour and hear about her collaboration with choreographer Daniel Ezralow in making the feature musical “Across the Universe”. There were so many ways those musical scenes could have been expressed because they were Beatles pop songs that were combined and aligned into a story she developed. Hearing the details of that process would be very enriching.
Where do you see yourself and your career in 5 years from now?
I’d love to continue to take on greater challenges with choreography like a feature musical film and be able write & direct my own projects.
Idea of a perfect Sunday?
No devices! Just existing with my instincts and letting them take me to where I want to go, or who I want to spend time with. I know now doing that is so necessary in order to center and recalibrate.
What do you think of Social Media?
I know for myself it can be a great tool to learn and connect but it can also be counterproductive for the same reason.
Where can we follow you?
You can find me at www.heatherlauragray.com where you can connect to my Instagram, threads & LinkedIn.
