How Broadway Dancer Cory Lingner Perfected the TikTok Duet
With #SocialDisDancing still very much in place, it’s a challenge for dance partners to perform safely, and even harder to perform safely together.
But Broadway’s Cory Lingner may have found the solution—on TikTok. He’s using the app to tap alongside some of the most iconic movie stars, including Gene Kelly, Gregory Hines, Ann Miller and Shirley Temple. And, no, he doesn’t have a time-traveling device.
Lingner has perfected the use of the app’s duet feature. On one side of the video is a clip of the tap-dancing icon and on the other is Lingner, dancing in unison. And as a bonus, Lingner’s also giving viewers facts about the stars and the performances as they watch.
Lingner’s danced in everything from On the Town to An American in Paris, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Carousel. But still, his tapping TikToks may be one of his favorite challenges yet. “I’ve gotten very lucky to do shows on Broadway,” Lingner says, “But I haven’t actually gotten to do as much tapping as I’m doing in these videos.”
When Broadway shut down last March due to the pandemic, Lingner was in rehearsals for Love Life with New York City Center’s Encores! series. Without a stage and a live audience, he’s getting his fill of performing from his social media duet series. And it’s so popular on TikTok, he’s gained more than 8 thousand followers in a mere month.
@corylingner ##duet
with @tcm & Gene Kelly!! Couldn’t think of a better way to make my TikTok debut! ##genekelly tapdancechallenge ##tap ##tapdance ##dancechallenge
Dance Spirit: How did your “Cory’s Duet Series” on TikTok get started?
Cory Lingner: It was kind of just a spur-of-the-moment thing. The very first spark of inspiration was another fellow tapper, Nicole Billow. She actually did the first side-by-side with Gene Kelly from An American in Paris. I watched it and I was like, “This looks really fun.” I went ahead and made a TikTok account and made my first duet. I posted that thing with zero followers and by the end of the night, there were 500 followers and it was blowing up with views.
DS: How do you pick which numbers you’re going to do?
CL: Well, part of it is going down the YouTube rabbit hole looking up performers that I’m familiar with. The majority of what I’ve tried to focus on is introducing new performers so I don’t repeat dancers too much. The last time that I repeated was with Vera Allen in White Christmas, since it was the holiday.
I also try to find sections where not only I can do the choreography in my limited space, with my little piece of plywood, but also if they’re able to stay on a single camera shot for long enough for the 20 to 30 seconds.
DS: How long does it take you to learn the dances?
CL: It depends. If I’m a bit more familiar with it, I can probably pick it up quicker. Sometimes it takes 15 to 30 minutes. One that I worked on that I’m going to share is with Ginger Rogers. That took about an hour and a half. Luckily, I’ve always been a visual learner.
DS: What do you think about the skill level of some of Shirley Temple’s tap steps?
CL: It’s remarkable the fact that she did that many films and had that kind of tap dance skill set at such a young age. It is so impressive to me. People were commenting on that video too, writing, “Oh my gosh, I didn’t even realize what she can do. That’s very impressive.”
@corylingner Next guest on ##CorysDuetSeries: Shirley Temple!!!! ##duet ##shirleytemple ##tap ##dance ##tapdance ##dancechallenge ##tapdancechallenge ##dancing ##dancer
DS: It seems like we don’t see this style of dance anymore, since the Golden Age of the Hollywood movie musical. How do you feel film choreography has changed since then?
CL: This style of dance definitely does feel different. I’ve always admired it and gravitated towards it. It’s fascinating to picture how these choreographers even conceptualized sequences where the stars are dancing all across these sets and sound stages.
I find myself wondering, “Did they have the set to begin with and then worked on it, or did they come up with ideas and then that gave set designers ideas to build?” The rhythms and the tap melodies are pretty bright, and that makes it really fun for me and exciting for anyone watching.
DS: What is some of the feedback you’ve been getting?
CL: Oh, my goodness. It’s so lovely, all the comments and messages. There was a grandmother that said, “I think you just inspired my 3-year-old grandson to start taking dance.” It warms my heart. From what I’m reading and seeing, it still resonates with so many people.
DS: What are some dream duets that you need to do?
CL: I’ve gotten a lot of people up requesting the Nicholas Brothers. They’re the best. I’m going to try to see if I can find something to do them justice and try to keep up with them. But with my little piece of plywood, there’s no way I can do their iconic jump into the splits because I’d get splinters.
There were other duets people were recommending, like James Cagney. So I’m trying to find a moment when he stays still. I learned “Moses Supposes” from Singin’ in the Rain many years ago, which would be really fun to tackle again. Maybe I’d do that one in two separate sections, so I can do one with Gene Kelly and one with Donald O’Connor.
