How Mandy Moore Taught Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling to Dance for La La Land

March 22, 2017

It’s funny to hear the New York Times describe choreographer Mandy Moore as “not a household name”—because, in our dance universe, she’s basically THE household name. But that’s why we’re excited the Times just put out a great profile of Moore, talking about her work on the drop-dead gorgeous song-and-dance film La La Land. If a major newspaper is talking about her, hey, she’s one step closer to mainstream fame, which she richly deserves.

What makes the Times story especially fun? We get to hear more about how, exactly, she taught stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling to dance. Well, OK—she wasn’t starting from square one, given Stone’s star turn in the jazzy Cabaret on Broadway and the video evidence we have of baby Gosling’s insanely adorable dance moves. But Moore had to bring out their Fred and Ginger side, a kind of graceful naturalism. That involved training them in the fundamentals of tap, ballroom and jazz. “I tried to instill a general love of learning how to dance in them, because I thought that that was going to go a lot further than just teaching them steps,” Moore told the Times.

Other tasty nuggets: She played Frank Sinatra for Gosling’s training sessions, and Haim for Stone’s (lord, could Emma GET any cooler?). Moore’s choreo inspirations for various scenes included “I Feel Pretty” from West Side Story and “Rich Man’s Frug” from Sweet Charity. Moore herself trained in belly dancing growing up, which is amazing.

It’s the perfect read to get you through this pre-holiday hump day. And once you’re done, go ahead and watch the La La Land behind-the-scenes featurette again, because you know you want to:


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