<p>What is it about the ‘Wednesday dance’, which features in the fourth episode of the new Netflix series ‘Wednesday’ and has logged 15 million views online, that is captivating people?</p>.<p>With this dance, Jenna Ortega, who plays the titular role of Wednesday Addams, has something to say, something to show. From one disembodied twitch to the next, the dance builds on theatrical boldness, on eccentric humour. It’s the defiant dance of a nonconformist. It is a celebration of weird.</p>.<p>Bangs inch past her eyebrows as she twists her shoulders and then, with a wild insouciance, flings one arm above her head and then the other before taking commanding steps along a straight line. It’s that crisp Wednesday walk, it’s that cold Wednesday stare!</p>.<p>Choreographed by Jenna, it brings an abundance of dark charm to her portrayal of Wednesday and is an extension of how she moves through the world: direct, demonic and disarming.</p>.<p>While it can be hard to respect yet another dance that takes inspiration from Bob Fosse, the choreographer whose stylised movement strikes a powerful chord with so many — certainly Beyoncé, the Wednesday dance, is different.</p>.<p>On Twitter, Jenna offered thanks to Fosse and others who influenced her dance: Lisa Loring, who played a younger Wednesday on ‘The Addams Family’ on TV in the 1960s; singers Siouxsie Sioux and Lene Lovich; actor Denis Lavant; and archival footage of goths dancing in clubs in the 80s.</p>.<p>But as the influences stream out of Jenna’s body, they somehow become her own. The most charming influence dates to a vintage scene from the 1960s series in which Loring’s Wednesday teaches ‘the Drew’ dance to Lurch, a male domestic worker.</p>.<p>As if on ice, she swivels her tiny feet at breakneck speed and swings her arms forward and back, encouraging Lurch to give it a whirl: “Loosen up a little,” she says.</p>.<p>Jenna dances solo. Wearing a high-drama dress with cascading black ruffles — her classmates are boring, in white — she cuts through space the way her character speaks: abrupt, sharp and stinging, but with momentary dashes of soulfulness. In Loring’s words, she loosens up; she lets herself go.</p>.<p>She draws on Wednesday’s deadpan charm with a start-and-stop sequencing of movements. At one point, she rocks her head from side to side. In another, she disappears, only to return.</p>.<p>As Jenna glides from one movement experiment to the next, she seems free, as if a dancing spirit has been unleashed within her.</p>.<p>Who cares what anyone thinks? That’s the point of the ‘Wednesday dance’: It’s a dance of empowerment, and it’s for everyone. Dance like you don’t care who’s watching, and above all, be weird. That’s what Wednesday would do. <em>— NYT </em></p>
<p>What is it about the ‘Wednesday dance’, which features in the fourth episode of the new Netflix series ‘Wednesday’ and has logged 15 million views online, that is captivating people?</p>.<p>With this dance, Jenna Ortega, who plays the titular role of Wednesday Addams, has something to say, something to show. From one disembodied twitch to the next, the dance builds on theatrical boldness, on eccentric humour. It’s the defiant dance of a nonconformist. It is a celebration of weird.</p>.<p>Bangs inch past her eyebrows as she twists her shoulders and then, with a wild insouciance, flings one arm above her head and then the other before taking commanding steps along a straight line. It’s that crisp Wednesday walk, it’s that cold Wednesday stare!</p>.<p>Choreographed by Jenna, it brings an abundance of dark charm to her portrayal of Wednesday and is an extension of how she moves through the world: direct, demonic and disarming.</p>.<p>While it can be hard to respect yet another dance that takes inspiration from Bob Fosse, the choreographer whose stylised movement strikes a powerful chord with so many — certainly Beyoncé, the Wednesday dance, is different.</p>.<p>On Twitter, Jenna offered thanks to Fosse and others who influenced her dance: Lisa Loring, who played a younger Wednesday on ‘The Addams Family’ on TV in the 1960s; singers Siouxsie Sioux and Lene Lovich; actor Denis Lavant; and archival footage of goths dancing in clubs in the 80s.</p>.<p>But as the influences stream out of Jenna’s body, they somehow become her own. The most charming influence dates to a vintage scene from the 1960s series in which Loring’s Wednesday teaches ‘the Drew’ dance to Lurch, a male domestic worker.</p>.<p>As if on ice, she swivels her tiny feet at breakneck speed and swings her arms forward and back, encouraging Lurch to give it a whirl: “Loosen up a little,” she says.</p>.<p>Jenna dances solo. Wearing a high-drama dress with cascading black ruffles — her classmates are boring, in white — she cuts through space the way her character speaks: abrupt, sharp and stinging, but with momentary dashes of soulfulness. In Loring’s words, she loosens up; she lets herself go.</p>.<p>She draws on Wednesday’s deadpan charm with a start-and-stop sequencing of movements. At one point, she rocks her head from side to side. In another, she disappears, only to return.</p>.<p>As Jenna glides from one movement experiment to the next, she seems free, as if a dancing spirit has been unleashed within her.</p>.<p>Who cares what anyone thinks? That’s the point of the ‘Wednesday dance’: It’s a dance of empowerment, and it’s for everyone. Dance like you don’t care who’s watching, and above all, be weird. That’s what Wednesday would do. <em>— NYT </em></p>
