Everything you need to know about ‘Who’s got the Pain’
As featured on the Fosse/Verdon series, “Who’s got the Pain’ was the only film number that Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon performed together. We are very excited to be teaching this number for our next Charleston Musicals Course running from 24th February to the 31st of March both Online and in Brighton & Hove!
This 6-week Musicals Course is a great opportunity to perfect your inner-Fosse, so you can Jazz-Hands your way into any social dance; making you so copacetic on the dance floor!
Click this link, or visit www.mycharlestondance.com to secure your place!
Want to find out more? Read on to discover why this dance is highly celebrated in the world of Jazz!
Historical Context: ‘Hands, Hips, Hats:’
As seen throughout his work, Fosse developed a distinctive choreographic style, wherein many of his routines have dancers sat into one hip with fingers flexed and hiding their eyes beneath a hat. In today’s society this is often mockingly called ‘Jazz hands’ but the terms that Fosse coined was ‘Webbing’ and ‘Spirit Fingers;’ this move is often danced in a sequence with a hat.
Although Fosse did not invent the phrase, Hands, Hips and Hats, the way he put them together and what he made them hint towards (sex, corruption, and falsity) became his in his own right. Since ‘Who’s got the Pain’ has been aired, his iconic style of dance has been imitated on Broadway, the West End and also in Pop Culture videos; most notably in Michael Jackson’s music video Beat It and II Hands II Heaven by Beyoncé; who have folded Fosse’s style into their own.
‘Who’s got the Pain’- Damn Yankees:
Thanks to the high number of streams of the miniseries Fosse/Verdon, Fosse’s name is now back in cultural conversation, as is the 1958 number Who’s got the Pain, featuring Gwen Verdon. At this point in his career, Fosse was still married to his first of three wives, Joan McCracken, but when Verdon was cast as Lola in Damn Yankees, the two created an inseparable bond.
Fun fact: Did you know that Fosse’s love of dancing in hats was in aim to hide his premature balding?
From the very beginning of the routine, Fosse and Verdon embark on a stylistic journey of stereotypical Fosse choreography. Their faces are hidden under their hats, their hips are shunting, and all angles created are crisp and clean. The body isolations, tick-tocks, and perfect synchronisation were all picked up from the African diaspora, adding to the multi-cultural elements of the dance.
This fun, eccentric dance will undoubtedly get your toes tapping as you embark on a voyage through timeless choreography full of Jazzy flare (plus the song is pretty cool too!)
Sign up today, by clicking this link, or visit www.mycharlestondance.com to secure your place!
By: Eleanor O’Donnell