LUCID FORGE

After all the experiences Melissa Williams has had in her prolific career as a choreographer and dancer, the best education the new judge on CTV’s So You Think You Can Dance received was courtesy of one man: Prince.

“I feel like I went to the University of the New Power Generation,” she says with a laugh, referring to Prince’s former band, “I learned so many things –from how to listen to music to choreographing to different types of music, right down to staging and appearance. He was very much about us coming to rehearsal in full makeup and dress, looking like stars. He always like his posse looking like he does –put together. As far as performing with him, he’s the first one there, and the last to leave. He works the hardest out of everyone in his camp. I learned a great work ethic from him: keep working. You’re never finished.”



Williams started duties with So You Think You Can Dance in early October, and will be contributing through December. She’s “totally envious” of the dancers on the program, acknowledging that while it might be frightening for some participants to strut their stuff nationally while being judged by professionals, “that’s life. If you don’t put it out there, you never get critiqued. People are given an opportunity to improve their craft, work with successful choreographers, but also become celebrities, and start their careers in some cases.” She recently choreographed Queen’s “Somebody To Love” for a partners’ number that aired in mid-October (“That one just poured out of me”) and if its positive reception was any indication, Melissa Williams is well on her way to becoming one of So You Think You Can Dance’s most revered and respected artists.

So You Think You Can Dance represents an interesting phenomenon; it’s essentially a show in which dancers, in pairs, are judged by a panel. It’s made stars of the dancers and judges alike, and made people look at a previously-ignored artform in a whole new way. Dance on television hasn’t had this kind of prominence (or indeed popularity) since the popular 1980s show Dance Fever, and the reception the show has received, particularly on its recent American tour, is a testament to the power of dance’s place in popular culture now. “It was jam-packed,” says Williams, clearly amazed, “everybody from eight year-olds to dads got two solid hours of entertainment.”



Growing up in Windsor, Ontario, Williams got into dance at the age of five, taking tap, and then jazz dancing. At thirteen, she started to think she might like to turn her hobby into a career. She attended a dance convention, and spent some time around professional dancers, and it was there that “things became tangible to me.” Inspired by what she experienced, Williams relentlessly drove ahead in her dance studies, which landed her a spot on Star Search at the age of sixteen. Owing to her father’s American citizenship, she was able to work in the States after graduating, and at eighteen went to work at a Lake Tahoe casino. From there, she went on to Los Angeles –“where I really wanted to be” –and her first job was in Erotic City, Prince’s late-night dance cabaret at his club, Glam Slam. From there, jobs in dance and film followed (including a role in the controversial, cult-hit Showgirls) and work with the New Power Generation at Paisley Park.

One of her most unique projects was California Dream Men, an all-male revue that met with wild success in Europe. The troupe was greeted by “eight-thousand screaming women” in Italy, and the show was the first all-male revue to be featured at the famous Paris nightspot The Folies Bergere. “It wasn’t your regular strip show,” she says, “it had theatrics and professional dancers, and it made these guys stars. As a woman, we know what we want to see, what’s sexy, so for me to choreograph for men, I just had to think about what I wanted to see, what’s sexy and what’s not … for (women), character is sexy, story is sexy, not necessarily flesh, but what could be there underneath. It was fun setting up character, the mystique of each stripper –each had own character, and sense of humour, which helps.”

Humour is a big part of dance, but with a show like So You Think You Can Dance, the competitive aspect is a large part of what draws an audience. “It’s sort of a reality show,” she concedes.  In terms of choosing steps to match to music, she has a unique process. “I listen to whatever I’m choreographing with headphones,” she confesses, “because you can hear instrumentation, you can hear every little high-hat and bass riff, you can hear it all.” Williams has taken up drumming in the last five years too, which helps with coming up with dance moves. “It helps with the rhythms, being able to know a drum pattern within the counts of a song. I can guess where (the music) will go for breaks, which makes it easy to count music now.”

The inspiration of attending a dance convention as a child found its outlet in her own life, when in 2000, Williams founded Extreme Dance Conventions and Competitions, a touring workshop that features top choreographers and teachers. She also formed her own company, DM Creative Corp, and began writing, choreographing, and directing original material. That’s in addition to work in television, film, music videos, and live theatre, which included working with big names like George Michael, Carmen Electra, The Smashing Pumpkins, and director-photographer David LaChappelle. Still, Williams’ ultimate goal is to work on a Broadway musical. She’s already choreographed several musicals for European markets, including Hair and Grease, but feels ready for the challenges of the Great White Way. She’d also like to try “something really rock and edgy”, where “you wouldn’t guess dance would be associated with it,” involving perhaps Kiss or former Audioslave/Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell. In fact, she’d ideally combine the two, and do a rock-musical in the style of Pink Floyd’s The Wall. Having worked with Prince, Williams is comfortable –and confident –in what she can do. “When we were doing New Power Generation dance choreography, (Prince) would come in and start choreographing with us. He had ideas and notes, and every day we’d tape rehearsal and (then-wife) Mayte would bring it home and come back with notes of what he thought –whether we should travel (the stage) or be static –stuff like that. I learned so much about being an entertainer, performer and creator. As a dancer-choreographer, if you’ve gotten to work with Michael Jackson or Prince, you’re royalty.”