“As offbeat and zany as it may seem, the idea of dancing with our canine companions has been around for decades.”
The following written content by Suzannah Friscia
The first piece a choreographer creates will always hold a special place in their memory, and Cassandra Hartman still remembers the feeling of putting together her first routine with her dance partner, Debbie, sometime around the year 2000. Wondering if she had something, Hartman invited her mother over to watch and the two performed the number, set to a recording of Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. singing “Me and My Shadow,” in the garage. “I said, ‘What do you think of this—do you think this is any good?’ ” Hartman remembers. “And she nods her head.”
It should probably be mentioned that Debbie was a golden retriever (named for Debbie Reynolds, of course) and that this was Hartman’s first foray not into human choreography but musical canine freestyle, otherwise known as dog dancing. Musical freestyle is a very real dog sport, albeit one that’s still gaining ground in the U.S.
While dog lovers may be familiar with more common sports like obedience, agility or tracking, freestyle is unique in that it asks dog-and-handler teams to perform routines of behaviors and tricks set to music—in other words, to perform dances.
At a typical competition, you might see dogs weaving through their handlers’ legs, rolling over, spinning on their hind legs or leaping triumphantly into the arms of their humans, tails wagging all the way through. Some routines are more skit-like and tell a story, while others are more abstract. Handlers often make creative use of costumes and props, dressing themselves and their dogs to complement the music.
As offbeat and zany as it may seem, the idea of dancing with our canine companions has been around for decades. Street performers, circuses and vaudeville numbers often included dogs performing tricks to music. In one scene in the 1941 movie musical Lady Be Good, Eleanor Powell tap-danced with Buttons, a spunky Jack Russell terrier mix.
Freestyle in its current form started in the 1980s, mostly in the UK and Canada at first, and was popularized partly by “heelwork to music” routines at Crufts dog show, an international event organized by the Kennel Club. It started gaining ground in the U.S. in the ’90s and, soon, early titling organizations, like the World Canine Freestyle Organization in New York, began teaching and holding competitions. These days, it can also be found creeping into both pop culture and the larger dance world. In 2012, Ashleigh Butler and her dog Pudsey captivated audiences when their delightful dances won the top prize on “Britain’s Got Talent,” and for the past several summers Jacob’s Pillow has hosted a free Dog Dance class, led by Elizabeth Johnson Levine and DZ Maciel. Read more from Dance.
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