My whole philosophy is that anyone can dance," says choreographer Susan Cable. "Movement starts to flow naturally if you don't let your head get in the way. It's all body memory. Do something enough times physically and your body memory will take over as long as you then don't think too much. "As a choreographer, I make performers feel comfortable about movement and about themselves, and it works."

Susan should know what she's talking about. She has trained performers ranging from seasoned Broadway professionals to frightened first-time amateurs, made it possible for them to dance on stage and television and look good while they're doing it. She's choreographed more than 200 shows all over North America.

For Susan Cable, doing choreography for a full scale production starts with a vision. "I listen to the music over and over and over again till something comes into my mind, and it's not steps. It probably sounds weird, but I see a vision of what it should be, what it should feel like. Then I start working with the music. You have to know music and dance from every decade. If it's a 40s show you can't use something that wasn't done till the 60s or 70s or 80s or 90s. You need to get the flavor of the show.

"I rarely put down steps. Instead I put down patterns, and then I choreograph for the talent I have. I push that talent. My main job is to make my performers look good - push them beyond their comfort zones but never make them feel uncomfortable. You aim toward the highest that you have for them. They have to look good, or I haven't done my job properly.

"It's not till they have that confidence that I start teaching the steps. I don't believe in improv: I'm not from that school. Oh, if I have to choreograph for characters I'll certainly let them do it their own way. There are times I go in without a clear idea of what the steps will be before working with them. That will change depending on who I'm working with.

"Choreography tells the audience where to look, so you need to be careful with your focus and the dynamics in the music. You've got to make sure you do in dance every dynamic that the music dictates, create movement that builds to the musical high points. . .

GUYS AND DOLLS MPC Theatre Company 2007 photo by Gary Bolen

"I started when I was seven in Milwaukee, and I've never stopped dancing. By the time I was nine I was performing in reviews and county fairs and amateur contests. I did my first musical when I was sixteen. It was PAL JOEY at Milwaukee Repertory. I knew then what I really wanted to do." Choreographing musicals is a calling that came early for Susan. "I was seventeen, in Chicago, working in a show called HITS OF BROADWAY. Our producer/director/ choreographer had so much work that when he was asked to choreograph something else, he sent me out to do it." More dancing roles followed for Susan, notably in the Broadway and national companies of FLOWER DRUM SONG and LA PLUME DE MA TANTE. "I just kept dancing, did tours and television, a lot of variety shows."

A job in a musical produced in Puerto Rico ended in an eleven-year stay, full of more choreography, shows, television and commercial work. It was in Puerto Rico that she met and married architect Howard Besosa and moved with him to Southern California. There she taught at several universities and continued to choreograph. As National Dance Director/Choreographer for the U.S. Men's Olympic Gymnastic Team she worked at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs several times a year training the athletes in movement. She was invited to Italy to introduce her program to the Italian team and also traveled to competitions with the U.S. team to Spain, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania and was selected Delegation Leader for the Pan Am Games in Brazil. In 1989 she moved to the Monterey Peninsula to head the Santa Catalina School dance department. She and Howard live in Royal Oaks, from where she continues to commute to work in theatres all over Central California.

THE FULL MONTY-2006 Pacific Repertory Theatre photo by Stephen Moorer

Musicals that take her, her dancers and her audiences out of the predictable Broadway mainstream have appealed more and more in recent years. "Oh, I love doing the old favorites like MY FAIR LADY, SOUTH PACIFIC and GUYS AND DOLLS, but what's really been fun recently have been things like URINETOWN THE MUSICAL at MPC., BATBOY THE MUSICAL at Western Stage and THE FULL MONTY for PRT. Those shows really are different. You can create something exciting and almost off the wall. The scenes are so different that it's not your normal show.

"I did HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL last year, and we're doing it again starting January 18th at PacRep. Thirty-five kids who are just - well, - so good. Their energy and enthusiasm blows you away. They are so motivated and work so hard. They have been real fun for me. . .

"I love with a passion the creativity of choreography. I love the finished product - seeing what you've done together happening up there on stage. And I love the process of getting a really good performance out of a group of people who might be trained dancers or they might be just wonderful, brand new, hardworking performers."

URINETOWN MPC Theatre Company - 2007
photo by Gary Bolen