Tony Nominees Kelly Devine and Joshua Bergasse and More Choreograph Touchdown Dances for the NFL

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Broadway News Tony Nominees Kelly Devine and Joshua Bergasse and More Choreograph Touchdown Dances for the NFL See the routines the minds behind Come From Away, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and La La Land created for victorious players.

By Ruthie Fierberg

September 14, 2017

Kelly Devine, Josh Bergasse, and Mandy Moore

Beginning with the 2017 season (football season that is), the National Football League has relaxed its rules regarding celebratory touchdown dances. For years, the League forbade excessive celebration, and players abided for fear of penalty. But now, the NFL says players are free to dance.

So far, no players have taken advantage of their newfound freedom, so the Wall Street Journal called in the experts: choreographers.

Kelly Devine, a Tony nominee for her choreography of Broadway’s Come From Away, calls her dance “The Grip.” Prior to Come From Away, Devine worked on Broadway’s Jersey Boys and Memphis as the associate choreographer and has choreographed Broadway’s Rock of Ages, Rocky, and Doctor Zhivago. Aside from the football field, look out for her upcoming work in this spring’s Escape to Margaritaville.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory choreographer Joshua Bergasse, who just won a Chita Rivera Award for his Outstanding Choreography Off-Broadway for Sweet Charity, created an end-zone routine called “The Loompaloo.” Bergasse earned a Tony nomination for his Broadway choreographic debut with On the Town. Prior to that, he was seen onstage in The Life and Hairspray. His work has also been seen in Broadway’s Gigi, starring Vanessa Hudgens, and television’s Smash.

Read More: HOW JOSHUA BERGASSE CREATED THE DANCE FOR CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

Finally, Emmy-winning choreographer Mandy Moore (Dancing With the Stars, La La Land) calls her dance “Takin’ It Back.” Though Moore has not yet created for the Broadway stage, she is a six-time Emmy-nominated choreographer—with one win.

Watch the video below to learn the moves before they make it onto the field.

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