Choreographing 'Bridgerton' is much more than just steps

Before the second half of “Bridgerton” season three dropped Thursday morning, fans were left off at the queen’s ball, where everyone was on their best behavior until passions boiled over.

On the dance floor, Lord Debling is wooing wallflower Penelope Featherington, and the handsome Colin Bridgerton realizes he’s — spoiler alert — unexpectedly falling in love with her, and rudely interrupts. Dance helped tell that story and so many others in Netflix’s costume drama set in an alternate-reality Regency England. Dance is almost its own character in the series — thanks to choreographer Jack Murphy.

The show’s writers masterfully incorporate nonverbal communication into the script through gesture, eyes meeting, and ballroom etiquette, Murphy says

“I work with actors on their characters. And so, when they are dancing, they don't just stop acting,” Murphy says. “I still need to know what they want from that other person and what they do to the other person, how they affect them, or indeed infect them.”

Colin interrupting Lord Debling and Penelope’s dance at the queen’s ball is a pivotal moment for the narrative, Murphy says. Forgoing his manners, Colin wants to stop the intimate moment.

“There's a dance taking place, but it's my job to allow the story to be told,” Murphy says. “There's a page and a half of dialogue, and believe me, speaking dancing is more difficult than singing dancing. It's unbelievably difficult.”

In “Bridgerton,” dance helps the audience understand the constrained etiquette and manners of the time and amplifies what brushes up against these norms.

During the Regency era, a dance granted a young woman and man a rare opportunity to communicate, Murphy says.

“Our writers, they place these two characters in a situation that ordinarily they wouldn't be in if they were non-dancing, because actually there would be too many people promenading the ballroom and they would be interrupted,” Murphy says. “They can touch whilst they're dancing. But they can be alone whilst they're dancing in public and the discussion, the privacy of what they're saying, we're just very lucky that we get a camera in the room.”

One of Murphy’s favorite scenes is a season two dance to a classical version of Miley Cyrus’ hit “Wrecking Ball” between two tempestuous characters, Anthony and Kate Bridgerton, who know they are upsetting almost everyone by sharing this intimate moment.

With electric chemistry between actors Simone Ashley and Jonathan Bailey, the dance conveys the tension in the ballroom, Murphy says.

“One of the reasons why I love that dance is because he's heroic. He has got to the position, he's got to the place where it's all about her. It's absolutely godly,” Murphy says. “And you know what? He says, ‘Just look at me, I will take care of you.’”

Every dance in Bridgerton is made possible through conversations with hair, makeup and costume designers, Murphy says.

“I get a lot of credit, because yes, the activity is dancing,” he says, “but it is without doubt a village that realizes it.”

Lynn Menegon produced and edited this interview for broadcast with Todd Mundt. Allison Hagan adapted it for the web.