Showbiz in her blood: Meet Follies choreographer Yvette Lee

In the Autumn of 1967, flames tore through the Tivoli Theatre on Melbourne’s Bourke Street, gutting it beyond repair.

The beautiful, Moorish-style theatre had been operating since 1901 and had hosted Shirley Bassey, Chico Marx and other international stars. It also regularly featured local performers, many of whom lived in apartments above the theatre.

This meant when fire razed the Tivoli, homes were destroyed, too.

Choreographer Yvette Lee still has newspaper clippings from that night. One small, well-worn clipping shows a photo of her parents, who had been living above the theatre, standing outside in shock with nothing but their clothes and their budgie, Nicky-Boy.

“I come from a family of entertainers, I had no idea it was an option to do anything else,” Yvette says, laughing.  “Dance and music were happening around me from the very moment I was born.”

Yvette Lee is one of Australia’s most established choreographers. Over her 20-year career of fluctuating dance styles, two things have remained consistent: the authenticity of her pieces, and her infectious passion for the craft.

From the Tivoli fire to her showbusiness grandparents, Yvette’s heritage is entwined with Melbourne’s theatre history. So, it is with bittersweet irony she’ll be choreographing Victorian Opera’s Follies – the 1971 musical that reflects on the glamorous history of a crumbling, soon-to-be demolished theatre.

Where it all began

If you’re not familiar with her name, you will have undoubtedly seen her work. Yvette is the creative force behind three AFL Grand Final shows and the choreographer for various hit theatre productions, such as the Hayes Theatre’s American Psycho (2021) and New Zealand Opera’s Candide (2018). She’s worked across national television and has directed everyone from Robbie Williams to Jessica Mauboy.

Yvette says she can’t remember a time when she wasn’t immersed in dance and music. Entertainment is in her blood.

Her great grandparents were vaudevillian performers. Her grandfather Nick Morton was a famous Tivoli performer who starred in silent films and lived above the Tivoli Theatre with his daughter, Wendy – Yvette’s mother. Wendy lived at the Tivoli until she graduated to be a showgirl there.

Yvette’s grandparents, Nick and Billie, established a ballroom dancing academy on Collins St. Nick later partnered with Val Eastwood, a young dancer who co-managed the academy with him. Val Eastwood later opened the iconic Val’s Coffee Lounge on Swanston Street in 1951, a safe place for Melbourne gay and lesbian community and an important part of Melbourne’s cultural and social history. She formed a lifelong bond with Yvette’s mother Wendy and became a beloved aunt figure to Yvette.

“I wouldn’t have the passion for dance had I not been brought up where it was the throughline of everything. That’s actually how we solved all our problems: we’d make songs about them, and we’d dance them away.”

Yvette’s training started in the early 2000s, a time when the industry was heavily focused on traditional dance – think jazz, tap and ballet. Meanwhile, the pop scene was charging ahead in the United States, where the style today known as “commercial” dance was evolving.

“I was maybe the first person to start teaching that commercial style of dance in Melbourne” Yvette says. “Now I’ve really regained my passion for traditional jazz, which is why Follies has come at such an amazing time.”

She went on to work as the assistant to the late great choreographer Ross Coleman. Ross, she says, taught her about storytelling through dance.

“I had two sides of the coin, where I was really influenced by pop culture and was also getting taught theatrical storytelling. Meshing those two worlds together has led me to do what I’m doing now.”

Her creative process

If you’re new to choreography, Yvette’s creative process might seem a little counterintuitive.

“To be honest with you, the dancing is the very last thing that happens. I rarely will walk into the studio with steps prepared. But I have every single piece of information. I know exactly the story I’m trying to tell and the feeling I am trying to emote,” she says.

It’s all about the research. She starts by developing mood boards – pinning emblematic pictures from an era or story on the walls of her home until she’s totally immersed in its world.

She’ll mirror its shapes as she goes about her day, perhaps, for instance, concaving her body into a 1920s art-deco shape while brushing her teeth.

Yvette is also very collaborative, not only with directors, but also with the dancers themselves.

“Once I have all of the surrounding ingredients I workshop the actual dancing on the actors’ bodies, and I work with their individualities,” she says. “You’ll always get the best out of someone if they feel comfortable enough to give their opinion. And they should, because they’re the ones performing.”

In Follies, Yvette will be reuniting with Victorian Opera’s Artistic Director Stuart Maunder, after first working together in Dusty: The Musical (2006).

“I love this woman, Yvette is a master,” Stuart says. “Look at all that stuff for the AFL Grand Finals. There is no one more theatrical and detailed and clear.”

Dance and storytelling in Follies

Follies, by Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman, is a moving production about a reunion of former chorus girls in a rundown theatre, as they reflect on their glamorous past as performers during the interwar years.

Yvette will be working with Australian theatre royalty, such as Marina Prior, Rhonda Burchmore and Gerladine Turner, to bring Australia’s first, fully staged production of Follies to life at the Palais Theatre from 1 – 6 February.

Sondheim’s score is a loving tribute to show music from the 1920s, ‘30s and ‘40s, which means the choreography will shift from the Charleston to tap and everything in between.

“I’m very much a genre snob, and I try very hard to be as specific as possible,” Yvette says. “I want to celebrate each era. I get a little frustrated when choreography is not period specific.”

One showstopping number, for example, is ‘Mirror Mirror’ and it’s renowned for its complex choreography, where the performers mirror the past versions of themselves. Their routine is similar, yet reflects different eras or “different shapes”, as Yvette puts it.

“I’m excited about every number, because each tells a story, they all have meaning,” she says.

“The other thing is that I just love the sentiment of this show. As somebody who started young in the industry, I love the idea of revisiting the past.

“As performers, we place so much worth on what we do and who we are in the moment. Being able to release that gracefully as you move into different areas of your life is a difficult yet beautiful thing.”

Victorian Opera presents Follies at Palais Theatre, St Kilda from 1 – 6 February. Book here.

Anthea Batsakis, Victorian Opera Content Editor