‘Wicked’ Choreographer Christopher Scott Reflects On Viral Dance Sequence

In Jon M. Chu’s acclaimed film adaptation of Winnie Holzman’s Wicked, dance has become just as much a star of the film as its iconic songs and protagonists, Elphaba and Glinda.

The choreography was imaginatively brought to life by Christopher Scott, who the GAY TIMES had the pleasure of interviewing in December 2024. The What Is This Feeling? dance sequence has become an internet sensation on TikTok – which will be banned and gone by soon– with numerous fans recreating its sharp, staccato movements. Scott recalls feeling deeply moved by seeing others take the choreography and make it their own.

“People started sending me the videos and it just started with me kind of reposting them, too. I was like, ‘This is so fun,’” Scott told the news outlet. “And then I had a moment where it hit me. There was a daughter and her mom and her dad dancing together, and I was like, ‘This is beautiful.’”

In Scott’s eyes, dance isn’t just about the move themselves. “We worked really hard to tell a story and put it in the cinema for people to have an experience,” he said.

He added: “Now they get to go home through dance and share something and have another experience on top of that. It’s just really gratifying.”

One part of the film that serves as the heartbreaking midpoint is the Ozdust Ballroom scene, which is a powerful meditation on identity, shame, and liberation, something many LGBTQIA+ audience members relate to. For Scott, all the choreography had specific, genuine, and meaningful intent.

When the GAY TIMES asked Scott about Wicked’s connection to Oz’s rich queer history, he delightfully recalled a conversation with Ariana Grande about Ozma, a character in L. Frank Baum’s original Oz novels are considered to be one of the earlier known transgender characters in literature.

“Ari is such a historian of everything Wicked and Wizard of Oz. And there’s a character that she was explaining to me, Ozma,” Scott recalls.”It really did feel like, ‘Oh, we’re telling something, you know, this is bigger than one person’s experience.’ This is deep and I can’t even imagine what that story being told was like back then.”

Understanding this from Grande has added even more emotional depth to Scott’s work. “I’m part of something that has a lineage that’s important.”

As the widely dedicated fanbase prepared to delve deeper into the complex world of Wicked with its home release, Scott hopes the choreography resonates as a heartfelt expression of identity, connection, and joy to the LGBTQ+ community and beyond — something endearingly wicked for fans in and of itself.

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