When Ashley Wallen got the call from Descendants: The Rise of Red director Jennifer Phang about being the film’s choreographer, he was ecstatic. “First of all, it was like, ‘Oh, my god, I’m doing something for Disney,’ which is amazing because that’s been my dream,” Wallen tells Dance Spirit. “And doing something for the Descendants is amazing too because it’s such a huge franchise.”
The Australian-born choreographer has had a varied career choreographing musicals, films, and music videos—even working with stars like Mariah Carey and Kylie Minogue. But it’s his work as choreographer for Disney’s The Greatest Showman that he credits with helping him get the gig and preparing him to work on the film, which premiered on July 12.
Wallen describes the style of the choreography in the movie as “a lot of classic, old-school but super-modern.” From more musical theater pop numbers like “Life Is Sweeter” to more hip-hop–heavy numbers like “Red” and K-pop–style numbers like “Perfect Revenge,” it’s evident that Wallen has taken inspiration from various avenues, including Beyoncé and Taylor Swift.
A lot of the choreography was inspired by the characters, he says. “They’ve all got their own language. We’ve got Bridget, who’s the kind of upbeat everything’s-amazing-and-happy-and-cupcakes-and-gorgeous. So, she has her kind of style. And then we’ve got the VKs [Villain Kids], who are a bit more grounded and a bit more rah—in-your-face.”
The different characters’ styles also affected changes Wallen made to the choreography throughout the rehearsal process, which was enjoyable for the stars of the film as they learned their choreography.
“I love choreography, I love dancing, and [I love] the fact that we got to do it and be in our characters and create moves for our characters,” says “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” star Dara Reneé, who plays Ulyana (Ursula’s younger sister). “Like for me, as an octopus, I didn’t even know there were certain mannerisms I could do with dance, so that was really fun.”
Ruby Rose Turner, who plays Bridget (Young Queen of Hearts) and comes from a competitive-dance background, was so excited when she found out that there was going to be heavy choreography in the movie. She felt like she had “been training for this moment.”
Wallen also loved the experience of seeing the sets for the first time and bringing the choreography from studio to stage. “Getting all the dancers, all the actors, everyone out there on the set, and then kind of having a go at it and putting it together is a great, great thing to be a part of,” he says, adding, “It’s so great for me as a choreographer to walk in and have these actors and actresses that can actually dance. That made my job a lot, lot easier.”
Turner enjoyed seeing the dances come to life on set too. “That was one of my favorite moments, I think, when the ‘Life Is Sweeter’ choreo fully came together and we were on the set doing a full dress rehearsal. That was like, ‘Oh, my god, this is actually happening.’ ”
So what does Wallen hope viewers take away from the film? The inspiration to get up and learn the dances themselves, he says.
After The Greatest Showman was released, Wallen would see TikTok and Instagram videos of people doing the dances, and he loved seeing both dancers and nondancers let go and use their bodies. He said he hopes dance numbers like “Revenge” and others are able to achieve this effect too.
“I would say the dances are fun, visually dynamic to watch, and there’s stuff in there that everyone can do,” Wallen says. “I think there’s some dances in there that people can take away and have a go themselves—sing the words, do the moves, and just have a blast watching it. And that’ll just make me so happy.”
