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The Inside Story of Wicked’s Most Innovative Dance Scene - How They Pulled off the Ozdust Ballroom
The Wheelchair Dance shatters stereotypes in the most thrillifying way.
In a movie packed with powerhouse singing and sheer wizardry, it’s hard to stand out. But there’s one delightful dance scene in Wicked (in theaters now!) that soars.
Debuting early in the nearly three-hour epic, the wheelchair dance is a wonderful reminder that disabled actors can totally cut a rug and more — thanks to clever choreography and the enthusiasm of actors Marissa Bode and Ethan Slater.
Playing Nessarose and Boq, respectively, the two actors twist and zoom around the Ozdust Ballroom at an after-school rager for Shiz University students, Nessa in a wheelchair and Boq keeping up. Though the red-haired Munchkin has a crush on Glinda (Ariana Grande), it’s clear she only has eyes for Prince Fiyero Tigelaar (Jonathan Bailey) — the prom king to her prom queen. Glinda convinces Boq to ask Nessa to the party instead, and we’re thankful she does because it gives us this charming performance.
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In an interview with NBC Insider, Slater and Bode revealed it was their favorite scene to do in the film, a “really special experience,” not just on a personal level, but for representation in the arts.
“We had such a great time between that little song and the dance. I felt like it was a huge moment for our characters,” Slater revealed.
“We need to show disability on screen just so people know that one, we exist, and we’re out here. And two, that we can do so many different things. Education is really important, but I also think it’s a message to casting, as a whole, that we’re talented,” Bode explained.
How Marissa Bode and Ethan Slater prepared for Wicked's wheelchair dance scene
This is not the first rodeo for Bode, who started using a wheelchair at age 11. She caught the acting bug early on, at age 8, and grew up on stage appearing in plays and musicals like Mary Poppins and Little Shop of Horrors.
Slater is best known for his Tony-nominated portrayal of SpongeBob SquarePants in the eponymous Broadway musical. But neither of them had tackled a dance number like this before. The actors revealed it took about six weeks of rehearsals to get the moves just right. In between takes for other scenes, they spent about an hour practicing during each set rehearsal. In the days leading up to filming, they turned their attention full-time to the dance.
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“It was something that we really worked towards, and we kind of got to know our Boq and our Nessa and each other through working on that scene,” said Slater, who acknowledged it was a privilege to have so much time to practice “The immersion in this world is something that felt totally unique,” he said, crediting director Jon Chu for bringing “incredible heart” to the world-building.
Marissa Bode was the first disabled actress to play Nessa
Bode drew on her real-life experiences to portray Nessa and found their lives paralleled each other in surprising ways.
“I definitely know what it’s like having people be overprotective, i.e., the dad in the film [Frexspar Thropp, played by Andy Nyman], but for good reasons. Maybe not feeling like you can fully let go or people in general not… trusting 100 percent that you can do [things] as a disabled person. So I definitely felt that, and I carried that with me when portraying Nessa,” she explained. “I see a lot of myself in Nessa specifically, someone who is so ready to just branch off and finally be on her own and show her independence.”
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Bode also highlighted the importance of casting with care and creating an environment on the set that encouraged “moving throughout space as an authentic wheelchair user, having that background, and figuring all of that out.”
The wheelchair dance is a high point in the friendship between Boq and Nessa, which is fraught with false hope for love. But the scene has another purpose: how powerful and joyous a wheelchair-bound character can be while simply having fun on screen. So, what are Bode’s hopes and dreams for movies in the future? More epic dance scenes? Not exactly.
“I would love more roles in general to just show disabled people existing, just kicking it because that’s just our reality a lot of the time.”
Wicked is in theaters now. Get tickets here!
