How ‘Little Women’ Throws a Dance Party | Anatomy of a Scene

There’s a moment in Greta Gerwig’s new film adaptation of “Little Women” that ignites the screen with as much energy as a fire that sets ablaze a character’s dress in the scene prior.

Jo March (Saoirse Ronan) is at a party with Theodore “Laurie” Laurence (Timothée Chalamet). He asks her to dance. But she’s accidentally scorched a part of her dress and doesn’t want other guests to see. Laurie takes Jo outside, and they have their own mini-dance party on the front porch bathed in the light of the larger party inside.

They dance in ways that are refined, silly, playful and buoyant all at once. The moment, choreographed by Monica Bill Barnes, has a bit of a punk-rock rebellion quality to it, but also keeps with the time.
“I wanted it to feel both totally modern and period accurate,” Gerwig said during an interview at The Times.

“I didn’t want them to be doing dances they wouldn’t necessarily know. But I did want it to feel joyful and young, like kids dance.”
Gerwig said the idea for this dance came from a “Saturday Night Live” sketch that features Gilda Radner and Steve Martin, where the two meet in a nightclub and trip the light fantastic.

“For our film, we wanted it to be this shimmery moment that feels like maybe it almost didn’t even happen,” she said.

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[jualiet]

THIS IS THE MOST ROMANTIC SCENE I'VE EVER SEEN

[taragold]

You can tell she thinks about every slight, minute detail and puts so much work into her movies. I hope she wins a best director Oscar for this or at least gets a nod

[krisd]

That guy is heartbreakingly handsome in his own way

[AJB]

I love the way she describes the house as a jewelry box.

[sophiebrodit]

These scenes are amazing. I love how Timmy just acts completely spellbound by the craziness of the March family. He nails it.

[skincare_by_madison]

It was at that moment Amy looked at Laurie and thought "I'm gonna marry that boy"

[SavlovesNiallHoran]

Greta Gerwig is an inspiration for any women who want to go into the arts!

[iammilorex]

My favourite part is the way Timmy nods and then looks away, when he says "I have an idea about how we can manage." at 0:29.

[dnya]

“I’m Greta Gerwig”

Me: *smiles uncontrollably*

[shahadshd]

Everyone is praising the actors and well they deserve it they are perfect but I think we should also praise the director, the writer, etc they did a amazing job as well
Greta is the director and I’m so thankful for her work it’s just perfect

[keepperspective]

Put Saiorse and Timothee in something like Breakfast at Tiffany’s— just the two of them clashing in glares.

[herdianaptr]

I am sorry but can we have a movie where saoirse and timothée have a happy ending? I ship them hard 😭

[sophb]

👏THIS👏MOVIE👏IS👏A👏WORK👏OF👏ART👏 the acting is absolutely stunning (especially chalamet and Ronan), the blocking is great, and the way the story is told is so original and fresh.

[blindbandit]

I absolutely love the cinematography of this movie... Every shot is a painting.. the lighting, the colours, the focus... Everything is just beautiful

[caroline-fexi]

greta is brilliant and so are the lovely cast of this film! can’t wait to watch this

[Qacc]

So that’s where the dreamy Timmy shot comes from. The end of that sequence.

[teresatancredi]

Omg in love with this scene and listening how Greta thought it all through finds me in awe of her and the movie itself.

[gimmemoremusic]

I'm in love with this film already 😍

[tripletroubletruffle]

greta gerwig is the epitome of connectedness. saying this is because there's no one else i can imagine being casted for the characters from a 150 year old classic in 2019.
lots of love

[ronniecaron]

this scene was like a
Lord & Taylor Mechanical, Period
CHRISTMAS WINDOW,
that people Lined up all day & night to see.