The Jellicle Ball - Blog Posts

jellicle ball appreciation posts —

(bonus detail✨) :

if anyone ever feels worried about trying something new, just remember that george was hesitant to join bombalurina’s section in the jellicle ball, even though he wanted to. but with a bit of encouragement from tugger he went for it and ended up having a good time.

george, i hope you know you are an inspiration.

it’s such a little detail and george is such a minor character but they cared enough to put it in. and it makes sense because george is a shy kitten and bomba’s section is full of energy and the centre of attention, so naturally he’d be nervous about stepping out of his comfort zone. AND it shows that tugger cares so much about the little ones that he’d understand how george was feeling, and sling his arm around him like “you got this”.

it’s so adorable!!!!!! 😩😩💖💖💖

(emojis credit to @astrelle)

previous post here, and the jellicle ball section names here. and also for this post the 1998 film jellicle ball & white cat solo. (i wanted to add the audios here individually but tumblr doesn’t allow that so sorry 🥲. if you can, speed the video up to 1.05x for the original speed.)

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jellicle ball appreciation posts :

character themes

i love how you can tell what kind of cats the cats are just by listening to the music that plays when they’re the subject of a dance. it’s like you can HEAR their characters. and we get the most of this during the jellicle ball, so i’ll list the tune and then how their character traits correlate with the music. exhibits below :

before we talk about the ball, we have the white cat solo for victoria’s theme.

victoria’s solo : simple, sweet, sincere high notes. delicate and unassuming. elegant; not needing to be elaborate.

now, listen to the “ricochet” section of the jellicle ball. you can hear traces of her in the music as she dances! it reflects how the white cat is always peeking out and catching your eye through the crowd.

now let’s look at the fugue section. unlike the second part of the ball, where they’re all basically considered ensemble cats, here we get the most individual characterisation through the different portions and their subjects. (hence, fugue.) starting from “fugue” itself all the way down to “bombalurina’s section”.

listen to the contrast between the two monochromatics —

mistoffelees begins “fugue” : soft, lower and duller notes that evoke the sense of fluffy paws creeping along the floor. has an air of mischief and mystery.

alonzo’s entrance : loud, sharp, brighter brass that only gets more and more intense, a testament to his bravado; a theme designed to impress and intimidate.

and if you listen for a bit longer you can hear them playing in tandem with each other as they dance, especially when alonzo does his hand thing at misto during what’s supposed to be “tours”. this isn’t just an orchestra, it’s the cats themselves.

now the queens —

cassandra cartwheels in : a solitary tune that chimes high and proud, and doesn’t stoop down for anyone. clearly a cat of high status and prestige.

bombalurina interrupts : jazzy, passionate and warm woodwinds. a bold and vibrant melody that goes straight to the point and screams “life of the party”.

moving on to the “boys ballet” - “sways” section, there are actually three subjects, mistoffelees, tumblebrutus, and victoria, and there’s kind of a call and response going on (which i love). as we already discussed victoria and mistoffelees, we can infer that the strings heard here are tumblebrutus, while the brass is misto, and if you listen very closely, the even higher pitched “whistles” (woodwind i think) are victoria. tumble is the call, while misto and vic respond.

the cats talk with each other through the music! how magical is that? and if you listen closer to moments like bomba and tugger, you can hear even more of these conversations! (you can hear a bit of tugger’s rock during “slithers”. also i love how tugger’s electric guitar comes back whenever he leads.) there are also moments where you can hear what the cats are saying, doing or feeling like with tumble and alonzo, or alonzo and bomba or cassandra. it’s one of the reasons that the jellicle ball is so memorable.

music is truly magic.

anyone who hates on cats just because of cats needs to realise there’s more to this show than meets the eye, or ear.

hello everyone!! happy feburary and welcome to my “jellicle ball appreciation posts” series where i discuss my favourite part of the whole musical! specifically about the 1998 version because, oh boy, my love for this recording of a 10 minute dance break knows no bounds. refer to this video for the names of the different sections of the jellicle ball aaaand let’s begin!!!

jellicle ball appreciation posts :

perfect timing

anyone who’s danced before knows that doing all those moves, especially for more fast paced dances, takes exceptional strength and control to execute them well. in order to have that control, and of course because moving your limbs and getting from one place to another takes time, you sometimes have to sacrifice one extra second to perform the last move before moving on to the next one. for example, watch bombalurina after “arabesque” as she’s getting into place for “warsaw (ecstasy)”. unlike most others, she raises her arms a little late because she has to run into position from the back. although it’s a pretty minor issue, when this happens your performance can appear delayed and you often end up rushing the following move.

so one of the most satisfying things for me to watch as an ex-dancer (besides straight up satisfying dancing which we will talk about in the future) is someone hitting their mark on a dance move perfectly or even a little early. one example of this is, during “slow paws” jemima’s arm movements are completely in time with the music, and she raises her arms perfectly on cue during “arabesque”.

but absolutely nothing scratches this itch more than watching tumblebrutus, or fergus logan, dance. seriously, who gave this man the right to be THAT graceful???? i cannot even express how euphoric it is to watch him during the jellicle ball and i sometimes open the film just to watch him. i genuinely love the “boys ballet” section so much because of him and fergus logan has become one of my favourite dancers in the show, or ever, if not my favourite. and for the same reason (but not the only one) tumblebrutus is also one of my top favourite cats.

when tumble and misto stand up and do their windmill thing during “spikey”, fergus is completely focused on dancing. you can see it on his face. as a result, tumble is eager and ready to do the next move, and it shows because he hits the mark perfectly and my gosh, i hope you guys know how much i wish i could absorb that moment into my soul. and the way he “windmills” is just like, he swings his arms so freely and effortlessly and elegantly and so in time with the music, it’s just so pleasing to watch. compared to jacob brent, who’s more focused on staying in character, which i absolutely don’t blame him for since he has a very important role, but as a result he ends up windmilling a little bit late and rushes the next one. mistoffelees’ dancing has more of his flavour and spark, but tumblebrutus’s movements are just so freaking refined and graceful and everything, and i highly doubt this will be the last time i talk about fergus logan in these posts.

as much as i love these “perfect timing” moments though, i also happen to care a lot about the moments like i mentioned in the first paragraph, because there’s something beautiful about seeing the humanity behind a piece of art, especially in the case of dance and professional dancers. it shows that no matter how fantastical this world is or how impressive the cats’ feats are, these are still actors, human beings, and they make mistakes on stage sometimes too and that’s ok. it just shows how much effort is needed to pull this off and put on a successful show. cats the musical is one of the only pieces of media that i know of, where it can break the immersion in a serious manner (or even unintentionally) and have it make the experience even more magical.

part 2~~

grizabella being the one who says “…when you’re walking alone…” in jsfjc makes me so sad!! argh!!!!

i know it’s not like… technically her… but still the whiplash kills me! “are you cock of the walk…”OMG ALONZO!!! <3 “…when you’re walking alone…” ARRGGHHHHH!!!!!!

lil alonzostrap sketch :3

i hc that munk is always stressed out of his mind from taking care of the tribe, and only lets himself relax when alonzo takes over and forces him to. also alonzo is openly in love with him (in his own weird alonzo way) but munk is hesitant to show his feelings. the end.