I was invited on an all expense paid press trip where I screened Descendants, met and did a Q&A with Kenny Ortega, and met some of the Disney Descendants cast on their current sets!
I recently was able to screen the upcoming Disney movie special, Descendants, meet the cast, and have a question and answer session with Director & Choreographer Kenny Ortega! You have seen his work in High School musical and MORE! He has worked with GREAT talent & legends including one of my favorites, Michael Jackson.
GREAT words of wisdom regarding Descendants from Kenny Ortega!
“There needs to be a reason behind what you do.” Ortega was referring to when he would add numbers into the movie and dance moves. I took this meaning something much more deeper. This statement holds true to what you do in life! Your actions should have meaning! He goes on and explains it about “when music and dance become part of the story telling.”
“You should want the music number to HELP tell the story.” If you love to dance and celebrate life, you should also do this in life. LIFE is your own story and celebrations should always be a part of it! Are you in love? Be sure to spend some dance time with your spouse as well!
Kenny talked about how amazing it was when he got to work with ALL these amazing villains and their kids! How suddenly the story had all of these awesome Disney characters and they were all on one page. Imagine the creativity that goes into dreaming up a story of such large elasticity!
Choreography: He was able to read through the script and place music numbers where he thought they fit best in the story. He had to team up dancers and non dancers together, and the entire cast learned all the numbers in ONLY 3 weeks!
The CAST: He did nothing but praise the cast of the kids and the villains in the movie. He told us stories about how dedicated and amazing each and everyone was!
I was lucky enough to have met the cast myself! HERE are some of the highlighted cast members:
Disney Descendants Cast
Dove Cameron (Mal):
“Filming “Descendants” was some of the most fun that I’ve had in my entire life. It was the most incredible and magical cast and crew. Kenny Ortega is a genius. All of my costars are absolutely talented and magnificent, and everybody was handpicked so specifically. They’re all my heroes, and I really hope that we get to work more together.” -Dove Cameron – Mal, Disney’s “Descendants”
Cameron Boyce (Carlos):
“The experience was amazing. We worked with Kenny Ortega, and Vancouver, Canada is beautiful. We had a really great time. The cast was really close. We spent a lot of time together just hanging out, and we were a really tight knit group.” -Cameron Boyce – Carlos, Disney’s “Descendants”
Booboo Steward (Jay):
Son of Jafar who likes to steal stuff. A talented actor! His comedy helps make the movie for sure!
Sofia Carson (Evie):
She plays daughter of the Evil Queen! She is totally into fashion and has momma’s magical mirror! This girl can dance and sing!
Watch Disney’s Descendants on July 31, 2015 a Disney Channel Original Movie!