CHOREOGRAPHER

The setting was his research vessel, Apollo, then at sea in the Mediterranean and Atlantic and, from where he informed a British arranger/composer: “It occurred to me that as we had some musicians on board, scattered amongst the crew we should form an organization known as the Apollo Troupe.” In addition to all other benefits was Ron’s abiding concern that the Apollo supply some form of exchange with those ports regularly providing dockage and hospitality.

It began in earnest with a performance at a winter festival on the Portuguese island of Madeira, an unqualified success, and thus the first of the troupes, the Apollo Stars, was born.

Intrinsic to the Troupe’s success was their employment of key LRH discoveries relating to performer-audience rapport. Most simply described as “keeping the audience with it,” L. Ron Hubbard defined that rapport in terms of “relationship, especially, one of mutual trust or affinity.” Thus, “An audience in rapport is different than an audience of spectators. An audience in rapport PARTICIPATES in small or large ways with the performer or the artist or work of art, often by vocal or body motion.”

Key to the attainment of rapport was, of course, Ron’s discoveries pertaining to rhythm; for it was the rhythm, and particularly predictable rhythm, that most immediately invited audience participation. By way of illustration, a member of the troupe tells how Ron developed a predictable rhythm for a given piece, and then actually choreographed band members’ movements to further invite audience participation. The result was described as an entire hall in rhythmical rapport, “so that all of us became part of the performance: musicians, audience, even the security forces and stagehands.”

Utilizing this same principle, Ron addressed audience response to dance — which typically led him to an entire study of choreography as yet another medium by which one might successfully invite: “clapping, stamping, yelling, even dancing.”

The net result proved galvanizing — particularly when dancers joined musicians. Apollo performers were presenting not only concerts but theatrical displays, such as “The Dancing Tiger of Bali,” a musical rendition of a Balinese folk myth, and then “Rain Dance,” a dance intended to bring on rain, — which, despite being performed during weeks of dry, insufferable heat, did just that.

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