Wayzata native teaches 'Grinch' to dance

When she was growing up in Wayzata, Wendy Seyb did not appreciate the artistic and cultural opportunities that her father, a business owner, and her mother, a photojournalist, provided her. She took classes at Children's Theatre and Minnesota Dance Theatre. She indulged her fancies in shows at the Guthrie, the Orpheum and the Ordway. She acted in school, where she also was a cheerleader. She sang in choir.

All of that exposure prepared her for a career that she could not conceive.

"It's easy to take those things for granted, but then you get out in the world, and you see how great your training was, and how special those opportunities were," she said.

That world for Seyb is New York, where she has lived and worked since college.

For the first time in 24 years, she is back working in the Twin Cities, as choreographer of "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas," which opened Friday in Minneapolis.

She's nostalgic about her old haunts, and wistful, too.

Surprisingly, even though Seyb felt most alive dancing, acting and choreographing when she was a child, she did not think of it as a career. Instead, she majored in archaeology at Boston University.

Seyb moved to New York long before shows such as "Dancing With the Stars" and "So You Think You Can Dance" were on the air. As a newbie in the Big Apple, she explored three areas of dance where she thought she would fit in: modern dance, concert dance and musical theater.

"The modern dance world was a lovely playground, especially for someone like me who grew up in the world of concert dance," she said. "I was always inclined to be funny, and I wanted more story and more character. The musical theater world has elements of that, but not enough."

Seyb, who has long drawn on iconic figures such as Charlie Chaplin and Gene Kelly for inspiration, decided to create her own style.

She called it "dance comedy," a marriage of her favorite styles with splashes of humor.

"It's using movement and choreography to do in this era what silent films did in the '20s," she said. "You still tell a story, but you do it comically and more playfully."

"Pee-wee's Playhouse" was "more in my wheelhouse," she said. "I quickly glommed on to that kind of comedy. I fit in where the show was in terms of temperature, tone and style."

Even if a show uses few words, the movement comedy can be specific to an era, Seyb noted.

Each iteration of "Grinch" has featured a new choreographer. Two years ago, it was Linda Talcott Lee.

Seyb's choreography in director Peter Brosius' revival of "Grinch" is quirky, eye-catching and splashy.

"Wendy is an excellent storyteller with a keen sense of how dance can move a narrative forward," said Brosius. When Seyb first visited his office, she rearranged the furniture and danced, he said. "She has an iconic imagination and knows how to bring vitality and fun to a scene."

Seyb sees her dance-making in more restrained terms.

"My work tends to be cartoonish sometimes — I lean into that style," she said. "My goal is to open up some numbers, add more color, fun and quirkiness. And that's easy when you've got wonderful actors. They make it a breeze."