‘Dance’ brings choreographers back to Vegas

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Don’t let that creepy guy from “Black Swan” fool you. Getting a dancer to do what you want is hard work. But getting a group of them to do something? That’s like herding cats — really fabulous cats hopped up on Red Bull and dreams.

The 115 or so who made it past the first round of “So You Think You Can Dance’s” Las Vegas callbacks April 8 at the Planet Hollywood Resort — the episode airs at 8 p.m. Wednesday on KVVU-TV, Channel 5 — couldn’t even file into the theater on cue, requiring a second take for the cameras.

And with all the styles represented, from the grace of the ballrooms to the rawness of the streets, coming up with choreography that everyone can handle must be somewhat akin to overseeing “We Are the World” — without having to wonder what Dan Aykroyd’s doing there.

That’s where University of Nevada, Las Vegas grads Napoleon and Tabitha D’umo come in.

“We have a short amount of time. We wanna be able to make sure they can comprehend it and do the best that they can,” Tabitha says shortly before taking the stage. “But at the same time, it’s an audition. So you also have to challenge them enough that you can separate the good from the bad, because you really only want the strong to survive.”

The duo is met with genuine cheers from the contestants when they’re introduced as the surprise choreographers, even though Napoleon later admits he’s not sure how unexpected their arrival was, considering they’ve been the “surprise” choreographers for five straight Vegas rounds.

But the heartfelt response is a reflection of just how far the couple known as Nappytabs has come in the past few years, with credits ranging from “So You Think You Can Dance” and MTV’s “America’s Best Dance Crew” to the Emmys to “Viva Elvis” and the Jabbawockeez showcase “MUS.I.C.” on the Strip. A Google suggestion even ranks “Napoleon and Tabitha” above “Napoleon and Josephine.”

“We did this simply because we just loved it, and it was something recreationally we shared together,” Tabitha says of their dance career that began in earnest while she was working in public relations at the Rio and Napoleon was applying to medical school.

“And, luckily, it just kept manifesting. And one thing led to another that led to another, and before long, we were like, ‘Wow, we both have our degrees. Maybe we should just take off a year and see where this goes.’ Never anticipating, you know, 15 years later we’d be where we are.”

During the 90 minutes allotted for choreography, the duo breaks down their hip-hop routine, set to Chris Brown’s “Look at Me Now,” into easily digestible nuggets so “Matrix”-slow, even Busta Rhymes’ supersonic rap is (mostly) intelligible.

Wearing green Nikes with red laces and a T-shirt from the Nappytabs clothing line, Napoleon takes the lead as the dancers spread out, seven or eight deep, across the width of the stage. Part taskmaster, part cheerleader, he’s there to keep the mob both loose and focused in the middle of a long, grueling day.

Noting that the guys are outnumbered when it comes to choosing partners, he announces, “Boys, you’re going to have to double up on girls.” Realizing the double-entendre, he adds a playful “You’re in Vegas” that elicits knowing laughter.

New steps are punctuated with catchphrases. “Easy? Breezy.” “Nice like rice.”

And two similar stances are described as “takin’ a pee in the woods” and “takin’ a dump in the woods.”

On the surface, 90 minutes seems like an eternity to teach something that might last all of 30 seconds. And, taken slowly and individually, none of the movements seems that difficult. But even the seasoned dancers gasp the first time they see a portion of the dance unfold in real time.

As the dancers jockey for room on the cramped stage, cameramen bob and weave around the pairs. “It’s a television show, not a dance competition,” Napoleon tells them, suggesting that if they can’t deal with the cameras, they should go home and enter a local contest.

Tabitha, who comes across like Liz Lemon’s younger, streetwise sister, takes the women aside, stressing the importance of connecting with their partners and describing a troublesome part of the routine — “like a Dougie, but with musicality” — in a way even a layman can understand.

Later, during an hour’s break in which the dancers are told to eat a meal before getting back to work so they don’t pass out, Napoleon and Tabitha reflect on the career that just keeps bringing them back to Las Vegas.

“Recently it seems like we’ve been back here more than when we lived here,” Napoleon says. “Between all the Cirque shows and Jabbawockeez, it seems like we’re always here.”

This time, though, they’re only in town briefly, as they’re about to rush off to Toronto to work on a 3-D dance movie with “Dancing with the Stars” champ Derek Hough. But while they choreograph for every available medium, they won’t name a favorite.

“I think what we like so much is that we never have the same thing to do,” Tabitha says. “Every week it could be from a television show to a live stage, and it always makes it exciting, and it always challenges us in different ways, because you really can’t choreograph the same way for each project.”

“For us, we could be sitting in an office, I guess,” Napoleon reasons, “so being able to do so many things that all involve dance, it’s a blessing. It’s hardly work.”

And with that, it’s time to leave.

It’s getting late, even though the dancers still have miles to go before they sleep.

And, with no food in sight, they spread out in the lobby, practicing their moves.

Fabulous cats waiting to be herded.

Christopher Lawrence’s Life on the Couch column appears on Sundays. Contact him at clawrence@ reviewjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter: @OnTheCouchLVRJ