‘In The Heights’ choreographer Christopher Scott on how the film is ‘a love letter to dance and Latin culture’

As Lin-Manuel Miranda’s film finally comes to India, the musical drama’s choreographer talks about the huge responsibility of speaking about the Latinx experience through dance, and why constant collaboration is key to a film’s success

Christopher Scott is “in love” — with In The Heights, specifically. The 37-year-old choreographer, known for the Step Up films, The LXD and So You Think You Can Dance competition series and more, has pushed his creative envelope yet again on the set of In The Heights, produced by Lin-Manuel Miranda and directed by John M. Chu. The film is a film adaptation of the novel and Broadway show written by Quiara Alegría Hudes, who is also the feature film’s screenwriter. . It would have been great to see some of the musical’s large-scale dance sequences on the big screen: 90 men in a New York public pool frugging, and an all-cast number in the Latinx neighbourhood of Washington Heights, New York. But owing to cinema halls shutdown across India as per the pandemic, In The Heights did not enjoy a theatrical release here. However the film is available for rent on most OTT and VOD platforms now.