Choreographer Rachel Linsky
What was your inspiration for the movement within Trojan Barbie?
“The inspiration for the movement of Trojan Barbie came to me over a long period of time — beginning when I first read the script and met with Director Kim Shively in spring of 2018. I had never choreographed a play before or had an assignment like this, so it took me awhile to start envisioning things. I would sit in the production meetings [during the fall semester] and every visual that the other designers would bring in really helped me have these little “Aha!” moments. I began to visualize one thing and then the next. [Their work] pulled together and inspired the movement I’ve created."
“The inspiration for the movement of Trojan Barbie came to me over a long period of time — beginning when I first read the script and met with Director Kim Shively in spring of 2018. I had never choreographed a play before or had an assignment like this, so it took me awhile to start envisioning things. I would sit in the production meetings [during the fall semester] and every visual that the other designers would bring in really helped me have these little “Aha!” moments. I began to visualize one thing and then the next. [Their work] pulled together and inspired the movement I’ve created."
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In what ways did you collaborate with sound designers in order to properly execute your choreographic vision?
“I feel so lucky to get to collaborate with the sound designer of Trojan Barbie, Sydney Dye. Sydney is unbelievable. As a choreographer, I normally never choreograph to music. I make the movement first and then layer the music over it. I don’t have the most musical mind — I never played an instrument. For Trojan Barbie, I needed to work on counting the music and explaining how I was feeling the music — how I was envisioning things — to these dancers, a lot of whom have theatre and music backgrounds. They have certain expectations of me communication-wise, so it has been an awesome challenge for me. And it would not have been possible for me to meet those expectations without Sydney’s help understanding the music. Throughout this process, I’ve truly learned a lot about how to choreograph with music, how to count music, how to understand music, and then how to more easily translate what I see as a choreographer to dancers."
“I feel so lucky to get to collaborate with the sound designer of Trojan Barbie, Sydney Dye. Sydney is unbelievable. As a choreographer, I normally never choreograph to music. I make the movement first and then layer the music over it. I don’t have the most musical mind — I never played an instrument. For Trojan Barbie, I needed to work on counting the music and explaining how I was feeling the music — how I was envisioning things — to these dancers, a lot of whom have theatre and music backgrounds. They have certain expectations of me communication-wise, so it has been an awesome challenge for me. And it would not have been possible for me to meet those expectations without Sydney’s help understanding the music. Throughout this process, I’ve truly learned a lot about how to choreograph with music, how to count music, how to understand music, and then how to more easily translate what I see as a choreographer to dancers."
