Interview with Colleen Coy on Madison Opera’s “Pearl Fishers”
Yesterday I got to renew my acquaintance with the dancer Colleen Coy, who is performing choreography by Maureen Janson with tonight’s opening of “The Pearl Fishers”, an opera by Georges Bizet (better known for Carmen). Rather than transcribe, I wanted to just let you hear her own words, and especially the energy and enjoyment that comes through in her voice when she talks about working with the opera.
I was curious, since I’d found a lot of differences moving from the theatre world to the dance world in terms of production methods, to see if she had any difficulties–or particular joys–in working in this new area. She described the entire ensemble - leads, singers, dancers, choreographers, and especially the Stage Director, as being better than a finely-tuned machine, but being a group of creatives who respect and support each other. I think her description of the way the Opera treats their performers and crew made me want to see the show even more. I’ve been a part of a few ensemble pieces like that - a summer stock run of Hello Dolly! with UW-Madison comes to mind - and the energy positively rolls off the stage. The fact that the set designers changed the entire surface of the floor in one day to make it safer for the dancers is just one example.
Listen to her on the player below, or, if that gives you any trouble, you can come to the new FameOrFamine Radio podcast page. Podshow is fun, but the interface can be pretty cranky, so I’m hoping that listening here will work.
Thanks again to Colleen for her time, and I’m really looking forward to the show on Sunday!
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POSTED IN: Dance Styles, Performing Art Centers, Performing Artist Profiles, Theater
1 opinion for Interview with Colleen Coy on Madison Opera’s “Pearl Fishers”
Britany
Apr 15, 2007 at 7:14 pm
Thanks for that great interview Colleen, you really captured everything well! Miss you already!!
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