Interview with Choreographer Brittany McKinney

Interview with Choreographer Brittany McKinney

Q. What is your major? 

I am a continued education student. I graduated from Texas State University with my BFA in Dance: Performance and Choreography.

Q.And how does that play into you choosing the choreography class this semester? 

I had the pleasure of working with Darla Johnson during my two years as a Merge Dance Company Member. After graduating from Texas State then moving to Austin, Darla's Choreography class had been recommended to me by Darla and friends of mine who had previously taken the course. 

I chose to enroll in the course to allow myself the opportunity to continue learning about my own choreographic process.

Q. Why do you dance? (i.e. what inspires you to move? where do you find the motivation to dance?) 

I dance because it is a part of who I am. Dance is my form of expression, it is my way of speaking when I struggle to find words, it is my stress reliever, it truly is my life. I am inspired to move by everything around me; people, nature, other art forms as well as other dancers. With movement, I am constantly learning new things and growing as a dancer but also as a person.

Q. Were there specific inspirations for your Choreography piece?  

My piece was inspired by the movement quality that Dmo and I have. How we move as individuals that makes us different and how we move together in a complementary way.

Q. How did they change as the process continued this semester? 

During the beginning of my process I listed a few questions for us to spend some time writing and reflecting over. One of the questions that I had was "What inspires you?". After we wrote out our own answers individually we came together for a discussion. As we were listening to each other talk about what inspires us, I really found that information to be the driving force for creating my movement material for the piece.

Q. Is there a story, feeling and/or idea that you are conveying to your audience in your choreography? 

The piece is a direct representation of my process. It is about our movement quality as dancers, and about showcasing our inspirations.

Q. Does it have any special meaning to you? 

Being that it is a direct representation of what inspires Dmo and I, this piece is extremely personal and vulnerable to who we are as people and as dancers.

Q. What are your plans for the future? 

My current aspiration is to become a professional dancer. After hopefully achieving that dream and spending a few years with it, I want to return to school in pursuit of my MFA.

Q. Has anything about the process you've gone through to make this piece surprised you? 

I was pleasantly surprised throughout my choreographic process that I allowed my intuition as a choreographer to take control rather than my over analytical mind that often gets in the way. I think what really helped me in getting to that place of confidence was the structure of the class as a whole. The best example is that while we worked on generating choreography we also incorporated improvisational scores that allowed my body to move freely and without judgment.

Q. What were the challenges for you personally this semester? 

The biggest challenge has been more recently, towards the end of the semester. Now that my piece is done it is time to perfect it and I sometimes get too caught up in that idea of perfection. This unhealthy mindset is something that I am always working to improve within myself.