Mar
15,
2024
Mandy Moore (the choreographer) has a varied and epic career creating some of the most iconic dance moments that we love today in pop-culture. She’s known for her work on pictures like La La Land, The Era’s Tour, and yes you got it, Barbie.
The performance saw Barbie movie star and Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling, in a bright pink bedazzled suit and cowboy hat, lead an army of 62 Kens, as well as his fellow Barbie movie Kens — Simu Liu, Ncuti Gatwa, Kingsley Ben-Adir and Scott Evans — in an all-out dance number that paid homage to Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, included “street-style dancing,” filled the stage with Barbie cardboard cut-outs and ended in a Rockettes-style kickline. With an ode to various mediums of dance, icons of the silver screen, and of course the current cast of Barbie it is sure to go down as an iconic part of Oscar’s history.
Onstage during the performance Ryan Gosling was accompanied by “I’m Just Ken” songwriters and producers, Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, as well as guitarist Wolfgang Van Halen and Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash, who played a solo at the end. The goal, says Moore, was for the audience and television broadcast to feel like they were at a rock concert with a stage filled with “hundreds of Kens.” Though Mandy Moore’s team had to “settle” for just 62 when it became apparant that 100 Kens couldn’t physically fit on the stage. Shame.
The dancers only had about a week of rehearsal and one full run-through, revealed choreographer Mandy Moore. Many of the creative ideas originated from Ryan Gosling and director Greta Gerwig, including the decision to reference the Marilyn Monroe film (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes), with Gosling speaking out about including his co-stars and the cameraman in the performance.
Let us know what you thought of the performance. We’d love to know!
