Issue 3 - Feb 2022 Archives

For years, West Side Story was inextricably linked to Jerome Robbins’ choreography. On both stage and screen, the iconic finger clicks, bent knees and flaring skirts created an unmistakable movement language of simmering violence and romantic frustration.

Recent stage productions have allowed new choreographers to tackle this juicy material – including Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker on Broadway and Aletta Collins in Manchester. For Steven Spielberg’s new film, it’s Justin Peck, who as resident choreographer at New York City Ballet has danced in many Robbins’ ballets. ‘I’m standing on the shoulders of giants by taking this on,’ he acknowledges.

His grandfather and father watched the original stage production of West Side Story together, and when years later the young Peck saw the film in San Diego, it hit him, he said ‘like a gut-punch.’ Creating dance for Spielberg’s film he could draw on a cast that included not only Rita Moreno – who played Anita in the original film – but a new generation of vivid dancers. This time, Anita is Broadway star Ariana DeBose, who in 2020 told Dance Gazette about her approach to creating a character. ‘It all starts with movement,’ she said, ‘point blank, end of story. Because body language is everything.’

Watch

West Side Story trailer

RESOURCES

READ: Ariana DeBose in conversation with Noma Dumezweni in Dance Gazette

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Dance Gazette Big Picture Issue 3 - Feb 2022

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1 Von deiner Güt from The Creation by Franz Joseph Haydn

I have been rehearsing a very beautiful pas de deux by Uwe Scholz to this music so I have been listening to it over and over. It is emotional and uplifting, and takes you to another place. The choreography and the music work together so well: the choreography enhances the music and the music enhances the beautiful choreography.

2 Prelude from Cello Suite No 1 in G Major by Johann Sebastian Bach

I chose this piece for a contemporary choreography which I was lucky to perform recently at Die Staatstheater Stuttgart. I love Bach and I love the cello. It is so atmospheric, and it makes me want to dance. This prelude has a great beginning and end and lots of light and shade in between. It is a good length for a solo which made it great to choreograph to, but I really like the whole suite.

3 Rain, In Your Black Eyes by Ezio Bosso

I like the rhythm and builds in Ezio Bosso’s music and I used this for my Dancer’s Own solo in The Fonteyn.

4 All She Wrote by Six60

Baz Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom had a big impact on me growing up. I saw myself in it in many ways. I would make up dances to this track over and over and pretend to be Scott from the movie. I went on to direct and choreograph the stage adaptation as my West End debut, which was a very special full-circle moment for me. I like listening to New Zealand music when relaxing as it reminds me of home and it is really good. Six60 is great (I’m also a big fan of Lorde).

5 Easy On Me by Adele

This is number one at the moment. Epic singer and epic song.

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Dance Gazette Playlist Issue 3 - Feb 2022

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The best advice I ever received It’s short and sweet: you are enough. I don’t think we reflect on that enough. Everything I feel I have experienced on my journey, I have very much looked outside myself. But sometimes ‘you are enough’ penetrates deeper than something I’m looking for externally. It makes me go back and forward in time – it makes me reflect in time, look at where I’ve come and the people I’ve met, and look at where I want to go. When I piece it all together, I realise that where I’m at is the best place – I’m present, I’ve made and created something. When it resonates for me is when I tell it to myself.

The advice I would pass on Patience. Sometimes, especially in the time we’re in now, we realise we’ve been over-working ourselves. Sometimes it’s about waiting and making the mountain come to you rather than going and climbing the mountain. I turn 36 this year, and there are many times I didn’t feel patient. But when I’ve sat into myself I realise that’s when I become the manifester and magician, and that there’s a level of flow that comes to me.

Hip hop dance, my world, is very much a young person’s game. A lot of the younger creators are feeling like they haven’t hit that moment yet. Even for me, it feels like it only just starts now. Before I was prepping myself, and now it starts. So it’s very much about patience. Sit into ourselves and be patient with ourselves, and understanding and knowledge will come.

Ivan Michael Blackstock’s *Traplord*. Photo: Glodi Miessi

RESOURCES

Ivan Michael Blackstock’s TRAPLORD is at 180 Studios, London WC2 from 26 March–16 April

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Dance Gazette Advice Bureau Issue 3 - Feb 2022

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Has ballet always been part of your life?

It’s really funny – I was into the scouts and running around outside. I cried at ballet class – I never wanted to be there. Then my grandma thought ballet was wonderful and would give me so much. I wasn’t convinced. I didn’t like it – it was a lot of structure. My teacher was old-school, Russian-style, very firm. I was having some issues with my behaviour, but sweet grandma said, ‘Ballet will do the trick.’ And I remember feeling – I am not going to cry anymore, I am not going to let this win over me.

Nowadays, how do you approach students who are as rebellious as you once were?

I trick them. I do not present any structure at the beginning. First of all, I make them fall in love and be curious about it. I use a lot of slang in my class – and once they’re hooked, that’s it! I know the benefits of dance and ballet, so I can’t let anybody go.

How did you come to teach dance classes in your own home?

The school where I taught was kicked out of the place they were renting. My house was about four blocks away, so I said let’s all go together and do our ballet class. That’s the way it started. I remember a special moment when I looked at my class and saw more boys than girls and thought – oh, that is unusual. I always look at their eyes and I could see them believing me. I realised, I’m responsible for these kids because they trust me.

How do you make ballet attractive to boys?

We’ve created a generation of boys. In 2020, five of our students qualified for The Fonteyn, I’m so proud. A few years ago I was invited to teach a class in a local school and thought, I’m going to trick them into rhythm and movement. I put on music they related to and we started with claps and syncopation steps and then a simple turn. At the end of the class I said, ‘Guess what guys. I’m a ballet teacher and what you were just doing is called a promenade. This is ballet.’

What have you learned through teaching dance?

Passion is something that you build. I’m passionate about my work because I had to really fight for it. Dance can change people – not just you, but your friends, family and community.

RESOURCES

Victoria’s school website is at balletjoven.org

Read about Victoria’s work in Forbes’ list of the 100 most creative Mexicans

Listen to Victoria discussing her work in Why Dance Matters, the RAD podcast

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Dance Gazette RAD Q&A Issue 3 - Feb 2022

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The RAD is delighted to announce that Tim Arthur will succeed Luke Rittner as Chief Executive of the Academy.

Tim Arthur started his career as a drama teacher with his own drama school in Tunbridge Wells. He went on to become a successful theatre director and playwright. He was CEO/Artistic Director of Trinity Theatre in Tunbridge Wells and won several awards for his work as Artistic Director of the Derby Playhouse’s internationally renowned Community Theatre. He was also the CEO of Cardboard Citizens, a multi-award-winning charity creating theatre working with and for homeless people. He is also a published author and a former presenter on BBC Radio London.

‘I am incredibly excited and honoured to be given the opportunity to lead this wonderful organisation,’ says Arthur, who will take up the post in March. ‘Over the last 100 years, the RAD has helped to change tens of thousands of lives around the world by introducing them to the transformative power and sheer joy of dance. The RAD has been a beacon of excellence, creativity, passion and inclusivity and my aim is to ensure that this continues long in to the future.’

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Dance Gazette Inside RAD Issue 3 - Feb 2022

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I started dancing when I was two. Mum took me along to ballet class and I did tap, ballet and modern for about 10 years. I loved it. I didn’t experience competition until I was at primary school, and was quite shy and was never confident. But I loved sports day and the fact that you could win or lose – I enjoyed that element of competition. It was how I got more involved in athletics – it was black or white, no grey areas.

How do you deal with winning and losing?

Even when I win, I’m very critical of myself. It’s part of being of an athlete, you’re always looking to do better. I’ve always been prepared to fail, but we don’t really prepare athletes for success. At Rio in 2016, I became a double paralympic champion, I was a world record holder, it should have been the happiest time of my life. I felt relief that I’d actually done it, but didn’t enjoy it. It felt good for five minutes, but I then felt very unfulfilled. I’d always felt like a mentally very strong and resilient person, but was suddenly spiralling into having mental health issues. It completely took me by surprise. People think, when you’ve achieved something you’ve dreamt of your whole life, that you should be happy and grateful. I felt very isolated. I completely lost myself and it took 18 months for me to become even a shadow of myself again. Even now, I’m not the same person.

How did you enjoy Dancing on Ice?

For me, ice skating is ballet on ice. When I did Dancing on Ice it was so good for me. I was terrible – but had a new-found appreciation for dance. The ice dancers are incredible. You’ve got the logical structure of training and preparation, but you’ve also got the whole artistic and performance side. Since starting athletics I’d never gone back to dance, so it was awe-inspiring. Blind people don’t necessarily have good spatial awareness, and I’m no good at facial expressions, so I knew [professional ice dancer] Mark Hanretty was nervous about working with me. We had a really good conversation: I said, I’m an athlete, I’m very coachable. We absolutely clicked, I completely trusted him and I wasn’t going to let anything get in my way.

What difference has your guide dog, Hatti, made to you?

It took me a while to decide to get a guide dog. I was getting very bored with explaining to everybody that I couldn’t see very well and asking if they could help me. I hated using a cane. Hatti gives me confidence: that I can go anywhere and not be judged, because all people want to do is stroke her. Disability can be awkward for other people – having Hatti there makes people more comfortable and feel that they can ask me any questions they want. Hatti’s an amazing dog, she’s been there through a lot of ups and downs.

Why does dance matter to you?

Dance is an expression of yourself, it gives you a sense of freedom. I’m terrible at dancing – but I do like to have a little dance in the kitchen!

Why Dance Matters

Why Dance Matters is a new podcast from the RAD – a series of conversations with extraordinary people from the world of dance and beyond. We hope these insightful personal conversations – hosted by David Jays, editor of Dance Gazette – will delight and inspire you.

Our new season includes Carlos Acosta, American opera star Joyce DiDonato and RAD teacher Barbara Peters. Please listen and subscribe to Why Dance Matters.

RESOURCES

Read Libby’s book, My Life With Hatti: Six Years with a Dog Who Does Everything

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Dance Gazette Why Dance Matters Issue 3 - Feb 2022