Ballet & Dance Podcast

In this podcast, Precious Adams, English National Ballet, First Artist shares her journey from the US to training in Canada, Europe and Moscow, before moving to the UK to dance with the English National Ballet. Precious is a rising ballet star who is celebrated for her artistry, technique and her contributions to improving diversity in the dance industry.

We featured Precious in The Wonderful World of Dance Magazine (Act 5) along with stunning photos captured by Dean Barucija, Pickled Thoughts Photography which showcase her elegance and stunning lines.

Listen to Precious talk about how she uses her varied training in the studio as she switches from Russian to English technique, her transition into company and touring life at ENB as well as how she deals with the demands of dance life, studying and building a side business.

Precious is an inspiration and a role model for aspiring dancers and she gives great advice and insights into life as a professional ballerina.

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https://djwpodcasts.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/1wwwod/Precious+Adams.mp3 Precious Adams. Photo by Pickled Thoughts

In this podcast Russell Maliphant, the critically acclaimed, award winning choreographer, dancer and artistic director of Russell Maliphant Dance Company, discusses his career and work that firmly places this artist as one of Britain’s most important choreographers creating work today.

Next year, Russell Maliphant Dance Company is set to celebrate their 25th Anniversary. Listen to Russell share his journey from training with The Royal Ballet School, dancing with Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet (now Birmingham Royal Ballet), before deciding to forge an independent dance career, that led to him establishing Russell Maliphant Dance Company.

Russell is a deeply considered artist, eternally curious and highly academic. Listen to Russell as he discusses his interest and research into anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, Rolf Method of Structural Integration, somatic practice and more. He also talks about his exploration of flow and energy and the relationship between movement, light and music in his award winning work.

Russell Maliphant (c) Panayiotis Sinnos

At the time of this podcast recording, dance was just returning to the stage in London and unfortunately due to the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic hitting the UK and Europe, performances have again been cancelled or delayed.

Russell Maliphant choreographed a piece for English National Ballet’s REUNION – which was to be their first live performance since the initial lockdown – unfortunately this is currently delayed. Russell Maliphant Dance Company is scheduled to perform in Europe in early 2021. The company has also made their Digital Archives available and they are also holding online classes, workshops and more. Stay up to date with Russell Maliphant Dance Company performance dates and discover more here.

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Alain Platel is the director of Les Ballet C de la B, which is in fact not a ballet company, and definitely not your typical dance company.

Based in Belgium, Alain tells us how he started Les Ballet C de la B by accident and has over the last 30 years challenged the normal conventions of dance.

Working with both professional and non-professional dancers, live musicians, and even animals, Alain creates work that makes us question ‘what is dance’, who is allowed to dance, what is a dancer, where does dance end and movement begin, is theatre dance?

His piece Nicht Schlafen being shown at Sadler’s Wells (30 June and 1 July), is an example of his radical dance that deals with life and death. Alain explains the inspiration drawn from Austrian composer Gustav Mahler, political change, uncertainty and social tensions.

With a cast of all men except one lone female dancer, Nicht Schlafen explores the role of men in today’s society, responding to, as Alain says, the new wave of feminism.

Listen to Alain talk about his observations and influences and the importance of the music from composer Steven Prengels in his work.

Thank you to Francesca Marotto for compiling the interview questions.

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Hip hop is one of the fastest growing dance styles in the UK, but sometimes it’s given a bad rap. ZooNation Dance Company is here to show the world that hip hop has a role to play in engaging, motivating and inspiring young people and providing them with positive role models and opportunities.

ZooNation is bringing their latest show Into The Hoods : Remixed to London’s Sadler’s Wells Peacock Theatre. It’s a story set in the ‘Ruff Endz Estate’, where two lost children go on a journey to find an iPhone as white as milk, trainers as pure as gold, a hoodie as red as blood and weave as yellow as corn. This remixed production has been co-created by Associate Director and choreographer Carrie-Anne Ingrouille.

ZooNation’s Into The Hoods : Remixed

WWOD: Can you tell us about ZooNation Dance Company...

Carrie-Anne: The company has been going since early 2000’s and was set up by the wonderful Kate Prince, who’s the Artistic Director of the company. It started as a group of individuals who all shared the same love of street dance and Kate, who has always had a huge interest in theatre and telling stories, wanted to join the two together to make hip hop dance theatre. ZooNation does just that to create what I call user friendly, hip-hop theatre where everybody from children of 4 yrs to your Grandma can come and see the shows.

WWOD: How would you describe the hip hop dance scene in London?

Carrie-Anne: I think when you say hip hop people are still quite naive about hip hop dance. Sometimes there’s quite negative associations that come with hip hop and ZooNation very much tries to promote the great side of hip hop culture that is fun, fresh and exciting along with the knowledge of hip hop culture.

Hip hop is one of the fastest growing dance styles in Europe and there’s also major influence from America. Hip hop is a really great outlet for a lot of young people who might find it hard to express themselves in other ways. It’s something that they can relate to, whether it’s the music, the movement, or something to enjoy and watch. Hip hop is something that is very special and can be shared with everybody.

ZooNation Dance Company – Into The Hoods : Remixed (c) Hugo Glendinning

WWOD: As a dancer and choreographer, how do you approach choreographing new works?

Carrie-Anne: It depends on the work and who it is for, with ZooNation there’s always a very clear story. There’s always clear direction from Kate Prince about what she wants from a scene, or parts of the story we might be working on and what is needed to be expressed.

I get a lot of inspiration from the music and with ZooNation that’s something that is discussed very early on in terms of what the scene needs, the sounds, how it might look, so that all of the elements – the movement, the music and the direction – all comes together and marries up completely. That gives me a very clear line of how the choreography needs to come out.

When I’m choreographing my own work I’m more led by the music. I’ll have the music on shuffle and something will pop out for me – it might be the story that’s within a certain song, or it might be the way I’m feeling or I feel like the song has amplified that for me. That’s what starts the cogs turning and what makes me freestyle and what makes me create the piece.

WWOD: Can you tell us about the Into The Hoods : Remixed...

Carrie-Anne: Into The Hoods was originally created in 2005 and everybody absolutely loved it. And after touring the show for a few years Kate Prince decided to remix the hits, update it, and change some of the music and choreography.

Into The Hoods premiered in London last November and ZooNation just finished a UK tour which finished off in Manchester, so they’ve had a little bit of a break but we’re back 4–21 May at the Peacock theatre. And it will basically be the last run of it for now so if anybody wants to catch it then they’ve got those three weeks in May before we take a slightly longer break from it.

ZooNation Dance Company

WWOD: After Into The Hoods, what are you working on next?

Carrie-Anne: With ZooNation there’s always something bubbling away, and we’re hopefully going to do some more works in the summer. We’ve got the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party coming back at the end of year which is really exciting because I performed in that show and was one of the choreographers. We’ve only performed it once before so I’m dying to get back to that as it’s such a fun show, really hard, but really fun.

For me personally, it’s just seeing what I would like to do creatively in the future. I’ve got a few ideas in my head that I’d like to thrash out, which I try to do whenever I get any free time because as mu...

In this podcast, English National Ballet‘s Isabelle Brouwers gives us an insight into her lockdown experience that coincided with recovering from an injury; she also talks about how she prepared to return to the studio and what it’s like dancing with a mask.

https://djwpodcasts.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/1wwwod/2Isabelle+Brouwers.mp3

It is an understatement to say that Covid has presented enormous challenges for the dance industry. Dancers have been especially hit, as they have strived to maintain their physical and mental wellbeing within the confines of their homes, often isolated and separated from their families as well as their dance colleagues. And this is before the industry-wide redundancies, covid infections and shifting government policies restricting and delaying live performances around the world.

Isabelle Brouwers, English National Ballet (c) Nath Martin

However, throughout this period Isabelle has remained positive. She shares how she used the time at home with her sister to rehabilitate her injured foot, while taking courses to further her academic career, and writing about dance and reviewing online shows. These goals helped to keep her focused and ensure she was ready to return to ENB’s new multi-million pound home in East London.

Listen to Isabelle describe the feeling of finally being back in the studio, and how the company has managed the dancers’ return to keep them safe, with staggered start times, one-way systems and dance social ‘bubbles’.

Isabelle is absolutely relishing being back at the barre, even though this means taking company class in a mask – something dancers around the world are having to get used to. It’s intriguing to hear a dancer describe how a small piece of cloth has an impact on how a dancer experiences their space, their body and their artform.

Isabelle Brouwers, English National Ballet (c) Alex Fine

Isabelle also looks back at her journey from Germany to the Royal Ballet School and English National Ballet School; her experience of joining ENB where she’s risen through the ranks from the corps de ballet to First Artist.

Isabelle talks about picking up awards including Youth America Grand Prix (2007), Genée International Ballet Competition (Silver Medal 2013), Young British Dancer of the Year in 2013 with nominations in 2015 & 2016, and ENB’s Emerging Dancer Finalist in 2017.

As Isabelle looks to the future, she discusses how Covid is affecting the upcoming season that would normally see her touring the UK and the world. And after six years with the company, she’s drawing on her experiences of working with acclaimed choreographers like Akram Khan and the hope of performing his new work ‘Creature’ later this year, to keep her inspired as the dance world and devoted audiences wait for live performances to recommence and for the show to go on.

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https://djwpodcasts.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/1wwwod/2Isabelle+Brouwers.mp3 Isabelle Brouwers, English National Ballet (c) Nathan Carlson Isabelle Brouwers, English National Ballet (c) Alexander Yip