8 minute read
The Boyz are Back
BalletBoyz has established itself as one of the most original and innovative forces in modern dance, revolutionising programming formats, commissioning award-winning work and collaborating with cutting-edge talent.
'One' magazine's Editor Cameron Ball talks to Co-founders Michael Nunn and William Trevitt about being back on tour this spring, the company’s 20-year development, and the barriers they’ve broken along the way.
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Michael Nunn and William Trevitt
Photo Hugo Glendinning
'Deluxe' tour 2022
Planned for 2020 to celebrate BalletBoyz’ 20th anniversary, the production of 'Deluxe' was one of the first pieces of work to be adapted in lockdown for broadcast, premiering online and later on BBC Four. The 2022 tour will finally see 'Deluxe' on stages throughout the UK, as was originally intended.
Nunn and Trevitt are motivated by collaboration, seeking to challenge, excite and enlighten audiences by bringing together elements from diverse realms of the arts including composers, artists, designers and filmmakers. 'Deluxe' is no exception, involving an all-female choreographic team and some interesting collaborations: Shanghai based dancer and choreographer Xie Xin has created 'Ripple', set to an original score by composer Jiang Shaofeng, and Punchdrunk’s Maxine Doyle has created 'Bradley 4:18', to live jazz music composed specially for the piece by Cassie Kinoshi of SEED Ensemble.
Alongside an extensive body of stage and screen work, the company is engaged in many community dance and education projects, including BBz Youth Company, MoovBank and Parkinson’s CAN Dance. In what is a brilliant success story, a former member of Balletboyz’ Weekend Dancers’ Course (now BBz Youth Company) is performing in 'Deluxe' this spring.
You’ve been breaking barriers for many years now. When you first started the company, what were some important challenges or considerations?
Michael Nunn: When we first started the company, the biggest initial challenge we faced was reinventing ourselves in the eyes of an audience who saw us both exclusively as classical ballet dancers [both were dancers with The Royal Ballet]. There was a sort of theoretical divide between classical dancers and contemporary dancers, and it was our ambition to blur that line so we could use our rigorous classical training to perform and create contemporary pieces.
William Trevitt: Dance, and particularly contemporary dance, was seen as something highbrow and intellectual, not necessarily something audiences enjoyed just for entertainment’s sake. We wanted to give audiences that same experience of high-quality art, but package it in a way that was more accessible and less intimidating.
So from our very first appearances as BalletBoyz, we introduced other forms of media within the performances, in particular digital media and film, which wasn’t really ever seen as part of live dance. Since we started the company, the film aspect has been a crucial part of the work we create – we think it has really helped to demystify the art form.
Michael: Obviously we are two male dancers, and particularly in the early days of BalletBoyz we spent quite a lot of time dancing together and partnering with each other. 20 years ago, men in dance was still seen as something that wasn’t the norm, so we had to defy a lot of people’s expectations and assumptions about what that looked like. We have come quite a long way and it has become much less peculiar for boys and men not just to dance, but to dance together.
It’s great to see the company back on stage this year with 'Deluxe'. Is there a new perspective to the work this time round?
William: Not necessarily. 'Deluxe' was only ever performed seven times before the 2020 lockdown, so it was just barely getting into its stride. The idea of the evening has the same perspective and aims but it’ll be interpreted differently by a different group of dancers, which we find very interesting.
Michael: We’ll never be able to know what 'Deluxe' 2020 could have grown into, but we’re very excited to see 'Deluxe' 2022 mature into a fully developed performance.
BalletBoyz 'Deluxe' 2022 cast
Based on original artwork by Rick Guest
As the company has grown over the past 20 years, how have you seen a chnage in the perceptions of males in dance, particularly in ballet?
William: In the early years of the company, we were working on a piece with Craig Revel Horwood. At the time, he tried to get us to appear as guests on 'Strictly Come Dancing', as two male dancers partnering each other. It was dismissed as an outrageous suggestion and we were told that the BBC weren’t ready for it yet.
Last year 'Strictly Come Dancing' featured two male dancers partnering each other, so in that sense we have come quite a long way and it has become much less peculiar for boys and men not just to dance, but to dance together.
Talent development is clearly a focus of the company. How do you nurture younger dancers and encourage emerging dancers to become well-rounded artists?
Michael: We want our dancers to look beyond dance and into other forms of creative art, for example filmmaking. We don’t ever want our dancers to restrict themselves to just the world of dance, to just the studio.
Michael Nunn and William Trevitt
William: We think that’s the benefit of working with a company like ours – we’re not choreographer-led, so our dancers will rarely perform a whole evening of only just one style. A level of variety is vital for young dancers to be able to grow into well rounded artists and performers.
Tell us what’s next for the company. What can we expect from BalletBoyz in the near future?
Michael: We have always been very self-critical, which means our creation processes are always incredibly thorough and intense, but it also means that we don’t share anything that we’re not 100% happy with. With the creations we are going to be producing over the next few years, our aim is to enrich the art form rather than dilute it with more of the same.
William: As a company, we’re moving towards sharing our creations through a more multidisciplinary, multi-media experience that embraces digital expression and involves our three great loves: dance, theatre, and film. We want to be able to incorporate all three elements simultaneously in the work we produce, and ultimately our ambition is to move away from being known solely as a dance company.
Balletboyz' 'Deluxe'
Photo George Piper
Focus on Education
What is unique about the BalletBoyz Learning and Participation projects? What can you tell us about your approach?
Michael: We’ve always had the same approach when it comes to education. When we started the company over 20 years ago, we wanted to do things differently and inspire a change in how dance and performance is shared with children and young people. 20 years ago, education and workshops were far more performative – you’d go into a school, perform a piece of repertoire, answer a few questions, and that would be it.
We wanted to do things slightly differently, where we could engage the students in the workshops directly. It was our policy that only the performers you see on stage deliver the workshops, rather than a second group of dancers that hadn’t had the experience of performing the work in question themselves. We felt, and still feel, that this is a much more inspiring experience for a young person to have.
William: We then quickly realised that we couldn’t be everywhere at once, but we still wanted to share our work with school, community groups, and young people, and the only way we could do that would be digitally. So we created MoovBank, a digital dance platform where teachers and students can watch tutorials, inspiration clips, stimulus discussions, and movement tasks as delivered by BalletBoyz company dancers, and which can be accessed from anywhere in the world. All performers we’ve had since then are featured on MoovBank, it’s part of our core activity.
www.moovbank.com
How is the company working in the community?
Michael: We are currently working with our local Parkinson’s community, and are planning to resume work with people with complex educational needs in partnership with a local school, because we feel that those opportunities aren’t being given to those groups of people often enough. We feel that at the moment, underrepresented groups are more in need of those types of cultural experiences.
William: We have also always been clear that we will not ‘dumb anything down’, no matter the recipient of our workshop or Learning & Participation project. You only get what the dancers perform on stage, not a simplified version. We have found this approach to be really inspiring for those taking part.
BalletBoyz’ 'Deluxe' tours the UK this spring, including performances at Sadler’s Wells 24-26 March.
Further information: www.balletboyz.com
The One Dance UK Magazine | Spring 2022
