R.I.O.T-paniclab- The Place: 27.05.15

Playing from 7-31st August 2015 at Zoo Venues -Edinburgh

Last Wednesday I had the pleasure of dropping into The Place in King's Cross; a sturdy London venue that allows you to practise, watch and champion dance in many forms. This was true for the evenings performance, if you can include humans that morph into superheroes, that change into secret even more special versions of those superheroes, and then back to the original superheroes. Confusing much? Well that seemed to be the point of this pieces narrative; utter confusion and an inability to keep track of what's going on because, well, we all want to be the heroes of our own story right? The characters of this story certainly did, and it was being re-written and re-told over and over and over again...!

Starting from the top, the main character (known as CAP) delivers an 'origin story' where the audience learn about the loss of his closest friend and partner in crime 'Lucky.' CAP makes it his mission to seek justice on behalf of his friend and enlists the help of three other superheroes with different powers. Just as CAP goes on to try and deliver his 'I'm a strong American powerhouse who will save the woooooorlllld!' story the other actors start to break their roles to intervene with a query or costume quabble. This is where the humour was most definitely injected throughout, especially as the characters are often simply saying what you are thinking. Just as you had your 'suspend disbelief' hat on, it was whipped off your head and replaced with the 'break the comic book cliche' hat and then switched around in an instant.

Each character wilfully joined in with CAP's retelling of the story to a point, until it wasn't quite what they were hoping for their character's fate. This came in line with the political link, as the constant power struggle between heroes was put on show for all to see. Sound familiar?

The movement was highly impressive and boy were these guys strong. The piece was carefully choreographed and delivered by the performers themselves, which was clear to see as each performer made the best out of their skills and abilities and showed them off well.

Some choreography highlights were the 'Tango' section performed to 'El Tango de Roxanne'-Jose Feliciano, the ensemble performance to 'Slam' by Pendulum, and 'Sidekick's' carefully choreographed fight with a group of invisible villains. This was super creative and delivered highly on the illusion front. In fact it is so far my 'creative highlight of the year!' The 'Tokyo' video game reference was fun and nostalgic-enough to make me put a date in the diary to go to the arcade just so I can have a go on the old school games myself.

The graphics and animations which were projected throughout the production were a huge part of the show and added so much to the set, which was quite minimal. It gave it a filmic value which I think was necessary for this kind of show, and the visuals had an iconic element true to any comic book fans taste.

For something different this summer, do go and check this out in Edinburgh. If you're a dance fan, Marvel fan or comedy fan, the has a lot to offer and I promise you will leave smiling.

For more information visit:

http://paniclab.co.uk

or

http://www.zoofestival.co.uk

Photographs by Manuel Vason
with thanks to Anna Goodman at Abstrakt

Follow your Danceheart....03.05.15

On Saturday 3rd May I went to the Breakin' Convention, and got to speak to Cindy Claes (see her interview posted earlier on the blog) and her Intern who decided to follow her passion and ask Cindy for a chance to work with her. As always, I love to promote inspiring dance stories so here is a little clip about how she approached following her 'Danceheart' and also a great clip from Cindy discussing her performance from the night which told an important and familiar story. Sadly the sound quality wasn't so great on some of it but it's still great to hear about!

COMING UP: R.I.O.T: 27.05.15 The Place 7-31 Aug, Edinburgh

EXCITING NEW DANCE THEATRE SHOW! BOOK NOW!

R.I.O.T.

A show created by Joseph Mercier and PanicLab

27^th May, The Place

 7-31 August, ZOO Venues, Edinburgh

Commissioned by Dance City, in association with Cambridge Junction, MDI, Unity Theatre.

Made at The Place.

PanicLab, set up in 2008 produce contemporary dance theatre with a 'personal or political edge and a dose of humour'. This sounds like a strong basis for brave and interesting storytelling. Their work is usually devised, and they collaborate with others to make their work accessible to all, something which I feel is VERY important.

To see what this exciting performing arts company are all about, check out their new show R.I.O.T:

"Four performers playing at superheroes are caught in a series of conflicts which are both personal, and intricately political.  Spiced with comic book and action hero references, their epic adventure unfolds through action-packed choreography and projected illustrations, as they question what a superhero might look like in today’s complex and troubled world?"

The show was said to initially be inspired but the student riots, and looks set to be packed with action, movement and strong imagery. 

See some preview clips and the trailer here:

https://vimeo.com/channels/894779

And to book tickets:

http://www.theplace.org.uk/panic-lab

This company will be performing at the Edinburgh fringe, so for a sneak preview, don't miss out!

Photo by Manuel Vason
Information from Abstrakt publicity 

BREAKIN' CONVENTION: Sadler's Wells 02.05.15

Les Twins

Saturday night Line-up:

6.00-7.15 MAIN STAGE:

The Company (UK)

Gianni Gi (Australia)

GOP (UK)

  UNITY (UK)

Flockey (Germany)

Antionette Gomis (France)

The Ruggeds (Holland)

Interval 7.15-8.15

FOYERS:

Resident DJ’s Tha En4cers and open circles

The Training Ground

Graff Zone

Studio 7.30-8.00

Cindy Claes (UK)

The Rebirth Network (UK)

Myself (UK)

8.15-9.30 MAIN STAGE

Gator MouvMatik (MMTK) (France)

Iron Skulls (Spain)

The Legendary Twins (USA)

Twin Peak (UK)

Les Twins (France)

In the words of Erykah Badu- 'What a day, what a day!' Hip-hop theatre fans from across the country (actually that's modest...from across the world) gathered at London's main dance house and holy grail Sadler's Wells over the early May Bank Holiday weekend, to experience the excitement that is…the Breakin' Convention. I've been excited about this for weeks, as I discovered many others were after talking to them as they flocked into the building. Saturday hosted an incredible line-up, and it seemed that most people were holding out for a characterful performance from Les Twins (see below, they gave us the freshest versions of themselves, and the crowd were loving it).

For those of you who haven’t been to this event before, the hype begins much earlier in the day, as there are bookable workshops going on with many of the top artists that the festival has signed up for that year. The workshops on Saturday included Waacking, Breaking and Breaking conditioning, Locking, and a masterclass with Les Twins, which sold out pretty quickly! I was curious to see why people had come along to the festival; was it to help out as a volunteer or to be a dance groupie? There were lots of fans for sure, but the variety of dance acts that the festival displays, means it brings in a variety of people. This is what I love about mixing up genres. Of course, the dance styles all come under the hip-hop umbrella, but some people were there to see one particular act for their own personal joy, and some were there because they knew someone who knew someone who knew someone, or because hip-hop was simply a way of life. One lady I spoke to had come from a b-boy crew in Scotland called the ‘Flying Jalapenos’ and her highlight of the whole night was the simple appearance of The Legendary Twins and their ‘on-stage chat’ with host and creator of the festival Jonzi-D. Another pair I chatted to were street dance teachers from their school in Bradford waiting to be inspired by Les Twins performance. Much to my happiness I spoke to a few Mum’s who had ushered their kids along to continue their motivation and nurture their love of hip-hop dance (it all started with Soulja boy for two little brothers I spoke to!) I’ll be posting my video up soon which will give more of a flavor of the event later on so watch out for this!

Every year, standing tickets are sold, and Sadler’s Wells remove the front stalls seats for a rootsy experience. I think it is important, and I’m sure the organiser wants to stay true to the culture that you would have in MC or hip- hop dance events when they were more on the street than the stage. Even Jonzi-D himself, who was also the MC for the evening said the standing people were ‘his people’ and secretly, everyone wants to be in the standing section, even if they get a realllly good seat.

So first up were, ‘The Company’ a group of strong men with powerful movement. What grabbed me most about their performance were the formations and patterns in which they moved across the stage. The lighting was soft throughout, giving a contemporary feel and their choreography flowed through different styles.

Gianni Gi impressed us next with her bone breaking arms, and her angular, jagged choreography. Her on stage character reminiscent of a troubled ‘patient’ from somewhere who was expressing her unsettlement was my take on it. Her flexibility was outstanding and the story she was telling with her body was gripping from start to finish.

GOP had me laughing away, mainly because of their crazy energy! It was a real uplifter when they came on stage in their kooky little skirts. I love Afrobeats because it always feels like you’ve rocked up at a carnival party. See the video below of their piece ‘What’s in the bag?’

GOP

I was so excited for UNITY, and boy did they bring a powerful piece. I loved Unity Youth’s dance, which was performed at Future Elements in March so I was expecting to be blown away with their power and East London-ness. It was vigorous and mannish, and each dancer displayed the unbelievable skill and discipline and unique qualities in this dark piece. There were fewer performers than when I remembered watching them before which was the only thing I missed a little as it is unity and unison they do so well. Nevertheless, they still packed a punch in their delivery, and the shift in their style and message still rings true of where they come from which I really like. I’ll be following them a little more to stay in touch with the message of their work.

Flockey….ahhhh Flockey. Flockey the locker, ooh was he cool. His piece was about a man and his relationship with alcohol, which was nicely shown in his choreography and music choices, starting with James Brown’s ‘It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s world’. He started leading us into more up-tempo beats as he used his locking techniques and funky footwork to take us into those strange dimensions that someone would experience in a whirlwind relationship with alcohol. Smoke and lights added to this effect and had me pondering this story and who this man might have been. A nice little happy birthday shout out from Flockey to his Mum in the audience melted a few hearts too!

Flockey

Antoinette Gomis just gave us sheer beauty. She merged so many styles and as a solo piece, well she made me proud to be a woman that’s for sure. Her opening movements accompanied Nina Simone and took us into an exhibition of expression that reminded us how important our rights are as women and as people. She was such a storyteller, and her musicality was mesmerising.

Antoinette Gomis

The finale to the first half EXPLODED! By far one of the highlights of the evening and for many people were ‘The Ruggeds’ from the Netherlands. A huge B-Boy crew who are the current world B-Boy champions delivered on every level. I was expecting classic B-Boying at it’s best, but there were so many styles displayed, and they were on point in every unified sequence. We got a chance to see their individual styles too, and they made us all laugh when they bought out their Swiss Balls (whoop whoo!) and demonstrated ‘Swiss ball Bants’ B-boy style. It’s easy to see why they are the champions. If they are ever performing again anywhere, GO AND SEE THEM!

The Ruggeds

During the interval, we dashed over to the Lillian Baylis Studio to see Cindy Claes perform her solo piece. I sat down and said ‘ Oooh I wonder what that trophy is for on stage?’ upon which the girl next to nipped in, ‘It’s for Cindy’s piece.’ What a great girl she was, I found out she was in fact Cindy’s intern. You can see her story on the video, which will be posted up very soon. Cindy’s stage story was all about having to choose between giving to your relationship or giving to your career. I really identified with Cindy’s piece a lot and loved how she bought humour to her dancing with her experessions every time her ‘boyfriend’ called her on her phone. More than anything the narrative was clear and reachable and this is what I think is so endearing about her as an artist. Oh, and her dancing was fierce, I’m going to start going to her classes if it means I can move like that!

Check her class schedule here:

Cindy Claes Dancehall classes

I must give a mention to ‘Myself’, an all female hip-hop dance group who aim to promote ‘empowerment, ambition, individuality and self-worth’ to females and the wider society. Their act (which closed the Lillian Baylis event) showed them transferring clothing from one to another, no music, just movement, expression and reactions. They took us down a path of reflecting on image, and what is expected of us as women, how we are objectified and what we should look like. The mixture of movement, spoken word and then clean powerful choreography was executed with the right attitude and energy for what they wanted to promote, and I walked out of the studio feeling proud to be a woman! (Who said ‘this is a Man’s world hmmm?)

The second half continued to get stronger and stronger, and Iron Skulls from Spain ripped into the theatre with only torchlight and gas masks making me wonder if I was in a post apocalyptic video game for a moment or two. A single dancer came from the back of the theatre and performed an incredible solo with the torch perfectly positioned to cast his whole shadow neatly onto the clean backdrop. Even the middle class man who calmly watched the show as I whooped and squealed away next to him whispered to his lady ‘Ooh that’s clever isn’t it Julie?’ see…something for everyone! This solo was followed by other dancers scrawling up to the stage like animals through the audience to perform a fierce set, which was gloomy yet adventurous, and reminded me just how varied and wonderful hip-hop theatre is now.

Iron Skulls

A trio of twins led us to the end of the show, with The Legendary Twins, the original B-Boys making an appearance on stage for a chat about how it all began. Twin Peak from east London followed with a cool performance, finishing with Beyonce’s boys Les Twins. Not only did they give us dance, they gave us their music! Yes…an exclusive preview of their new track…be warned it’s catchy and they were WONDERFUL.

What I loved most about this event was the variety of dance acts. Hip-hop dance stretches far and wide now, and with it, it encompasses a large cross section of people. So many people were there because they understand the roots, and energy and discipline that comes with this kind of culture and we all felt privileged to be there, I could just tell. I was sad that I missed Sunday as I would have liked to have seen Buckness Personified (see my video interview with one of the dancers backstage at the Great Big Dance Off). Thanks to BCTV you can watch them perform here:

This was a happy day for me, experiencing people who love dance and hip-hop culture in one of my favourite places in London and seeing some of the world’s finest dancers. This is to me what Glastonbury is to Kate Moss-Essential.

Photos by Paul Hampartsoumian

Special Thanks to Dave Barros from Breakin' Convention and Anna Goodman from Abstrakt publicity

BUGSY MALONE- Lyric Hammersmith-24.04.15

The last production of Bugsy Malone I saw was at a secondary school a few years ago, which was executed in as charming a way as possible due to the casting and thoughtful staging. I’m guessing that along with seeing the classic film, many of the audience members who have already ventured to see this show may have had a similar experience of seeing this done by a school or amateur theatre company, and are well aware of the clichés that can come with the Bugsy label. 

In using this term however, I suppose it is also because of those clichés that I was looking forward to seeing it so much. The familiar, 'done well' can be quite a pleasing event, and I figured that the newly refurbished Lyric (great job by the way, I’d love to check out the new rehearsal rooms) were not going to do anything too shabby. I was quite drawn in by the poster alone: a flurry of children running through a smoky backstreet through a New York city light, which gave me the glimmer of childlike excitement that I experienced when watching ‘Emil and the Detectives’ back in November 2013. I’m a keen bean when it comes to child adventure films such as ‘The Sandlot’ an American tale of boy who is accepted into a group of baseball misfits, and ‘Stand by me’ the Stephen King favourite, both celebrating friendship ultimately. The tale of Bugsy doesn’t so much spur on the idea of friendship, but certainly aspiration and fulfilling dreams. This seemed a very appropriate theme for showcasing the talent that was beautifully picked. The cast really were the stars (for want of another cliché) of this show and all shared the endearing qualities necessary to warm to the celebration of the ‘child gangster’. There was a real representation of the different young faces you would see across London. Their New Yoik accents were complete ticklers, and sat nicely. Every time Fat Sam told Knuckles to ‘quit crackin’ his knuckles!’ I gave a little giggle or yelp.

The costume and style I felt remained very true and authentic to the typical understanding of a Bugsy character. The costumes were dark, smart and mobster like, and the girls dresses reflected that of the Gangster's Moll. It all fitted together. The car scene when Bugsy takes his $200 risky venture out for Fat Sam was great fun, and I hope the car will have a place somewhere very special afterwards. It looked as though it had been crafted carefully, and the brilliant lighting used in this scene to create the montage was clever and stylised well.

There wasn't an overuse of a projection or unnecessary clunky set changes. Showbiz moments were outlined by the marvellous lightbulbs that framed the stage, and the characters were cast well for their humorous qualities. Dandy Dan being a small boy with a big attitude, and Lena Marelli, the star of her own show being tiny but far from timid. It was almost like she was plucked out of the original film.

The voices of the actresses playing Tallulah and Blousey are worth a big mention. Both held their own, but it was particularly the quality of Blousey's voice that got my attention. Her voice quality was quite unique and left me wanting to hear more. She portrayed the emotion of the character perfectly.

The boxing scene was my highlight, and I really enjoyed how choreographer used the red elastic rope to create the ring. It was the 'transitioning and swapping' of the ring position that impressed me, as different Boxers took to the ring to demonstrate their worth whilst the other dancers switched their position each time.

I felt utter delight (literally- call me a comedian!) when the splurge guns shot out the Angel Delight filling, and it raised that playful childlike chuckler inside me. In fact, this playful mood was with me right until the end, and I was on my feet for the final song which was a funked up special that gave the cast and the audience a burst of energy they had been waiting for after that big 'Splurge battle.'

Go and see this, take your school, your kids, your friends or your date! You'll get to see how wonderful the new Lyric is looking and what it has to offer. Lisa and I have been showing the children at school Bugsy this week and have been working on it with our Drama group. I feel like it's their right of passage to know this story and I hope they'll go and see the young actors and be inspired to take their performing as seriously as they do. 

BEARDYMAN- Camden Jazz Cafe: 20.04.15

I just thought I'd write a short post about Beardyman on Monday. What a Monday it was, sun, food and beers by the Lock isn't bad going for the start of the week.

Beardyman, is celebrated as a world class beatboxer and has performed many shows, including request shows in which he creates sounds in the style of the crowds requests using his best tool (his voice) and his other best tool (his looping technology which he has created and mastered himself- wowzer!).

The show was a live session including some world renowned musicians, and was an improvised gig. Pretty impressive stuff when you consider they covered various genres including Hip Hop and Drum and Bass. There was the odd moment where I was wanting a little more excitement, and although I recognised how sophisticated and talented the musicians were, there were times during the gig that needed to pack a bigger punch for me to get excited.

When there was a more 'atmospheric' feel to the music, I feel it would have been made even more exciting with animations or some visuals (maybe like Mr Scruff but a different take on it?) This would have made it more of a pleasing event for me, not that I ask a lot eh? It felt at times like a jam session that I was looking in on, and I suppose that is what it was meant to be. 

I respect it, and see his amazing ability, but I would have enjoyed more of the voice talent. Check out this moment from the gig which was in fact brilliant. Beardyman (after having someone in the audience holla' that they were promised beatboxing!) gave the crowd a little of what they wanted and it went down more than well, everyone loved it.

Interview: Cindy Claes: More Than Just a Dancer 20.04.15

With the Breakin' Convention coming up (get your tickets here, http://www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/2015/breakin-convention-15/ this is not one to miss!) it's time to dig deeper and find out a little more about what it takes to become a truly great artist. Becoming great at what you do is often linked with having a pure passion for what you do. When this package is also wrapped up with a desire to spread a strong message the results can be explosive, which Cindy has been described as before. Known as '@dancebackpacker' on Twitter, she received the Lisa Ullman Travelling Scholarship Fund in 2008 which started her on her journey to go to the root of where her dance passions were born, and travelled to different places to develop and master her craft. Since then she has been unstoppable. Not only is she a great example of a dance artist with many hats, she's another brilliant, strong and unique role model for women. Thanks to the guys at the Breakin' Convention, they let me ask her a few questions to which she gave some very stimulating answers. Thank you Cindy...see you over the Bank holiday!

Do you remember what sparked your love and interest for Dancehall and Krumping? 

I fell in love with Dancehall when I was still living in Belgium.

The enthusiasm for Dancehall and its music was very present, even though we don’t really have a Caribbean community back home. Back in the mid/late 90s, the energy of hiphop culture was mainly carried forward by the Congolese and Moroccan communities in Belgium. When you went to a Hiphop club, there would always be a section during the night where the DJ’s would play Dancehall and N’dombolo music.  So, Dancehall was around me, and people who loved the music too. 

There was no YouTube yet, and we didn’t have access to information about Dancehall culture.  But the love for Dancehall was everywhere. I already had the dream to go to Jamaica, to understand the roots of the culture and experience Dancehall from where it came from.

The rest is history, but still a long journey! I moved to London in 2005.  I improved my English (people often forget I wasn’t as fluent back then as I am now), and this made a huge difference. Speaking and understanding English opened the doors to eventually understand Patois. I am really fascinated by Patois, I love studying the language, I believe that when we understand a language, we also understand more of a culture. I lived in Brixton for many years, and Jamaican culture was everywhere in London. Later on I was awarded fundings at several occasions which allowed me to travel to Jamaica to do choreographic research (ADAD Trailblazers, Bonnie Bird UK New Choreography Fund). I travelled for the first time to Jamaica in 2010.

Dancehall is a culture that keeps evolving, new steps are being created on a regular basis, and as a Dancehall dancer and choreographer, I must keep up to date. It can sometimes be hard when being far away from the source. Even though internet and YouTube is available now, I still want to travel regularly to the island to continue my research and stay in touch with the scene.  It is a very vibrant and creative culture.

My love for Krumping developed soon after I moved to the UK (2005). A friend of mine introduced me to some videos he found online. I didn’t know Krumping existed, but the internet opened the doors to something new for me. It was exciting as I could really relate to the quality of movement and I loved the energy.

Then the documentary “Rize” came out and blew my mind, I was hooked. Again, I wanted to experience Krumping from where it came from and I applied for fundings. The Lisa Ullman Traveling Scholarship Fund allowed me to go to Los Angeles and do choreographic research on Krumping. 

I created a strong relationship with Demolition Crew. Fudd (one of the leaders of the crew) took me under his wing, I became Lady Fudd. I trained with them and got to understand Krump culture from the inside. The energy and also the friendships people created amongst themselves through dance was so strong and so beautiful.

I not only got to understand Krump culture but I also started to understand the social and economical climate of the area more in-depth. Gang culture is very predominant in South Los Angeles and this is impacting all areas of lives: who people date or don’t date, how people dress, how people walk, when people go home, how people address one another, etc. Gun crime has made and continues to make many victims.

Myself and Demolition Crew set up a Krumping Theatre project in Long Beach and Compton a few years later. I lead workshops and introduced local dancers to the art of Dance Theatre, and they trained me more and more with my Krumping technique. We did a whole hour show in a small local theatre venue and one of our piece then got programmed for a festival in Hollywood! It was a massive achievement to be able to perform our Krumping Theatre piece at the Ford Amphitheatre for the Annual Juice Hiphop Festival, the venue is truly magnificent!

 What made you want to combine the medium of Theatre with Dance?

My interest for Hiphop Theatre started when I was a young dancer in Belgium. However there wasn’t much Hiphop Theatre around due to a lack of fundings.  Even today, the Hiphop Theatre sector is really struggling to receive support back home.

My Belgian mentors encouraged me to pursue the path of choreography even though I was still trying to articulate what I wanted to do with my “dance life”.

As a young Hiphop dancer, I thought the only way I could make a living from my art was by doing commercial work: corporate events, music videos, etc. But I didn’t feel happy, and I felt pressured by the industry as I never met the physical requirements, I was never slim enough or sexy enough, and “something” was missing.

Despite the many rejections and the commercial dance jobs which didn’t trigger much enthusiasm on my behalf, deep down I knew I wanted to “make it” in the dance industry. I knew dancing was my purpose but I couldn’t really articulate where I wanted to go.

I then got into a Contemporary Dance Company who were looking for dancers from different backgrounds (I was actually the only Hiphop dancer who got through the audition).  I worked with “La Compagnie” for a year and it opened up a new world.  I got to experience a new approach to choreography which was new to me.

When moving to London in 2005, I was surrounded by role models and artists who were passionate about Hiphop Theatre. It changed my life, radically!

Hiphop Theatre allowed me to express myself artistically and intellectually.  I felt I was an artist who had something to say, and Hiphop Theatre gave me a platform to do so.

I attended “The Surgery” and Jonzi D’s workshops regularly, I trained with various peers and explored Hiphop Theatre work, I did research at the British Library and read about the Hiphop Theatre movement in the USA, I looked up on Hiphop Theatre pioneers such as Benji Reid and Robert Hilton. I also looked up to Franck Wilson (performer), he is an incredible inspiration for me, he has such a powerful charisma on stage, and our conversations always make me grow.

At the start of my career as a choreographer, I created abstract work.

My inspirations where very social and politically driven. I wanted to impact audiences on a deeper level, initiate debates around social issues. So my work soon became very narrative driven. Hungry for more knowledge, I started researching the art of storytelling. A new journey began in 2011 when Faith Drama Productions commissioned me for my first full length production: “Voices in the Alleyway” when I was mentored by Gbemisola Ikumelo (Theatre Director / Playwright).  After the production I went off to a 6 months research trip and spent 3 months in NYC focussing on improv’ comedy, acting, play writing and screenwriting.  Coming back to the UK in 2012, I continued my training as a writer and storyteller by doing various courses in screenwriting, creative writing, stand up comedy and more. This unique journey and the knowledge I acquired over the years have informed and nurtured my work as a dancer and choreographer.

(I will be teaching a full day workshop on Storytelling for Dance on Wed 13th May 11am-3pm at Stratford Circus (info and registrations: www.eastlondondance.org)

  You’ve recently been working on International Dance Theatre exchanges- what is your dream outcome from these exchanges?

I am very proud to say I have impacted and collaborated with about 65 dancers across the world on various Dance Theatre Exchange Programs (Belgium, Los Angeles, Jamaica). And I will soon work with the British Council on a Dancehall Theatre Program in Venezuela, which I am very excited about!

I truly believe it is through International Exchanges that we tap into our leadership potential.

When going abroad we learn to receive and to give.  We become a sponge and are hungry to learn, we are excited and everything is new.  We also learn to give, but before we “give” to others we must ask ourselves how we can contribute to others, and we must reflect on our strengths and abilities.

Being abroad we are vulnerable as we are out of our comfort zones. 

We are in another country for a limited amount of time, so we learn to drop our fears and take action to achieve our goals, as we know time is limited and the trip will come an end.  It is all of this that allows us to grow and develop our leadership potential.

We also discover that all artists in the world have similar struggles, but we answer them differently.  It is through these exchanges that we find new solutions and try out new approaches.

My long term vision is to set up an organization which can support regular international exchanges for dancers. I want to find a model that can allow these projects to become more sustainable in the long run and allow more street dancers to access the power and beauty of Theatre.

The ultimate dream is to make documentaries or films about the exchanges to inspire others and bring more knowledge about various cultures to audiences.

   In 2012, you adapted the classic tale ’School for Wives’ adding your dancehall twist to re-tell the story. If you could adapt another tale in the future what would it be? 

I was commissioned by Midland Actors Theatre to create a Jamaican re-adaptation of a Moliere classic.  “School for Wives” became “School fi Wifey”. It was a very enriching experience, the process was challenging as it was my first commission as a playwright. It truly pushed me outside of my comfort zone.

Moliere only wrote comedies, so the creative process and rehearsals were a lot of fun! It also thought me a lot about comedy, which is another area of interest I have been exploring for the last few years. It is somehow easier to make people cry than to make people laugh!

My biggest dream, and challenge, is to write a unique authentic story myself which I could translate in dance.  Even though I would love to re-adapt existing stories into a dance version, at the moment I am focussing my creative time on trying to write a groundbreaking story myself.

My latest project is my new solo. I will be performing “Time is Ticking, Phone is Ringing” at Breakin’ Convention 2015.  It is the start of a new narrative about love and romance, which I hope to develop over the next year into a much longer version.

Where did you travel to as a Dance Backpacker that had the greatest influence on your work?

I think it was my first trips to Africa and my encounters with rappers and Hiphop lovers in Niger that influenced me the most. I went several times to Niamey (my first trip was in 1999). 

Being able to exchange with peer Hiphop lovers in another continent made me understand how much international exchanges were important. We were part of a worldwide community. Hiphop created the opportunity for us to bond. I observed Hiphop being influenced by the local culture. I understood that everywhere in the world artists have similar struggles but we find different answers to our problems. We shared our dreams, we shared about what inspired us.  We all expressed our thoughts and emotions through Hiphop.

I think this is what sparked what would follow after in my career...

What advice would you give to any young people out there looking to get into dance in general but particularly dancehall?

Do not stay stuck behind your screen watching YouTube.  The internet can be a great tool to find information, but it can also be a great tool for “disinformation”.

Go and experience the dance forms your practice. Do what it takes to go to the root of it, in other words: travel. Find a way, don’t let anything stop you from reaching that goal.

Read. Read books and articles about the genres you practice.

Advice when it comes to Dancehall...

-  Go to Jamaica, experience Dancehall in Kingston, you won’t come back the same.

-  Research Dancehall, but also Reggae and Jamaican Folk dance forms such as Kumina, Dinki Mini, Revival. It will inform your practice and your understanding of the genre as a whole.

-  Read books (by Dona Hope or Carolyn Cooper for example).

What exciting plans or projects have you got coming up in the next year?

I will lead a one day workshop on “Storytelling in Dance” on Wed 13th May 11am-3pm at Stratford Circus.  The Workshop is part of East London Dance’s Dance Forum series.

I recently set up a professional development program for Hiphop, Dancehall, Krumping, Afobeats artists who want to create Theatre work. The first training program took place in Brussels in January 2015 and was produced in association with Zinnema.

The program offered Artistic training as well as Business training to the participants. It was a massive success!! So “1000Pieces Puzzel - the Dance Career Bootcamp” will be back in Jan/Feb 2016 and take place both in Belgium and in the UK!! We are currently applying for fundings to allow 30 artists to be involved in this Belgium/UK exchange program.

This year I am also focussing on myself as a performer. I want to develop my solo “Time is ticking, phone is ringing” into a full length production over the next year, and use new technologies, which is a totally new area of research for me. It is a very exciting process!

Cindy Claes

www.cindyclaes.com