I came up with the idea of Learning to Dance late last year. Where
the ideas come from I have no idea, but I guess there is a logic to
wanting to bring together two massively significant characters that
have impacted on my development as an artist. Namron at the
Northern School of Contemporary Dance. It was a wonderful three
years under his guidance. Then after graduating being taught by and
becoming a disciple of Padmashri Pratap Pawar and embarking on a
journey into Kathak.
The thought process around having the two of them on stage
together is common with how I make work: a strong concept, lightly
placed in the abstract. Then came what to call the piece, and
Learning to Dance seemed to naturally suggest itself. These two
legends in the world of dance globally stripping it all back to learning
the artform, their journey with it, and their teaching of dance.
What it felt like making the work
I constantly put myself outside my comfort zone in terms of
challenging myself artistically with each piece I make so I don’t get
nervous. However on this one I was a little bit nervous. It was an
honour and privilege to have two such giants agree to work with me
as a junior artist and trust to me to create a new piece of work that
was very different for both of them to anything they had done
before. The sense of responsibility if I thought about it too much was
massive. It was brave of them both to enter the studio and let me
lead on trying to realise what was in my mind.