Name: Jessica Ward
Role: Principal
Company: Elmhurst School for Dance
Twitter account: @ElmhurstDance
Facebook page: Elmhurst School for Dance

1. What is your role in the world of dance?

I am the Principal of Elmhurst School for Dance which is a school for up to 200 of the most talented young dancers in the UK.

2. What got you into dance originally?

The fairly usual story that my Mum took my sister and I to ballet class as little girls. I discovered Contemporary Dance at age 11 and this was the route I pursued.

3. Tell us about some of things you’ve been involved in.

I attended Laban in the mid 90’s and loved my time at the school, I toured with Transitions Dance Company in the UK and US. I went onto lead a dance department at Islington Green School and instigated a 40 strong boys dance company who worked with various dance artists in and around London and took part in Youth Performances at the Lilian Baylis Theatre, Sadler’s Wells. In each of the London secondary schools where I was a Senior Leader I was an advocate for dance and ensured suitably qualified dance specialists taught dance. I joined Elmhurst in September 2010 and since then have become the Vice Chair of the Music and Dance Schools Group through which I have had direct input into the Henley cultural review promoting the importance of dance education in both the independent and state sectors. I joined the West Midlands Children and Young People’s Dance Strategic Group as I believe it is important to ensure various access routes into advanced training in dance. I was fortunate to be one of 26 participants on the Dance East Rural Retreat for Dance Leaders in January of this year, and met some incredible people who are keen to work together to educate, produce, maintain, develop, inspire and support fresh ideas and approaches as we move dance forward in the 21st Century.

4. What excites you about dance?

That opportunities are endless, dance spans all of life’s experiences.

5. What tips do you have for people that want to get into your area of dance?

Get along to a dance class and talk to the teachers, dance is a small network and staff on hand are willing to point you in the appropriate direction in line with your goals and ability. Or alternatively apply to join one of our Associate programmes.

To find out more, visit the Elmhurst School for Dance website.

Want to be interviewed on West Midlands Dance? Fill in the interview form here to be featured on the blog, Twitter and Facebook.

Name: Tamsin Fitzgerald
Role: Artistic Director
Company: 2Faced Dance Company
Twitter account: @2faceddance
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/2faceddance

1. What is your role in the world of dance?

I am founder, choreographer and Artistic Director of 2Faced Dance Company. 2Faced Dance Company have grown into one of the UK’s leading dance companies and it is my role to set the artistic policy for the company. Within the world of dance I feel that it is our/my job to advocate, educate, create and challenge. On an artistic level i want to explore the grey area between different styles of movement, I want to explore what movement is. I am interested in what movement is and can do, not what styles, genres or labels we put on it.

2. What got you into dance originally?

I started dancing from a very young age and attended classes at my local ballet school. I started going to these classes with my best friend and loved them.

3. Tell us about some of things you’ve been involved in.

I have had a very varied career and therefore have been fortunate enough to be involved in some amazing projects and events. I have choreographed for the MTV Music Awards, collaborated with Hofesch Scheter at the Birmingham International Dance Festival in 2010, spent a month in Haiti working with victims of the earthquake teaching them dance, choreographed a show that involved circus artists in Berlin ‘SOAP’ that is now touring the world, travelled to many beautiful countries with 2Faced Dance and most importantly created my own company that has grown into one of the top companies of the UK.

4. What excites you about dance?

Movement excites me. Physicality, power and expression across all genres. Dance work or dancers that make the hairs on the back of your arms stand up because the body or movement goes to a whole new level beyond the norm. Also I believe that dance can truly transform lives and this is exciting.

5. What tips do you have for people that want to get into your area of dance?

Be prepared to be versatile, have a vision, have a good head for business and if setting up your own company remember that ultimately its yours and therefore its constant 24 hours  day. See and explore every possibility as you never know where it will take you.

For more information visit the 2Faced Dance Company website.

Want to be interviewed on West Midlands Dance? Fill in the interview form here to be featured on the blog, Twitter and Facebook.

Every Tuesday a group of young girls come together to dance. Nothing new there, right? Except this new youth dance company is made up of young people who would never have had the opportunity to dance otherwise – it’s the fruit of a new project across the region which aims to link up dance networks and increase dance prospects for young people.

The girls, aged between 11 and 14,  meet at Kingswinford High school on Tuesday nights and are the new Dudley Youth Dance Company. They are the first of four companies to come out of the Black Country as part of the Youth Dance England’s project across the West Midlands. There are six Youth Dance Contacts across the region, and Youth Dance Contact for the Black Country, Laura Simmons, is busy building youth dance groups and networks in the Dudley, Walsall, Wolverhamption and Sandwell areas.

Laura has a hefty job on her hands – not only will she create four new youth dance companies for all four districts in the Black Country, but she needs to link these dance networks with other networks being built by her colleagues in the rest of the region. Confused yet?  The overall aim is to create a National Youth Dance Network. This is a mammoth undertaking, but one which is vitally need to raise standards and improve routes into dance for young people.

The projects going on in Dudley will be similar to those being rolled out across the West Midlands according to the national brief, although each part of the region will be interpreting this differently. I went along to Netherton Arts Centre where Laura works as the Dance Contact for Youth Dance England and as the Dance Curriculum Leader for Dudley Performing Arts (DPA), to find out what they were doing.

The Youth Dance Contacts have been installed in posts across the region for two years. Part of building the network involves linking up schools, artists, and local authorities to help develop new dance opportunities – including the dance groups which started as taster sessions in schools. Girls who enjoyed the sessions or were picked as particularly talented come along to the group without need to audition, and hope to compete in U.Dance – a national programme to give young people the chance to dance on a stage – which comes to Stoke-on-Trent in July 2010. They will also perform on December 14 at Kaleidoscope. Laura said she hopes the other youth dance groups in Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton will be set up by January 2010.

“The schools we did the workshops at have not got much dance activity at the moment so for some people this will be the first dance they have performed in. I hope in two years time the group will represent a high quality of youth dance provision across Dudley,” Laura said.

“The young people really take it on board and really value another opportunity to get involved in something. The careers days will allow other young people from the area to see the dance group and it raises their aspirations about how they can make a career out of dance.”

But Laura is worried about the long-term health of dance in the Dudley area – since many dance artists are drawn to the provisions and bright lights of Birmingham to continue their career. She hopes the Youth Dance projects will path ways for growing talents to stay close to home and continue pursue what they love.

This aim is being carried out through making sure young people who get involved in dance through the groups are given the nourishment they need to continue. Laura will be coordinating Dance and Health projects in the Black Country, as well as a dance mentoring programme and careers events for 13-19-year-olds to find out more about how to turn their passion into a career.

“Dance teachers are already pushed and want to do this – it allows those who want to take it further to do dance GCSE.”

The Dudley Youth Dance Company has been going for three weeks now learning a contemporary style, and the group are now focusing on getting through the application process to get their dance to the U.Dance contest. Laura said:

“If we could get through to show our work on the regional platform in Stoke-on-Trent it would be great, but if we don’t get through we’ve got a good goal for next year.”

But Laura’s wider focus goes beyond the group and remains on building partnerships between venues and schools – and making sure this connects with the rest of the region.

“I see my role as joining up the dots,” she said. “Money creates opportunities but being a contact and joining people together to create a hand-holding network is key. People involved in dance sometimes don’t know what else is going on – but there’s loads and we need to shout about so those in Worcester and Birmingham but also recognise the cold spots and make it happen there.”

Rosie Kay is what you might call an intellectual choreographer – she doesn’t see the point of taking on a subject unless you have done your research and had some experience of it. For her latest piece, which explores war and its affect on the body, she joined a battalion and trekked across Dartmoor with a 70lb rucksack. Her approach couldn’t be more considered for what is a current and sensitive issue – and the piece will premiere at next year’s International Dance Festival Birmingham. Read the full interview with Rosie Kay about the work, her success at the last festival, and her plans for Rosie Kay Dance Company, on the International Dance Festival website.

West Midlands-based dance company, 2FaCeD, bring their unique fusion of hip hop and contemporary dance to Birmingham this week with their latest touring work Still Breathing.

Performing at The Patrick Centre for three nights only, we spoke to Artistic Director Tamsin Fitzgerald about the show and the company’s plans for the future.

“Still Breathing is about how we live when we do not give ourselves much space and keep bowling around and just don’t give ourselves room to breath,” Tamsin said.

The piece will comprise of eight male dancers, some BBoys, some contemporary trained, melding contemporary and breakdance styles to an equally diverse score of classical, dubstep and hip hop music.

“People expect a certain level of tricks from breakdance and picture something like Diversity, but it’s not like that at all. I’m far more interested in footwork and the roots of the style and combining it with contemporary dance while not alienating your audience. Our audiences used to be very young, but that’s growing and changing – we see children to grandparents coming along and I like that our work can span generations. This is a good piece for people who are sort of into dance but not quite accustomed to it.

On stage there will be eight light-beaming ladders which slowly encroach on space as the dance progresses, emulating the theme of diminishing space.

“It’s quite a big change from other dances we have done before and a leap from where we were a year ago. It’s a much more whole piece, where as pieces before have been in sections. I think I have the strongest company I have ever had, which hopefully makes for a much stronger piece.

Still Breathing first showcased at Edinburgh Fringe Festival, toured throughout the UK and the company will tour again in February 2010 internationally. Tamsin hopes to collaborate with other choreographers creating on the company for a triple bill for Spring 2011. She is enjoying seeing the growth of the company and hopes 2FaCeD Dance will become a more permanent figure on the dance seen as they become more well-known. She said:

“The work has been really successful and it’s nice to get it out there and travel round the country,” Tamsin said. “It’s always hard when the stage changes.”

The company has been in residence at the Courtyard Centre for the Arts in Hereford after being created in 1999. Tamsin, who is also an associate artist at DanceXchange, said the company was looking forward to returning to the region.

“It’s really nice to perform in Birmingham and one of our dancers in from there so he’s got all his friends there. It’s the only venue where we’re performing for three consecutive nights.”

2FaCeD DaNcE company will be performing Still Breathing at The Patrick Centre from Wednesday 25 November to Friday 27 November at 8pm. See DanceXchange website for more about the show and booking details and visit the company website for more info.

Tom Rogers is a something of a rarity in the Birmingham Royal Ballet. He was born and brought up in Birmingham and later returned to his hometown to dance in the world-class company. Now, as First Artist in the company, he will be dancing the Prince in this year’s festive favourite The Nutcracker, opening on Friday 27 October. He talked to West Midlands Dance about the role and coming back to Brum.

Growing up in Selly Oak and attending Bournville Primary School, Rogers says the fact he stayed in Birmingham after training at White Lodge wasn’t a conscious decision. At 18, he was applying to jobs all over the country – it just so happened David Bintley wanted to give him an offer.

Now living with his girlfriend in Digbeth, Rogers still goes out with old friends he grew up with in the area and relaxes by going on rock climbing escapades in the Peak district and Scotland. Although he can’t do everything – a football match would take him weeks to recover from.

The Birmingham Royal Ballet have been touring the UK with Quantum Leaps, and now return to their home at the Hippodrome on Hurst Street to deliver the Christmas classic. This is the third year Tom has danced the Prince – but he still feels a little daunted by the solo dances on stage. He said:

“Because I’m tall I find partnering work a lot easier. For me it’s been solo work which I’ve always found more challenging – I think it’s a self-confidence issue coming back again. I’m never used to dancing much on my own.

“We’re doing a ballet at the moment called Powder and I’ve never moved in a strictly neo-classical way – so it was really enjoyable to do something like that. The steps were individual and even the lifting techniques were different.

“As the Prince, the hardest bit is the solo because it’s straight after the pas de deux. But I’m a classical dancer and I love doing the Prince.”

Tom’s modesty is part of his charm. In the flesh he is just as princely as on stage – with a full head of dark curls and pure complexion, he could have easily walked straight out of a fairytale. Laid back in jeans and a hoodie, Tom looks mdeium-sized until he stands up with his perfect posture and you realise just how tall his is at 6’4″ – a height which can sometimes put off choreographers working with him. But he enjoys dancing the classical techniques he was trained in and the fairly simplistic character of the Prince, he says, is ideal for his first main role.

Tom joined the Birmingham Royal Ballet in 2004 and became a First Artist this year. He looks forward to taking on more leading roles as a natural progression in his career.

“When you’ve done one Prince, you want to do another one,” he said.

Tom is conscious of the expiry date on his career as a ballet dancer – he’s had his fair share of knee and ankle injuries – but is still young in ballet years at 25 and prefers not to think about it. He does, however, look forward to trying new things later in life. He said:

“I’d love to do something in design – like set design. Not necessarily be involved with dancing. But it’s healthy to do something else with your life. It’s such an amazing job we have, but it doesn’t last forever and you can’t cling onto it.”

The regime of working in the company can be difficult at times – especially on tour when stages and theatres change – sometimes leaving dancers without anywhere to stretch. But Tom says it’s always worth it.

“You would always have days, especially when you were younger, when you thought ‘Is this really worth it’? I think anyone who says they haven’t thought about that is lying.

“But even if you have a horrible day there’s always some enjoyment about it. If I wake aching I know I’ve been working hard and I think secretly everyone loves that. It’s when I wake up and feel I haven’t been working when it’s harder.

“When we go on tour and there are one hundred people in the audience it’s hard to motivate yourself. In America the audiences are packed out and you get a cheer everytime you jump – but that’s just national characteristics. British audiences can be like that – but not all the time.”

Tom is adamant without the support of his friends and family he couldn’t have got to where he is. His dad, he says, took him to performances as a child and has been a regular theatre-goer since.

“I’m lucky to have the supportive family I have.”

Watching Tom dance in rehearsals, I noticed his chivalry runs through his own character outside his role of the Prince. He is attentive to the needs of his partner – often giving them constructive advice on how small changes could make things easier. He said this sense of mutual understanding runs through the veins of the Birmingham Royal Ballet:

“There’s a really nice atmosphere in the company. It’s a healthy competition – everyone is out to help everyone else and is really friendly. To have that in a company is a unique thing and not something I’ve experienced in other company classes. It’s a collective enthusiasm.”

If you haven’t seen The Nutcracker before it is the perfect way to crack into Christmas. Based on a tale by Hoffman, the story has inspired several choreographers since the first production by Lev Ivanov. The mix of music by Tchaikovsky, designs by John F MacFarlane, magic and dance has roused the talents of George Balanchine, John Cranko and Rudolf Nureyev.

Birmingham Royal Ballet’s The Nutcracker has been running successfully for nearly 20 years since Director Laureate Sir Peter Wright first choreographed it following their move from Sadler’s Wells.

It is no mean feat to get the production together each time round. Before the curtain goes up on the first performance, hours of work have been undertaken behind the scenes. The sets, props and lights for the show travel to Birmingham Hippodrome in five trucks from BRB’s stores in Dudley. When the sets arrive work will begin on the ‘get-in’ and ‘fit-up’, which takes about three days. Another two days are usually required for technical and stage rehearsals. See this snappy little video which shows who the company bring the show together.

Ikeela Sealey once had a dream of owning a dance studio under a bridge. Six months after moving her company Tru Streetdance into the noisy studios under the bridge on Lionell Street, Snowhill, Birmingham – she still can’t believe her dreams coming true.

Otherwise known by her stage name, Toffee, the 27-year-old Birmingham-born dancer has inspired young people across the region. She spoke to West Midlands Dance about what keeps her motivated and why passing on a legacy of dance, education, and entrepreneurship is so important.

Growing up in Chelmsley Wood, Ikeela remembers walking past a class at the Custard Factory in Digbeth and witnessing something she’d never seen before – streetdance. Soon after she auditioned for the Smash Hits tour and became a professional dancer aged 13. But while her dance partner Maleka Tenyue, aka Caramel, went off to London to aged 16, Toffee decided to go back to her studies.

Now sitting in her own dance studio, which she bought and renovated, it is clear Toffee has managed to channel her passion for dance and young people through her commitment to hard work – making sure her dreams became concrete realities.

Her drive to succeed started early in life. In between studying dance at GCSE at Archbishop Grimshaw School and performing arts at Coventry University, Toffee decided to run streetdance classes at the Custard Factory – she was just 17-years-old.

“I was so scared of starting my own classes. I thought no one would listen to me. But I did it. And over 100 people came to the first class,” she said.

She had to close down the class because it was over-subscribed and while the classes were postponed she hand-picked 25 of the top dancers to form a company – Tru Streetdance. Ten years on members still come together to train, perform and empower young people through dance.

Comprising of around 25-30 people – Tru Street dancers rotate with six newcomers joining from open classes each year, and older members leaving to set up their own classes or become professional dancers.

But Toffee is expanding her dance enterprise to make sure young people are given the resources and advice they need to continue in dance beyond training and performing. She has started teaching business to eight members of Tru Streetdance, and through the Sticky Toffee Dance Agency hopes to provide work opportunities and enable her young dancers to start their own projects. It is this inner drive to fulfill a need for dance provision which has propelled Toffee throughout her career.

“I think what inspired and motivated me is when I was growing up people said ‘you’re not going to get anywhere in dance’. It made me fight more. I wanted to show them. There was a gap in the market and I wanted to do it. Their negativity inspired me.”

“We’re creating that footpath for young people because I didn’t have it.”

Toffee’s long term vision is to create a performing arts academy, which will be open to anybody with an interest as a place to specialise in the arts alongside mainstream education.

The idea stemmed from her work as a dance teacher back at her old school – which she did for seven years. During this time she saw how hungry children were for something exciting to keep them in education.

“Young people are interested in the arts but aren’t getting that stimulation from school or college. Elmhurst does it. We can do it here with a performing arts academy. My vision is for that empire,” she said. “If we see an inkle of potential we’re going to grab you and nurture you. It’s about empowerment.”

Toffee believes TV and the media can be attributed with a renewed interest in the dance style. She said:

“A lot of schools in and around Britain are interested in streetdance. I have to thank the likes of Britain’s Got Talent and The X factor because streetdance has been around for nearly 15 years, and only now is it getting recognised.”

“There are kids out there that want to dance.”

During the interview, Toffee is called on her mobile by her dancers and young people- she says this is normal and they often come to her for advice and help with typical teenage problems and bigger issues. She has built a mentoring scheme into the Tru Streetdance company, which she calls ‘the dance community’.

Emma Beckford, Tru Streetdance manager, explained:

“Sometimes young people feel down so we’re there to give them that encouragement. We’re here to create positivity through their every day life.”

Toffee’s own life experiences have lead her to believe dance can bring you through difficult times. Her husband, Tyrone Sealey, died suddenly aged 23 five years ago during open heart surgery. Toffee says it was her dance family that helped her through bereavement, summing it up simply by saying “Dance saved my life.” Tru Streetdance staged Tru Street Angel in memory of Tyrone, and the performance moved so many people they now regularly dance Tru Street Angel performances for people who have lost loved ones – the next one will be at The Crescent Theatre in Birmingham in 2/3 April 2010.

Toffee says young people motivate her to get up in the morning – and they are often queuing outside the studio. She quit her post as a teacher a year ago to set up the Sticky Toffee Dance Agency and the studio – a wide and noisy space with rattling corregated iron doors. But each evening the place comes alive with young people coming to dance, socialise, learn and grow.

“When I stop will be when I see the ripple effect,” she said. “The young ones taking over and continuing the legacy.”

“I hope people take inspiration from my story. It has been hard but I never gave up.”

Sticky Toffee Dance Agency are putting forward a proposal for the People Dancing project to obtain funding for providing dance in rural areas of the West Midlands. Again, it is somewhere Toffee sees a need and wants to provide.

If you haven’t seen it yet, over on the International Dance Festival website there’s an interview with director of DanceXchange and co-director of the festival David Massingham.

With titbits from the 2010 festival revealed and talk of Birmingham becoming a national centre for dance, it’s worth having a read.

Here’s a snippet to tempt you:

“Birmingham is a multicultural city and dance is a non-narrative form in many respects – dance and a mixed society of people go together very well.

“We hope that audiences who might go and see one thing will then go and try something else. We’re trying to go deeper into the city and make sure we’re on the world stage; putting Birmingham on the map as a dance destination. London is amazing but we can do it too.”

Balbir Singh believes he’s doing something completely unique in choreography – a common hope among choreographers I imagine. But not many are focusing so specifically on bringing together two seemingly opposing dance styles: Kathak and Contemporary dance. So it might be safe to say Balbir is right.

His new works performed by the Balbir Singh Dance Company - Trespass – comes to The Patrick Centre, Birmingham Hippodrome this Thursday 5 November at 8pm. Like previous works, it focuses on the synthesising the rigidity of traditional Indian dance – Kathak – and fluiditt of modern classical dance – contemporary.

Balbir Singh Dance Company. Photo: Gavin Joint

But this piece looks at the way the dance styles encroach on each other in different ways. But the concept of ‘trespassing’ rolls out in a number of different forms in the piece. We spoke to Balbir while the company were rehearsing for the show. He said:

“The dance is looking at the concept of trespassing in a number of ways: one style of dance intruding on another, or the way the inside and outside of a dancer (the inside of a dancers body being a physical mess) encroaching on the outside – represented in the Xray style image above. It’s very much an organic relationship with the music.”

Music forms an integral part of Balbir’s work. With four musicians sharing the stage with the four female dancers, the two art forms bounce off each other and intrude on each other’s territory in the work.

“It’s very much a dialogue between the two,” said Balbir. “I think the audience, even an uninformed audience, will get the connection between the dance and the music and an informed audience will see a complexity in the work.”

With whole sections of the music driven by the Indian Tabla drum, the fundamental rhythms and starting points of the dancing come from the Kathak style. But Balbir is wary of using the term ‘fusion’ to describe the bringing together of the two dance styles and two arts forms on stage.

Balbir Singh Dance Company. Photo: Stephen Berkeley

He is also aware commentators will try and draw on his own cultural heritage as an influence on the dance. But, growing up in Leeds and Bradford, it wasn’t until his adult life that Balbir explored Kathak dance and his personal heritage as a Sikh. He is adamant the only cross-cultures he had growing up was moving from Bradford to Leeds. He said:

I have been exposed to different styles so it has informed me as an individual. I work in an organic way drawing upon the energy of the performance space and the skills of the dancers and musicians. My work is about serving the art form and doing it justice.”

Contemporary dancers in his company have been learning the traditional Kathak style for nine months – and dancers from both disciplines find new challenges from training in a new style.

The contemporary dancers suddenly realise they have arms (which are often neglected in contemporary dance) so they are awakened to the fact they have hands and fingers.

I think both styles are equally valued, have voices, and points of validity. There’s a real richness of Kathak that gives you an awarenss of the body.

It takes the dancers out of their comfort zones so it’s mentally challenging

Trespass is performed in a double bill with Play of Percentages, and in comparison to his previous work Balbir says the new dance is “very fresh and strong”. He is looking towards working more on the new piece before touring and creating a duet for two males – one form Kathak and one from contemporary backgrounds – as he says he is now interested in the dynamics of all-male dancing.

To find out more or to book tickets (£7.50) for Thursday’s performance visit DanceXchange’s website.