Last Monday morning I was up early to be at the ICA to take part in the launch of the
handover plans for August 24th (well, early for me: my internal clock is still set on theatre time, so while I can work late into the night, I'm not at my best before at least 10.30am).
It's nice to be able to drop the 'cloak and dagger' business around the plans for the launch - we've been working on all this for some months now but have managed to keep it quiet until now (give or take the odd leak in the preceding week).
We've spent some time in the studio already, workshopping ideas with dancers from the three groups which will make up the unique company performing in Beijing and it's really exciting to be part of such a diverse and talented group of artists from the amazing CanDoCo and ZooNation.
My last working experience with street/breakdancers was some years ago now, and once again I'm completely inspired by these dancers and their extraordinary commitment to pushing the physical and creative boundaries. So I was more than a bit disappointed in those commentators who decided to take a negative attitude to involving urban dance in this event.
You only have to come into the rehearsal room with street dancers to realise that what they do takes every bit as much dedication, effort, time and sweat as classical ballet, AND they do it in much more challenging circumstances: without proper studios and nicely sprung floors, without recognition (from some quarters) and without much in the way of subsidy.
It takes real, long term changes in strength, flexibility and endurance to do what these guys do and you don't achieve that without years of focussed and intense practice, day in, day out. Knowing the personal cost of that type of effort, it's irritating to see some people dismiss these dancers as 'hoodies'.
I'm really looking forward to getting down to rehearsals and seeing what we can come up with. For my money, the dance scene in the UK is the most diverse and vibrant anywhere in the world and I'm really glad that the event in Beijing will showcase its range and variety in such a creative way.
