Terpsichore: Voices in Dance

Based in Glasgow, Scotland, Claire Cunningham is one of the UK’s most acclaimed and internationally renowned disabled artists. Her work, which is often biographical and deeply personal, explores Crip & disabled experiences, practices of care, and questions societal ideas of knowledge and value. The movement vocabulary she uses to delve into these these topics is often rooted in the use/misuse, study and distortion of crutches – the objects she uses to engage physically with the world.   Claire has made everything from solos to large ensemble works. Notably, in 2012, she created ‘12’, an exploration of the word crutch in a metaphorical sense, on Candoco Dance Company. Since then, she’s made the solo 'Give Me a Reason to Live', inspired by the role of beggars and cripples in the work of Dutch medieval painter Hieronymus Bosch, and the full length show  'Guide Gods', looking at the perspectives of the major faith traditions towards the issue of disability. Claire’s new show ‘Songs of the Wayfarer’, is inspired by Gustav Mahler's 'Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen' as well as her life experience as a disabled person, the memory of her training as a singer, and the expertise of mountaineers and disabled friends. In this, her first solo piece in 10 years, she asks what it means to hike, and to strive for great heights.  After seeing her perform ‘Songs of the Wayfarer’ at HAU in Berlin, and ahead of its run at Sadler’s Wells' Lilian Bayliss theatre from 4th-6th December, I couldn’t wait to talk to Claire about how she challenges conventions around virtuosity in dance, making work that attracts disenfranchised audiences to the theatre, and how she’s going to continue her work in a new context as as Professor of Choreography, Dance, and Disability Arts at the Hochschule fur Zeitgenössische Tanz in Berlin.

Born in Marseille in 1948, Malou Airaudo began her dance journey at just eight years old at the Opéra de Marseille’s ballet school. She later joined the opera’s ensemble and went on to perform with prominent companies, including the Ballet de Monte Carlo and Ballet Théâtre Contemporain, before eventually moving to New York. There, in 1971, she met Pina Bausch, who would invite her to join the newly formed Tanztheater Wuppertal in Germany two years later. As a core member of the company, Malou played a pivotal role in the creation of some of Bausch's most iconic works, including 'Iphigenie auf Tauris' and 'Cafe Muller'. In addition to her work in Wuppertal, Malou continued to perform internationally, and in 1975, she co-founded the Paris-based company La Main. Teaching has also been a significant part of her career: in 1984, Bausch invited her to become a professor of Modern Dance at Folkwang Hochschule, and from 2012, she directed the university’s institute of contemporary dance. Since 2018, Malou has been active in staging new productions of Bausch’s repertoire, including 'Iphigenie auf Tauris' at Dresden’s Semperoper, a process captured in the documentary Dancing Pina. She's also created her own work on the likes of Folkwang Tanzstudio, and hip-hop and breakdancers from pottporus company. In 2020, she collaborated with Germaine Acogny, the Senegalese dancer choreographer and teacher known as the mother of contemporary African dance, to create 'common ground[s]', a duet where they explore their shared histories and emotional experiences. Over recent years, Malou has continued to perform this deeply personal work, and as goes through its final run at Sadler’s Wells in London from November 6-10, I couldn’t wait to sit down with her to reflect on her amazing life and career.

Rio de Janeiro-based choreographer Lia Rodrigues began her dance journey by training in classical ballet alongside studying history at the University of São Paulo. After cutting her teeth as a dancer in France, most notably performing with modern dance legend Maguy Marin and being part of the creation of her seminal Samuel Beckett-inspired work May B, Lia moved back to her home country of Brazil and founded her eponymous dance company in 1990. Lia works extensively at the intersection between art and social activism. Since 2004, her company has helped to develop outreach and arts actions in the Maré favela in Rio de Janeiro, in conjunction with an NGO based in the neighboruhood. This partnership gave rise to the Maré arts center, which opened in 2009; and to the Maré free dance school, which has been open since October 2011.  Over the years, Lia has accrued many accolades, from receiving the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters from France to receiving a portrait at Paris’ Festival d’Automne in 2021. Recently, it was announced that her work ‘Encantado’ has been nominated for the Rose Prize, a new international choreography award established by Sadler’s Wells in London. Ahead of the announcement of the Rose Prize winner in February 2025, I couldn’t wait to speak to Lia about the inspirations behind 'Encantado', how what she's learnt from motherhood has influenced her career, the responsibility that comes with privilege, and how she strives to make contemporary dance more accessible in her unequal home town. 

Originally trained at the Julliard school in New York, Janet Eilber danced professionally with the Martha Graham Dance Company for many years. During this time she danced many of the greatest roles from the Graham repertoire and had several new ones created on her by Graham herself. In 2005, she was appointed as the company’s Artistic Director, tasked with preserving Graham’s legacy while keeping it relevant for new generations. Her leadership has been defined by a commitment to expanding audience access to the Graham masterworks, which has seen her do everything from implementing contextual programming to pioneering the use new media, as well as commissioning contemporary choreographers to create new works that shed new light or engage in dialogue with Graham’s oeuvre. Now, she’s overseeing GRAHAM100, a three-season-long centennial celebration of the company and its dancers.  I sat down with Janet to find out more about what’s in store for the GRAHAM100 programme, to discuss what it was like working in the studio in one of the leading pioneers of modern dance, and what she thinks the next century of the Martha Graham Dance Company will look like.

Cassa Pancho founded Ballet Black in 2001 after graduating from professional dance training and was one of the first dancers and choreographers in the company. Her initial goal was to provide role models to young, aspiring Black and Asian dancers. A year later, she opened the Ballet Black Junior School in Shepherd’s Bush, London.  Since starting Ballet Black, Cassa has commissioned over 40 choreographers to make work for the company, including Richard Alston, Javier de Frutos, Annabelle Lopez-Ochoa, Shobana Jeyasingh, Henri Oguike, Arthur Pita, Will Tuckett, and Mthuthuzeli November, who himself is a dancer with the company.  Currently, Ballet Black is touring, ‘Heroes’, a double bill of works by Sophie Laplane and Mthuthuzeli November, around the the UK. I sat down with Cassa to find out more about what’s in store, as well as reflect on how the landscape has changed for dancers of colour since she started Ballet Black in 2001.

Québécois dancer and choreographer Louise Lecavalier joined choreographer Édouard Lock’s company La La La Human Steps in 1981. Known for its energetic, acrobatic style involving fast-paced and athletic physical contact, La La La is regarded as one of the most prominent contemporary dance company of the late 20th Century. Louise became one of its key figures, and was well known for mastering La La La’s signature barrel jump. During her 17 years with the company, Louise danced in seminal works including ‘Human Sex’, 'Businessman in the Process of Becoming an Angel’, and ‘Oranges’, and took part in groundbreaking collaborations with the likes of David Bowie and Frank Zappa. In 1999, she left La La La to pursue alternative projects. Since then, she’s danced with Tedd Robinson, Benoît Lachambre, and Crystal Pite, and started creating her own work under the umbrella of her company Fou Glorieux. Last month, Louise premiered her new solo, ‘Minutes Around Late Afternoon’ at Sadler’s Wells as part of Elixir Festival, which challenges perceptions around dance and age. Before the show, I sat down with Louise to find out more about what she’s working on and reflect on her amazing career. 

Born in Denmark and trained at the Royal Danish Ballet School, Simone Damberg Würtz danced with the Ballet Ensemble of Theatre Ulm and Peter Schaufuss Balletten before joining the renowned London-based contemporary dance company Rambert in 2013. Since joining Rambert, she’s worked with countless choreographers, and has particularly enjoyed working with the likes of Kim Brandstrup, Didy Veldman, Christopher Bruce, Sharon Eyal, Jo Strømgren, Marion Motin, Imre Van Opstal, Marne Van Opstal, and Wim Vandekeybus. Recently, she danced the role of Aunt Pol in current artistic director Benoit Swan Pouffer’s ‘Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby’, a stage reimagining of the Birmingham-based hit television show.  Outside of performing, Simone enjoys choreographing, and founded The Playground, a free, monthly creative platform for professional artists supported and held at Rambert’s studios. Last year, Simone celebrated her ten year anniversary with Rambert. To mark this milestone, I couldn’t wait to speak to her about how she’s seen the company evolve over the past 10 years, her personal highlights, career longevity in dance, and which female dance pioneer from the past she’d most like to speak to. 

Based in Dehli, India, Aditi Mangaldas is a leading dancer and choreographer in the classical Indian dance form of Kathak. Having trained extensively under the styles leading gurus, Aditi is recognised for her artistry, technique, eloquence and characteristic energy that marks every performance. Considered a maverick in India, she has consistently broken new ground as choreographer, creating works for her eponymous company that combine Kathak with contemporary influences and confront timely socio-political issues. 'Mehek', Aditi's latest piece, is the first full-length duet she has ever created. Developed in collaboration with with UK-based choreographer Aakash Odedra, it tells the story of a relationship between older woman and a younger man and meditates on the theme of “unspoken and taboo love stories”. Ahead of Mehek’s UK tour this April, I couldn’t wait to speak to Aditi to find out more about what’s in store, and to reflect on her impressive 50-year-long career. 

Andrea Miller is a US-based choreographer, creative director, and the founder of the internationally renowned multidisciplinary organisation GALLIM. Working across dance, film, fashion, and the visual arts, Andrea is known for her exploration of the essential elements of human behaviour and the alchemy of human expression through the medium of movement and performance. Andrea is a Guggenheim, Sadler's Wells, New York City Center, and Princess Grace Fellow. She is the first choreographer to be named Artist in Residence at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, creating two large scale works for The Temple of Dendur and the full 5th floor of The Met Breuer. Andrea has been commissioned by the likes of New York City Ballet, Martha Graham Dance Company, Rambert2, and Ailey II, presenting her works in world renowned venues including the Lincoln Center, The Joyce, BAM, the Royal Albert Hall, London’s Royal Opera House, and Theaterhaus Stuttgart. This September, Andrea presented ‘Les Noces Ascent to Days’ at London’s Sadler’s Wells. Created for English National Ballet, the piece is her reimagining of the famous Stravinsky score originally choreographed by overlooked Russian dance pioneer Bronislava Nijinska. For the piece, she collaborated with the late great British sculptor Phyllida Barlow on set design. Holland Park Opera also performed the music live on stage. You can read the review I wrote for the TLS here. On Friday 24th November, Andrea will be returning to London to restage excerpts of 'Les Noces Ascent to Days' at the Victoria and Albert museum as part of their dance-focused V&A Friday Late event. Ahead of the performance, I couldn’t wait to talk to Andrea about breaking out of the concert dance bubble to present work in non traditional performance spaces, her collaborations with visual art organisations and creators in particular Phyllida Barlow, and her plans for the future of her company who are fast approaching their 20th anniversary.   

Shobana Jeyasingh CBE is a London-based choreographer. Born in Chennai, India, Shobana trained in Bharata Natyam (the classical dance of Tamil Nadu) and read English Literature before founding her eponymous company in 1989. Since then, she has created over 60 critically acclaimed works for stage, screen, and out and indoor sites, ranging from Palladian monasteries in Venice to contemporary fountains in London. Shobana’s work is known for both its intellectual rigour and visceral physicality. It is rooted in her experience and perspective of life as a female postcolonial citizen of the world. Over the course of a distinguished career she has collaborated with scientists, curators, composers, film makers, digital creatives, dancers and designers to make dynamic multi-disciplinary work that places the body centre stage in the dialogue of ideas. On 19th and 20th August 2023, Shobana will be restaging her site specific work ‘Counterpoint’ in the courtyard of Somerset House in London as part of the venue’s Summer in the Courtyard series and Westminster City Council's Inside Out festival. Originally choreographed in 2010, the work contrasts the powerful curves and thrilling physicality of 22 dancers with the formal lines of the neoclassical courtyard and modernist fountains. Ahead of the performances, I couldn’t wait to talk to Shobana about the original inspirations behind the piece, as well as her career long investigations into composition and writing stories with the body.

Florence Peake is a London-based artist who has been making solo and group performance works intertwined with an extensive visual art practice since 1995. Presenting work internationally and across the UK in galleries, theatres and the public realm, she is known for an approach which is at once sensual and witty, expressive and rigorous, political and intimate. Florence explores notions of materiality and physicality: from the body as site and vehicle of protest to the erotic and sensual as tools for queering materiality. Most recently, she’s been working on her exhibition and performance, ‘Factual Actual’, focusing on the possibilities of painting, exploring its relationship to movement and upending its static representation often found in museum collections. Originally commissioned by London’s National Gallery in 2021, 'Factual Actual' has been on show at Southwark Park Galleries since 16th April, and will close this weekend on 2nd July before touring to Edinburgh’s Fruitmarket Gallery and Towner Gallery in Eastbourne later in 2023 and 2024. Alongside ‘Factual Actual’, Richard Saltoun Gallery in London has also been showing ‘Enactment’, a complementary exhibition open until 8th July that presents new installations, sculptures, canvases, and works on paper that continue Florence’s artist's research into the possibilities of painting. I couldn’t wait to sit down and speak to Florence about where her interest in melding human bodies and artistic materials came from, the absurdity of the performance-making process, and why she never lets her work arrive in one place. 

Dollie Henry MBE is recognised as one of the most formidable exponents of artistic and creative jazz dance and theatre dance in the UK and globally. Over the past 40 years, she has led a respected career as a performer, choreographer, theatre director, creative jazz artist, working on diverse projects in the West End, film, and TV, as well as in concert dance, jazz theatre, cabaret and the commercial dance sector. In 1996, Dollie decided to found the premiere jazz theatre company in the UK, Body of People, or BOP, with her partner the jazz composer Paul Jenkins. Now in its 26th year, BOP Company has produced an array of original productions and taught countless workshops, with the aim of advocating for jazz to be respected as an art form alongside other contemporary and classical genres. This mission has also seen Dollie and Paul write ‘The Essential Guide to Jazz Dance’ a landmark text charting the development of jazz theatre in 2019, and establish Jazz Theatre Arts UK, a network for jazz dance practitioners developed in partnership with One Dance UK. Currently, BOP is working towards their inaugural Jazz Arts Rewired festival, which will consist of a day of workshops and an evening of performances at The Place, London showcasing the diversity and creativity of jazz theatre in the UK. Before the festival takes place on 27th May and 3rd June, I couldn’t wait to speak to Dollie about where her intense passion for Jazz came from, how it’s sustained her throughout her career, and what her hopes are for the future of the art form.

Katrín Hall is an Icelandic choreographer and artistic director. She started dancing at a young age with Iceland Dance Company, before moving to Germany to tour internationally with the legendary Cologne-based company Tanzforum. In 1996, Katrín returned to Iceland Dance Company to take up the position of Artistic Director. In this role, she placed a strong emphasis on collaborating with Icelandic musicians such as the now Oscar-winning Hildur Guðnadóttir, supporting local choreographic talent, as well as working with many of Europe’s leading international choreographers such as Ohad Naharin, Jiří Kylián, Alexander Ekman, and Damien Jalet. As a result, in 2000 Katrín was awarded the Order of the Falcon by the President of Iceland for her contribution to the dance community in Iceland. Alongside her career as an Artistic Director, Katrín is a prolific choreographer in her own right, having created work for Iceland Dance Company, companies in Germany, Austria, Sweden and USA, and for musical productions and television, notably choreographing for Shakira’s 'Did It Again' music video, and working with the BBC TV show So You Think You Can Dance. Since 2016, Katrín has been the director of Sweden-based GöteborgsOperans Danskompani, the largest Nordic dance company. Ahead of the company’s double bill of works by Damien Jalet and Sharon Eyal at London's Sadler’s Wells from 11th - 13th May, Terpsichore talked to Katrín about the Icelandic Dance scene, transitioning to her role in Sweden, and her vision for the company’s future.

Siobhan Davies is a contemporary dance pioneer who has witnessed and contributed to the development of the British dance scene over the past 50 years. Having originally studied visual arts, Siobhan discovered contemporary dance in 1967, when she began to take classes with the Contemporary Dance Group, which later became London Contemporary Dance Theatre. In 1969, she started performing with the company, and by the seventies she was choreographing for them. Siobhan has had many different chapters of her career, from joining forces with Richard Alston and Ian Spink to form Second Stride, one of the most influential independent British contemporary dance companies of the 1980s, to taking a year’s sabbatical in America on a Fulbright Arts Fellowship, from working as an Associate Choreographer for Rambert to founding the Siobhan Davies Dance Company. Siobhan’s work is marked by her interest in presenting dance in visual art and gallery spaces, and throughout her career she has worked with venues including Victoria Miro Gallery, the ICA, the Whitworth Gallery, Glasgow Museum of Modern Art, and Turner Contemporary. In the mid 2000s, she opened Siobhan Davies Studios in South London, a base for her research that has become a place not only of dance activity but of traffic between dance and other fields. Two years ago, Siobhan stepped down as artistic director of Siobhan Davies Studios. Since then she’s been busy with various personal projects, from being appointed as an Associate Professor at C-dare Coventry University to traveling as an artist to the High Arctic with the Environmental organization Cape Farewell. She’s also created ‘Transparent’, a film that unravels the complex processes underpinning her 50 years of work in dance. Premiered at the BFI London Film Festival, the film is going to be shown at Sadler’s Wells on 20th April and will be followed by a post show talk. Ahead of the screening, I couldn’t wait to speak to Siobhan to find out what we can expect, reflect on her extensive career, and discuss her plans for the future.

While growing up in Freiburg in South Germany, Joy Alpuerto Ritter started dancing at the Ballettschule Armin Krain, and learned Philippine Folk Dance in the cultural dance group led by her mother. After training at the Palucca School in Dresden, she started working as a freelance dancer in Berlin—her current base—and learnt urban dance styles such as hip hop and voguing. In 2011, Joy joined Cirque du Soleil as a dancer and aerial artist for the Michael Jackson Immortal World Tour, and since 2013, she has been a dancer and rehearsal director for Akram Khan Company, dancing in works including 'ItMoi' and 'Until the Lions'. Now, Joy is focusing on creating her own choreographic works. Her solo 'Babae', a reimagining of German dance pioneer Mary Wigman’s 'Witch Dance', was shown as part of Aerowaves Springforward festival in 2020, and has toured extensively around Europe at festivals including Dance Umbrella in London. After speaking to Joy about 'Babae' numerous times for post show talks, I couldn’t wait to invite her on the podcast to delve deeper into her journey into dance, the many different styles she’s trained in over the course of her career, and her dreams for the future.

Ceyda Tanc is Brighton, UK-based choreographer. After studying dance at the University of Roehampton, she spent four months at The State Turkish Conservatoire for Music and Folk Dance in Izmir to train in Zeybek and Denizli, the styles of her heritage. On her return to the UK, Ceyda founded her eponymous company, and started to create a body of contemporary dance work with influences from Turkish folk culture, specifically exploring how the virtuoso movements of male Turkish dancers translate onto female bodies. Now, she’s become well-known for her signature style, and was even invited by Tamara Rojo to advise on the representation of Turkish folk choreography in English National Ballet’s reworking of  ‘Raymonda’ in 2021.  Ahead of the premiere of Ceyda’s latest work, KIZLAR, at Brighton Festival on 16th May 2023, I couldn’t wait to talk to to her about her experience training in Izmir, how and why she seeks subverts gender stereotypes in Turkish folk dance, her current work, and her dreams for the future. 

Sonia Sabri's eponymous company is one of the leading contemporary South Asian dance & music organisations in the UK. She has an international reputation for presenting classical North Indian Kathak dance in a contemporary context without diluting its integrity. Her fresh, new style of Kathak was developed by reinventing it from within, stretching its limits, and generating socially and politically engaged works that are relevant to today’s audiences. Sonia frequently works across dance styles and art forms, and has collaborated which dance pioneering creatives such as Richard Alston, Shobana Jeyasingh, Nitin Sawhney, Jonzi D and many more. 

Camilla Greenwell is a London-based dance photographer. She has worked with numerous high-profile dancers, companies, and venues, including the Barbican, Sadler’s Wells, Candoco Dance Company, and Rambert, to name a few, for who she creates unique imagery informed by her interest in people and the stories they tell. Outside of dance, Camilla has also photographed for publications such as The Guardian, The Telegraph Magazine, FT Weekend, and Toast, using her editorial work to inform her performance photography and visa versa. Most recently, Camilla put together a digital exhibition with Sadler’s Wells titled Movement in Still Form. I couldn’t wait to talk to her about the collaborative process when working with leading dance companies and institutions, how she aims to give the impression of motion in static photographs, and whether dance photography should be viewed as an artistic medium in its own right rather than just for documentation and promotional purposes. 

Originally from Belgium, Stina Quagebeur is a First Artist and Associate Choreographer with English National Ballet. During her time with the company, she has performed in works by acclaimed choreographers, some of her favourite experiences being creating the role of Myrtha in Akram Khan’s Giselle and dancing in William Forsythe’s In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated. Stina created her first mainstage work, Nora, in 2019 as part of ENB’s She Persisted, their second programme dedicated to encouraging and celebrating female choreographers. Ahead of the performance of her work Hollow, a duet exploring depression, as part of ENB’s Solstice Programme at the Southbank Centre, I thought it was a great opportunity to talk to Stina about her route into choreography, telling female narratives through dance, and what it’s like to have the dual role of dancer and choreographer in one of the U.K.’s leading ballet companies. 

Based in Poznan, Joanna Lesnierowska is a dance writer, curator, and dramaturge. She is best known for setting up Poland’s first regular dance space and choreography development centre, Old Brewery New Dance, which falls under the umbrella of Art Stations, a foundation created by Grażyna Kulczyk. Recently, Kulczyk set up Muzeum Susch, a contemporary art museum in Switzerland where Joanna curates the Acziun Susch choreographic programme. We spoke about the contemporary dance scene in Poland before and after she established her pioneering venue, how she approaches curating a dance programme in a contemporary art museum context, and the importance of maintaining open dialogues between artists and audiences.