Breaking the mould
BalletBoyz dance company presents The Talent 2013 at Brighton Dome
From its thrilling debut in 2000, dance company BalletBoyz has broken just about every barrier known to the dance world – winning widespread public and critical acclaim, television and film commissions at home and abroad, prestigious national and international awards, and the hearts and minds of thousands of dance fans, performers and audiences alike. Cheeky, distinctive, innovative, there is no other company quite like it in the dance world today.
“To be part of this company we look for individuals; something a bit special that people can connect with,” explains Michael Nunn, co-founder of BalletBoyz. “We’re not a faceless dance company.”
“Cheeky, distinctive, innovative, there is no other company quite like it”
Now, their most recent venture – The Talent 2013 – heads to Brighton Dome with an exhilarating evening of exciting and explosive dance. The show sees the ten-strong, all-male company perform a selection of brand new work from the likes of Liam Scarlett – one of the UK’s most promising dance-makers – and multi-award-winning choreographer Russell Maliphant.
“Liam Scarlett was a young soloist at the Royal Ballet. We spotted him a couple years ago and thought ‘I wonder how he would feel working with more contemporary dancers?’” says Nunn, who created the company alongside William Trevitt.
“He’s created a wonderful piece. It’s probably the most classical thing The Talent has ever done, but very different and very, very physical. I think there’s a lot of story and feeling going on in it.
“With Russell’s piece, the music is pretty epic and filmic. We go back a long way with Russell and it’s fantastic that he’s working with these young men because they’re absolutely lapping it up.”
Having performed for 12 years with The Royal Ballet – where they danced all the principal roles and worked alongside some of the world’s finest choreographers – Nunn and Trevitt certainly know their stuff. For The Talent, which made its debut tour in 2010, the duo took a back seat and selected a handful of male dancers from a variety of backgrounds, working with them closely, mentoring and coaching to create a company of first-rate performers.
“Billy and I obviously weren’t getting any younger and, rather than just bowing out very slowly and just performing bits and pieces, we decided to stop completely and employ a group of young men that we could hopefully hand on some of the skills that we’ve learnt over the years,” Nunn explains.
“Rather then just getting people to send in CVs and going through their experience – seeing where they’ve trained and where they’ve danced before – we would have an open audition where anyone that wanted to come and dance for us could have a go… a bit X Factor, I suppose.
“They seem to have captured the public’s imagination and gone from strength to strength.”
The company’s ever-developing artistic vision zand penchant for lively, charismatic performance has won them well-deserved success and great critical acclaim both nationally and internationally. Yet Nunn is modest about BalletBoyz and The Talent’s accomplishments.
“We’ve never tried to keep to any trend or follow anyone else. We’ve always had the policy if we like someone’s work we’ll commission them. If we like that dancer, we’ll hire them if we can,” he says.
“We just hoped someone would come and see it – and so far, so good!”
BalletBoyz: The Talent 2013, Tuesday 29 January, Concert Hall, Brighton Dome, 7.30pm, £10–£18.50, 01273 709709, www.brightondome.org
