Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Kim Brandstrup is a Danish born choreographer whose latest project, Breaking Bach, unites him with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Kim often works with leading classical companies, but in Breaking Bach he directs street dancers, some with no previous stage experience. What will they all find in Bach’s exacting rhythms? Kim took an unusual route into choreography – he initially trained in film, before finding that dance was the perfect medium for his narrative impulse. His recent rich, elegant ballets draw on Hans Christian Andersen and timeless Greek myths.
Kim Brandstrup studied film at the University of Copenhagen and choreography at London School of Contemporary Dance. He founded his dance company Arc in 1985, forging a narrative style that owes more to his early cinematic training than to classical story ballet or contemporary dance. His has been commissioned by international companies including the Royal Ballet, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens and the Royal Danish Ballet. Throughout his career he has sought a theatre of movement that is both powerful and subtle, creating poignant and suggestive narratives that are intensely human and emotionally revealing.
Kim Brandstrup’s website https://kimbrandstrup.org/
Breaking Bach at the Edinburgh Festival https://www.eif.co.uk/events/breaking-bach
Why Dance Matters is a dance podcast featuring inspiring conversations with extraordinary people from the world of dance and beyond. Hosted by David Jays, editor of Dance Gazette, this podcast explores how dance shapes lives and why it matters to us all. Brought to you by the RAD, which inspires the world to dance, these insightful stories will surprise and delight. Tune in and discover more on our website.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
It’s the 90th anniversary of the RAD in Australia, so we are speaking to Shelley Yacopetti, the RAD’s National Director in Australia. Not all the national directors come from a dance background – but Shelley emphatically does: as a performer, teacher, leader. She has been involved with the RAD in Australia for over a decade, taking several roles before becoming National Director. Shelley is also helping shape the conversation around the direction of travel in dance teaching – thinking hard about safeguarding, and how dance can be more accessible and reflect the wider world.
Shelley Yacopetti has over 30 years’ experience in the dance industry in multiple roles, including performing artist, academic lecturer, dance educator, arts manager and executive. She trained at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), completing a Diploma of Performing Arts and later a Bachelor of Arts. Shelley performed with Tasdance, Fieldworks Performance Group and ID339, and taught at WAAPA and on RAD Faculty of Education Postgraduate teacher training programmes. Shelley joined the RAD in 2013, and is currently the National Director, Australia.
90 Stories Across 90 Years https://www.royalacademyofdance.org/en-au/news-and-facts/celebrating-90-years-of-the-rad-in-australia-2/
Why Dance Matters is a dance podcast featuring inspiring conversations with extraordinary people from the world of dance and beyond. Hosted by David Jays, editor of Dance Gazette, this podcast explores how dance shapes lives and why it matters to us all. Brought to you by the RAD, which inspires the world to dance, these insightful stories will surprise and delight. Tune in and discover more on our website
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We go inside a London theatre phenomenon with Fabian Aloise, the choreographer whose latest show has made headlines around the world. Every night, Rachel Zegler, playing Evita in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, comes out onto the balcony at the London Palladium and sings Don’t Cry for Me Argentina to an excited crowd: a unique moment of London magic. Fabian works with director Jamie Lloyd on starry, groundbreaking productions: before Evita, they worked with Hayley Atwell and Tom Hiddleston on Much Ado About Nothing and Nicole Scherzinger on the award-winning Sunset Blvd. Fabian’s work is muscly, characterful, properly theatrical. How does he do it?
Fabian Aloise's choreography has been critically acclaimed and garnered, among others, two Olivier Award nominations for best theatre choreographer, WhatsOnStage Award for best choreography, Stage Debut Award for best creative West End debut and the Off West End “OFFIE” award. Born in Canada to proud immigrant parents, Fabian trained in classical ballet and contemporary dance at the Victorian College of the Arts in Australia. His career spans Australia, Europe, the United States, Asia and London's West End. His choreography can currently be seen in Evita (London Palladium) for the Jamie Lloyd Company.
Fabian’s website https://www.fabianaloise.com/
Evita https://evitathemusical.com/
Why Dance Matters is a dance podcast featuring inspiring conversations with extraordinary people from the world of dance and beyond. Hosted by David Jays, editor of Dance Gazette, this podcast explores how dance shapes lives and why it matters to us all. Brought to you by the RAD, which inspires the world to dance, these insightful stories will surprise and delight. Tune in and discover more on our website.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Alina Cojocaru is one of the great ballerinas of her generation – her Giselle, Odette-Odile and Manon bring those complex, anguished characters to life. This deep dive of a conversation offers a rare chance to hear a dancer at the peak of their profession discuss the ways in which art works on both artist and audience. Now a freelance dancer, Alina can shape her own artistic path. She founded her own production company, ACWorkroom, and is currently guesting with London City Ballet – and tells us about creating character, mining emotion and sharing it with an audience.
Alina Cojocaru CBE is a former Principal of the Royal Ballet and English National Ballet. After studying at the Royal Ballet School she joined the Kiev Ballet in Ukraine as a principal dancer and then the Royal Ballet, being promoted to Principal aged 19, in 2001. In 2013 she joined English National Ballet, where lead roles included Akram Khan’s acclaimed reimagining of Giselle. Her numerous awards include Best Female Dancer at the 2002 Critic’s Circle Awards and the 2004 and 2012 Benois de la Danse awards. A permanent Guest Artist with John Neumeier’s Hamburg Ballet, Alina dances as a guest artist with the world’s foremost ballet companies.
Alina’s company ACWorkroom https://www.alinacojocaru.com/
London City Ballet (Alina performs in Oxford, Bath, Birmingham and at Sadler's Wells in London) https://londoncityballet.com/production/momentum/#tour-dates
Why Dance Matters is a dance podcast featuring inspiring conversations with extraordinary people from the world of dance and beyond. Hosted by David Jays, editor of Dance Gazette, this podcast explores how dance shapes lives and why it matters to us all. Brought to you by the RAD, which inspires the world to dance, these insightful stories will surprise and delight. Tune in and discover more on our website.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We take a deep dive into a single dance company – the tumbling, twisty, transporting Pilobolus – through the eyes of Robert Pranzatelli, who has written a wonderfully involving book about the company and its work. Pilobolus began in 1971, at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. It grew out of dance classes held at the then all-male university, and soon found a following in the US and beyond – one early description of their work was Dr Seuss meets Monty Python. Seeing them perform also changed Robert Pranzatelli’s life, as he tells us.
Robert Pranzatelli is the author of a number of essays published by the Paris Review and other literary journals, and a longtime staff member of Yale University Press. His book Pilobolus: A Story of Dance and Life is published by the University Press of Florida.
Robert’s book: https://www.ubcpress.ca/pilobolus
Pilobolus in New York: https://pilobolus.org/tour-dates/2025/the-joyce
"Why Dance Matters" is a dance podcast featuring inspiring conversations with extraordinary people from the world of dance and beyond. Hosted by David Jays, editor of Dance Gazette, this podcast explores how dance shapes lives and why it matters to us all. Brought to you by the RAD, which inspires the world to dance, these insightful stories will surprise and delight. Tune in and discover more on our website.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Amir Nizar Zuabi is artistic director of The Herds – an astonishing work of cardboard and imagination, which is sweeping northwards from Africa. The lifesize puppets of The Herds are given dazzling life by teams of puppeteers, drawing attention to climate emergency as the animals look for home in a changing world. Amir previously directed The Walk, where a 12-foot puppet girl sought refuge, greeted by dance and music wherever she went – these projects inspire art as well as empathy. Amir’s own journey is also remarkable – a Palestinian-Israeli director now working on an almost unimaginable scale.
Amir Nizar Zuabi is an award-winning playwright and director. He was the founding Artistic Director of ShiberHur Theater Company, an Associate Director of the Young Vic Theatre, a member of the United Theaters Europe for artistic achievement, and an alumni of the Sundance Institute Theatre Program. Following his work on The Walk, in 2022 he took up the role of Artistic Director of The Walk Productions Limited. Alongside many writing credits, he has directed productions at Flanders Opera, Edinburgh International Festival, Bouffes du Nord and Royal Shakespeare Company.
The Herds https://www.theherds.org/
The Herds on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/the__herds/
Why Dance Matters is a dance podcast featuring inspiring conversations with extraordinary people from the world of dance and beyond. Hosted by David Jays, editor of Dance Gazette, this podcast explores how dance shapes lives and why it matters to us all. Brought to you by the RAD, which inspires the world to dance, these insightful stories will surprise and delight. Tune in and discover more on our website.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
When it comes to youthful spirit, Angela Rippon is unmatchable. Angela is a journalist and broadcaster, who 50 years ago this year became the BBC’s first regular female newsreader. But dance has also defined her career. She caused a sensation in 1976 as a high-kicking guest on the Morecambe and Wise Christmas show, and in 2023, at 79, she took part in tv’s Strictly Come Dancing, almost reaching the final. Still an enthusiastic dancer, she’s an ambassador for the RAD’s Silver Swans programme and founder of Let’s Dance – an untiring advocate for the benefits of ballet in wellbeing.
Angela Rippon is an award-winning journalist, TV presenter, newsreader and author, whose career spans over 50 years. She’s had a groundbreaking career, hitting many milestones, and has presented a diverse array of television programmes. After becoming a reporter at the BBC, she transitioned to the role of newsreader in 1975. She has since presented numerous notable shows, and in 1988 became the host of the predecessor to Strictly Come Dancing –taking part in the competition herself in 2023. She is Ambassador for the RAD’s Silver Swans programme and founder of Let’s Dance.
Why Dance Matters is a dance podcast featuring inspiring conversations with extraordinary people from the world of dance and beyond. Hosted by David Jays, editor of Dance Gazette, this podcast explores how dance shapes lives and why it matters to us all. Brought to you by the RAD, which inspires the world to dance, these insightful stories will surprise and delight. Tune in and discover more on our website
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Christina S Ho, Professor of Law at Rutgers University, is deeply engaged in questions around access to healthcare, law and governance – but is also a lover of ballet. We relish enriching conversations with non-dancers on Why Dance Matters, and Christina who not only cherishes her time in ballet class, but also sees ballet as a model for civil society. Issues around the right to health or the rule of law aren’t quiet questions in today’s United States – are Christina’s ballet classes a sanctuary from the onrush of turbulent headlines?
Christina S Ho is Professor of Law at Rutgers University. She previously held senior roles at the China Health Law Initiative at Georgetown University Law Center, and on the Clinton Foundation’s China program. During the Clinton Administration, she worked on the Domestic Policy Council at the White House and later led Senator Hillary Clinton’s health legislative staff. Her book, Normalizing an American Right to Health, was published last year by Oxford University Press.
Christina at Rutgers https://law.rutgers.edu/christina-s-ho
Christina’s book https://academic.oup.com/book/45833
Why Dance Matters is a dance podcast featuring inspiring conversations with extraordinary people from the world of dance and beyond. Hosted by David Jays, editor of Dance Gazette, this podcast explores how dance shapes lives and why it matters to us all. Brought to you by the RAD, which inspires the world to dance, these insightful stories will surprise and delight. Tune in and discover more on our website.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This special episode was recorded live to celebrate International Women’s Day. The RAD gathered three distinguished dancing dames in front of an invited audience to discuss their lives in dance. A ballerina, an artistic director and a choreographer: Dame Darcey Bussell, Dame Monica Mason and Dame Arlene Phillips. All three were previously guests on Why Dance Matters, and there are other points of connection: Darcey and Monica were both luminaries of the Royal Ballet and are now the RAD’s President and Vice-President respectively; Darcey and Arlene have both been judges of Strictly Come Dancing. This is a rare opportunity to hear them compare notes about their extraordinary careers and love of dance.
Why Dance Matters" is a dance podcast featuring inspiring conversations with extraordinary people from the world of dance and beyond. Hosted by David Jays, editor of Dance Gazette, this podcast explores how dance shapes lives and why it matters to us all. Brought to you by the RAD, which inspires the world to dance, these insightful stories will surprise and delight. Tune in and discover more on our website.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Valentino Zucchetti
When Valentino Zucchetti won the gold medal at the Genée International Ballet Competition in 2006, Dance Gazette called him ‘dazzling’ and ‘above all, devastatingly charismatic.’ The Italian artist has brought those qualities as dancer with the Royal Ballet in London (especially in vivid roles like Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, Lescaut in Manon and Lensky in Onegin), and an award-winning choreographer. Works like Scherzo, Anemoi and Jeunesse (created for the RAD’s Fonteyn competition in 2023) radiate a lyrical eye and a heartfelt response to music. As he prepares a premiere for the London Handel Festival, he discusses the rewards and challenges of his dual career.
Valentino Zucchetti trained at La Scala and the Royal Ballet School and won the RAD’s 2006 Genée International Ballet Competition (now The Fonteyn) and the 2007 Solo Seal award. He danced with Zürich Ballet and Norwegian National Ballet before joining the Royal Ballet in 2010, promoted to First Soloist in 2014. He won the RBS’s Ursula Moreton Choreographic Award in 2005, and has created ballets for New English Ballet Theatre (Orbital Motion, Enticement’s Lure, Firth of Fifth, Into the Light) and the Royal Ballet, including Scherzo (South Bank Sky Arts Award for Dance) and Anemoi (Critic’s Circle National Dance Award). He created Jeunesse for The Fonteyn 2023.
LINKS
https://www.london-handel-festival.com/show/2025-double-bill-tales-of-apollo-hercules/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The architect Takero Shimazaki was born in Tokyo but is a longtime Londoner. He has designed many kinds of buildings – including the London home of the Royal Academy of Dance. It’s a warm, open, lovingly designed space and last year, the Royal Institute of British Architects gave it an RIBA London Award, calling it “an uplifting, welcoming and inclusively safe place.” So how do you take a heritage organisation like the RAD and build it a 21st century home? An architect can shape the way bodies move through space, just like a choreographer – so we ask Takero why dance matters to him.
Takero Shimazaki is an architect and a director of Takero Shimazaki Architects, t-sa. He studied at University of Wales, Cardiff and The Bartlett, UCL. He has worked for Richard Rogers Partnership, Itsuko Hasegawa and Alison and Peter Smithson, and is a lecturer in Architecture at the School of Art, Architecture and Design at London Metropolitan University.
LINKS
https://www.royalacademyofdance.org/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Vicki Igbokwe-Ozoagu is an inventive choreographer, an Olympic movement director and a very positive lifecoach. Her dance company Uchenna promises to Empower, Entertain & Educate, while she wants everyone she engages with to Think Fierce, Be Fabulous & Live Free Spirited. Sadler’s Wells in London are channelling that positive spirit, asking her to create Our Mighty Groove, a show that will open their brand new theatre in London’s Olympic Park – just minutes from where Vicki helped create the legendary opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics. Vicki tells us about taking her own advice, and
how she first got her groove on.
Vicki Igbokwe-Ozoagu is the founder and joint CEO of Uchenna, an international touring dance company. Her work in theatre as a choreographer and movement director includes productions at Leeds Playhouse, Regents Park Open Air Theatre, Greenwich and Docklands International Festival, National Youth Theatre, Royal Court and more. She created Uchenna’s four touring shows: Our Mighty Groove, The Head Wrap Diaries, Hansel and Gretel and The Head Wrap Diaries – Fierce and Free. Internationally, she has worked as a mass movement choreographer for Olympic and Paralympic Ceremonies, including London 2012. She is Director of Empowerment at People Make It Work and is the Self-First Instigator, empowering creative women to kickstart the habit of putting themselves first.
LINKS
https://www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/vicki-igbokwe-ozoagus-our-mighty-groove/
https://www.vickiigbokwe.co.uk/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
India is renowned for its rich dance traditions, but rarely for ballet. Pia Sutaria is changing that. Pia’s career has been immensely varied – from ballet to modern, from TedX talks to musical theatre. She’s also an RAD dance teacher, and in 2018 set up the Institute of Classical & Modern Dance in her home city of Mumbai. It aims to broaden access to dance, and particularly ballet, for those who might not otherwise have the opportunity to pursue it. Students from the ICMD are already training in some of the world’s best vocational schools. Pia tells us how Billy Elliott brought her to ballet, and why dance matters to her.
Pia Sutaria is a registered teacher of the Royal Academy of Dance. She also received the Disney Theatrical Scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music, London and performed in the UK tour of the musical Bombay Superstar, with Welsh National Opera and more. Her performances in India and beyond include touring internationally with Navdhara India Dance Theatre. She has represented global brands and gave a TEDx talk on dance and classical ballet in India. In 2018, Pia founded the Institute of Classical & Modern Dance (ICMD) to make vocational training in dance accessible to young artists in India. The school has successfully sent students on scholarships to top performing arts institutions in Europe, UK and USA.
Institute of Classical & Modern Dance https://icmdindia.com/faculty/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Our guest today is the dancer and choreographer Aakash Odedra. Based in the UK, his work tours internationally, and he collaborates with artists from across countries and art forms. Each piece he makes seems more ambitious than the last – next is Songs of the Bulbul, which premieres at the Edinburgh International Festival. His manner is gentle, but under the bonnet of his works sit difficult subjects like dyslexia or ageing. We find out how he shapes these themes into mesmerising dance.
Aakash Odedra was born in Birmingham, and trained in kathak and Bharatanatyam, and incorporated that training in a unique synthesis with contemporary dance, both in his own choreography and his collaborations with other choreographers. He formed Aakash Odedra Company in 2011 as a vehicle for commissioning solos and to develop his own choreographic work. His work forms the heart of the company and as a soloist he has performed over 300 full length performances in 40 countries, receiving numerous awards and bursaries.
LINKS
Aakash Odedra Company https://aakashodedra.com/
Songs of the Bulbul https://www.eif.co.uk/events/songs-of-the-bulbul
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Royal Academy of Dance will soon hold the annual Margot Fonteyn International Ballet Competition, where promising dancers from across the world dance their hearts out in front of some of ballet’s big names. In 2014, the Australian ballerina Eilis Small took part in the predecessor to the Fonteyn, the Genée, held that year in Antwerp, but didn’t make the final. Yet she now has a fulfilling career with Birmingham Royal Ballet – she’s here to prove that what happens in a ballet competition shouldn’t stop you from living your best dancing life.
Eilis Small was born in Canberra, Australia. She trained at the Lisa Clark Academy and Australian Ballet School, and took part in the Genée International Ballet Competition. In 2018, she joined Birmingham Royal Ballet, where her roles include creating the lead role in Daniela Cardim’s Imminent, alongside prominent roles in Carlos Acosta’s Don Quixote,
David Bintley’s Cinderella, The Nutcracker Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty.
LINKS
Eilis Small at Birmingham Royal Ballet https://www.brb.org.uk/profile/eilis-small
The Fonteyn https://www.thefonteyn.org/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We often talk about how dance changes lives on Why Dance Matters. No one exemplifies that more than the remarkable RAD dance teacher Michael Wamaya. He works with Project Elimu in Kibera, Kenya. Kibera faces many challenges – extreme poverty, intense lack of resources. But Mike offers children and young people the chance to engage in artistic activity and dance, and to think too about sexual and reproductive health. It’s an immensely ambitious programme, which attracts great acclaim. But why is RAD ballet part of the mix? And why does dance matter to him?
Michael Wamaya is a dance teacher and community activist in Kenya. He teaches ballet in Kenya’s Kibera and Mathare slums for Project Elimu, combining the teaching of dance skills with social skills. The programme explores individual human potential and creativity, and works to develop confidence and self-esteem. Many children within the programme have gained scholarships, enabling them to finish their studies, and the programme has created a platform where children can engage in creative activities while developing their careers.
LINK
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Did you know the Royal Ballet had a performance psychologist? Britt Tajet-Foxell was a pioneer in the discipline, which is more familiar in the sports world. As well as dancers and musicians, Britt also works with elite athletes: at the Olympics in Paris, she’s working with teams from both the UK and her native Norway. There may be less stigma around discussing mental and emotional health than when Britt began her career – but she still addresses sensitive subjects like anxiety, returning from injury or taking on an exposing leading role.
Britt Tajet Foxell was a chartered physiotherapist with the Royal Ballet for 20 years before retraining to become a chartered psychologist. She is an accredited European psychologist and cognitive behavioural psychotherapist, and an Honorary Fellow at Goldsmith College, University of London. She has been the psychologist to the Royal Ballet for over 20 years, and also works with the British and Norwegian Olympic Associations.
LINKS
Britt in conversation with Darcey Bussell https://www.royalacademyofdance.org/mind-games/
How Britt worked with ballerina Yasmine Naghdi https://www.theguardian.com/stage/article/2024/jun/18/royal-ballet-yasmine-haghdi-britt-tajet-foxell-psychologist
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Crazy Smooth
Our guest today is the Canadian hip hop dancer and choreographer professionally known as Crazy Smooth. We ask how Crazy Smooth came by his dance name? What makes Canadian street dance distinctive? In this Olympic year, where breaking makes its debut in the Paris games, should we really think of dance as a sport? And if breaking is a young man’s game, how does a b-boy feel when he becomes a b-man?
Crazy Smooth is one of Canada’s top street dance ambassadors, a choreographer, dancer, teacher and community leader. He is the founder and artistic director of Bboyizm, an award-winning dance company that has been instrumental in the preservation and proliferation of street dance in Canada and beyond. Smooth founded Bboyizm in 2004 and the company has successfully brought authentic street dance choreography onto the professional stage. His most recent show, In My Body, won four 2022 Dora Awards including Outstanding Performance and Outstanding Original Choreography, and Crazy Smooth was named Dancer of the Year at the 2023 Dynastie award.
LINKS
Bboyizm website https://bboyizm.ca/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Nine years ago this month, Misty Copeland became the first ever Black American woman to be promoted to principal at American Ballet Theatre. One of ballet’s most inspirational figures, she opens this new season of Why Dance Matters. Was she prepared for the attention around her promotion? What can ballet give young people? How does George Michael’s I Want Your Sex figure in her dance career, and will she return to the stage after ‘one of the longest maternity leaves in ballet history’? Misty reflects on her extraordinary journey – and why dance matters to her.
Misty Copeland is acclaimed as a champion of change. Born in Kansas City and raised in California, she began her ballet studies at the late age of 13. A member of American Ballet Theatre since 2001, in 2015 she was the first African American woman in the company’s history to be promoted to principal dancer, having made history as the first Black woman to perform the lead role in its Swan Lake. In 2022, Misty launched The Misty Copeland Foundation, with its signature program BEBOLD, which aims to bring greater diversity, equity and inclusion to dance, especially ballet.
Misty Copeland Foundation https://www.mistycopelandfoundation.org/
Misty on Instagram @mistyonpointe
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
