Chantal Guevara by LondonDance.com

Cloud Dance Festival - behind the scenes

Back in 2007 Chantal Guevara posted a call on the londondance.com noticeboard for choreographers and dancers to work with her newly formed collective of dancers - some working professionally, others aspiring to do so.   Out of the flood of responses , Cloud Dance Festival, a thrice yearly platform for up and coming new dance was born.  In three years there have been nine festivals, involving 80 companies and an average of 100 people involved in each festival across a range of London venues.  The next one takes place this weekend  (5 & 6 Dec) at the People Show Studios, Bethnal Green.


The success of this independent initiative is largely down to one woman - Chantal continues to organize, programme and manage it all- alongside the demands of a full time day job.  And she even found time to answer afew of our questions...

How did Cloud Dance Festival come about?

Back in April 2007, I was researching studio space for our company Cloud Dance, when I noticed the low cost of some venues, and realised that it might be completely insane, but otherwise feasible, to hold a platform on two or more days - and still manage to break even. There was absolutely no point in booking a venue for Cloud Dance alone, so we'd have to invite other companies to perform anyway  - and I had some in mind from the start. And so the festival was born.

 

What's your background - are you a dancer? 

I'm not a dancer, sadly - I started taking contemporary dance classes back in '95, and although I dreamed of applying to dance school about eight years ago, I've had to stop dancing altogether for the past few years due to knee problems. I'd love to return to class, but given the choice between fixing my knee and working on the festival, the festival always wins.

 

What's your main aim with Cloud Dance Festival?

I noticed that of all the art forms, contemporary dance seems to be the least organised, with the most gaps and fewest resources, and over the last three years, I've been interested in looking into them and seeing what I can do about them. With the festival, I've wanted to address the large number of highly talented choreographers and dancers based in London and beyond, with few opportunities to showcase their work, or little incentive to create new pieces.

 

How do you fit into the London dance scene?

We don't actually have much contact with other dance organisations (except through Twitter!), although that's mostly because there's very few of us, and we're normally completely swamped with working on each festival.

 

Through Cloud Dance, we had a lot of contact with most of London's dance studios, and one side-effect of the festivals is that with a large proportion of the pieces being created specifically for the festival, that generates a lot of business for the studios. We also provide the participants with a list of recommended studios, and we hope they're benefiting from that.

 

Are you hoping to provide a platform for the companies you feature to go on to other things?

Of course we hope that they'll stay with us, but we do get very proud when we see them move on, and we support them as much as we can.

 

You always use different venues - is that out of choice?

It's entirely not out of choice - I've often said that I long for the festival to have a home of its own, so that we can keep holding it at the same venue again and again. It's all about availability - we started seeking a venue for the next festival seven months in advance, and ended up approaching 49 venues.

 

An obvious disadvantage of moving around is not being familiar with the venue in question, especially when it comes to knowing what's achievable, and also when answering queries from the performers. It was wonderful holding two consecutive festivals at Jacksons Lane, and it made it so much easier for us to prepare for July's festival as a result.

 

A benefit of moving around, however, is the opportunities it creates in bringing contemporary dance to a new community, something we plan to explore further next year.

 

Ballet Black are a late addition to December's programme - how did that come about?

That was all down to Twitter! I've seen Ballet Black several times this year, and I've dreamed of having them in the festival, but never dared approach them about it. Then a week ago, they heard through Twitter that we were having a line-up crisis, and they offered to step in. At the same time, other Twitter users were encouraging me to go with Ballet Black - it was a very entertaining Sunday night online!  In hindsight..


Tell us about your line up for Parade this weekend.

The first thing to say about it is that it's mostly audience (and our) favourites from the past year, and the matinee is going to feature the highlights of the whole festival (excepting Ballet Black, who are only performing on Sunday evening). Only five of the companies were applicants, and two of them have performed in past festivals.

 

Sophia Hurdley has worked with New Adventures for several years, so we're really looking forward to seeing her work; Nexus Dance completely amazed us with their performance in July, so we're thrilled that they're returning. Slanjayvah Danza is one of the 'new' companies, but we absolutely loved the clip of their piece, and it will be wonderful to have them in the festival. Ji Park is someone I've supported a lot this year - her work is very experimental and creative, but sadly she's having to return to Korea shortly, so this will be her final performance with us.


Whats next for Cloud Dance Festival? 

 We're aware that the festival needs to develop to avoid stagnating, so we've been working hard on our plans for next year, which include attracting larger-name companies to our line ups, and focusing more on artistic development and support - trying to see how the festival can better benefit its participants. I'm also starting to think we need a theatre of our own...

 

This is all going to require funding, which will be a challenge for us, as we've been unfunded till now, but certain things are becoming urgent, such as needing salaries and office space!  For the most part, I've run the festival by myself, but I already have a full-time job and as the festival grows, it's becoming harder to juggle the two. I have an arts manager, and we have occasional volunteers, and we've been lucky that most people involved in the festivals (our stage manager, ASMs, photographers, video editor, reviewers)  have been willing to work for reduced rates or for free, however we're aware that we're going to need to start paying them, or face losing them.

 

Meanwhile Parade is going to be the celebration of three years of Cloud Dance Festival, and a tribute to all it's achieved in that time - from an ad posted on londondance.com and a subsequent pub meeting, to being able to hold its own 'best of' event, with our most exciting lineup yet!

Original interview published on http://www.londondance.com/content.asp?CategoryID=3512

Jenni Wren (Slanjayvah Danza)

Cloud Dance Festival was holding its first “best of” Parade last weekend at People Show Studios, and Bella Figura took the opportunity to interview some of the festival’s up-and-coming dancers and choreographers. We start with the delightful Jenni Wren, Artistic Director of Slanjayvah Danza, whose Blind Passion – Live Cut with Phil Sanger left the audience stunned. Interview conducted by Laura Cappelle of Bella Figura.

Can you tell me about your dance background?

My parents were always very artistic – my mom was a singer, and my dad was a musician. They always let me do what I said I wanted to do. I grew up in a very small village, but I did ballet, for a short while, and other things. The only one I kept going with was rollerskating – I became a member of the Scottish Squad, and I competed nationally. I stopped when I was 14, but I was a pre-silver medallist.

Then I became a teenager, and there were no facilities for dance in my school. At 19 though I started doing one class a week at Scottish Dance Theatre. After two years, Janet Smith [the artistic director of the company] asked me why I wasn’t training – I just didn’t think dance was a career you could have. So I started my training just when I turned 23. I did a year at Scottish Contemporary Dance School, and then a three-year degree at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, before moving on to a graduate traineeship with Attic Dance.

The people that influenced me most were Yael Flexer (Bedlam Dance) and Janet Smith. I found it difficult to find dance that inspired me though – I just had a lot of things to say, and I decided to make my own work. As a kid I was always choreographing for rollerskating, and it made sense for me, against everybody’s advice not to start a company right after college. My first professional work was for the Certamen de Madrid. It reached the semi-finals, and from there we did a small tour in Spain, with four other pieces. I came back to the UK because of the funding situation, and since returning, I have had five funding awards here, including some from the Arts Council England. We are currently in residence in an art space in Leeds called Seven, and they support us a lot.

Where does the name of your company come from?

It’s Celtic/Scottish for “Cheers to your health, to your life”. I used Danza because there is a lot of Spanish influence in my work – I have a lot of friends there, and I started the company with Spanish girls. I’ve been there so often that I feel like I have origins there now.

What was the thinking behind Blind Passion – Live Cut?

It was premiered last July, and it has been a turning point for me. It is the first time I have made a choreography about how I feel. Many people think it is about a relationship, and in a sense it is – it’s about my relationship with what Phil [Sanger, dancer and choreographer] and I feel passionate about. That includes the body, the naked form of the body, the mechanical forms of the body – I do massages, and quite often I find myself looking at it inside out, looking at the muscles, the patterns. The body as a work of art in itself is incredible.

My other passion is communication, and Phil and I have been friends for a long time, we communicate very well, and I wanted that to come across. The third important thing was contact – we actually structured the work through contact improvisation. If you can do contact well, you should be able to do it with your eyes closed, and that’s where the blindfolds came in.

We did the film version first, and then we developed it into a longer piece that was suitable for small venues, with minimal costumes. We end up in skin-coloured underwear, and that way, with the lightning design, it is possible to see how the body is moving, muscularly and sculpturally. Phil is leaving for a company, but I will continue performing the piece with someone else.

What are your inspirations?

On a personal level, my mom. She has always allowed me to be completely individual, and she has supported me in everything I’ve wanted to do. She believes in personal growth, personal and professional development, she inspires me to be determined. The body-mind connection is another important thing.

What’s next for you after the festival?

We are doing a new piece called Crazy Joanna, based on a Spanish film, Juana la Loca. The film was about a Spanish Queen tormented by her husband, who went crazy in love with him, while he abused her emotionally. She died very lonely. It went on for us to the theme of domestic abuse, and it now follows the journey of three women, of a woman living three life cycles. It goes from the Medieval times in Spain through to Buenos Aires in the 1920s and the present time, and follows a recurring pattern, with three dance styles, including Spanish and Tango influences. This work will premiere in Leeds in May, and it is a collaboration with my film maker Aurora Fearnley and the artist David Cobley. We will use one of his paintings, Into the Light, for the production.

How do you incorporate the Argentine tango in your work?

My interpretation of tango has always been a part of my work. Phil and I went to Buenos Aires for five weeks of intensive training last year – it was hard, the dissociation particularly. We will use it more in Crazy Joanna, as I’m working with a contemporary dancer that has tango experience for this piece.

Any Christmas wishes for your company?

A break. We need to prepare for what is coming up, and we have worked so much lately.

 

» See video snippets of Blind Passion and other works on Slanjayvah Danza’s website. Slanjayvah Danza is currently in Residence at Seven Artspace, in Leeds. The company will also perform at Resolution! 2010.

Many thanks to Chantal Guevara for making these interviews possible.

Ji Park

 

Ji Park (Flexa Dance Theatre) - by Laura Capelle

 

The thrice-yearly Cloud Dance Festival also brought back favourite artists for its Parade edition, and among them was choreographer Ji Park and her company, Flexa Dance Theatre, performing there for the third time. Their latest work, Festival and nagune (wayfarer), unfortunately had to be performed with less dancers than originally planned, but Ji graciously answered questions about her background and an artistic process that is centered around the performers.


Can you tell me about your background?

I was born in Korea, but I learnt European contemporary dance as well as ballet, tap and jazz. After my graduation, I worked for different Korean companies. Seven years ago though I had a very bad knee injury, and I couldn’t carry on as a dancer – I was very depressed, and I started doing different things, including yoga and meditation. I started choreographing because I couldn’t dance properly any more.

I came to England about five years ago – I quite like British history, and I needed something different. After a year I started a BA course in Theatre Arts near Brighton, and at the end I started my own company. We have a partnership with Worthing College, and we have created 8 pieces so far, but financially it is very difficult. I work by day to have money for the shows.

 

What was the thinking behind your piece for the festival, Festival and nagune (wayfarer)…?

It’s not easy to explain, because I usually work not only with dancers, but also with actors and musicians, or even non-dancers. The process really involves them. I never have a definite plan before auditioning, because I’m waiting to discover the participants. Some didn’t want to be performers, but I give them a chance, I try to make them performers.

The process for Festival and nagune has been very difficult, because originally I had six dancers – in my mind I needed six, with the props, the music, the lighting – but two weeks later a dancer dropped because of illness, then another one, then another one. And every time I had to change my mind, to change the piece. Last week I found out that another of my dancers was very ill, she still was the day before the performance, and two dancers will be dancing in the end. But it remains about the artist’s story. I use their background – some of them are also singers, some are more physical. The process is more important than the result.

 

What are your inspirations?

It would be a long story, because there are a lot of different inspirations in my work. My choreography is influenced by Baroque art. My favourite company is Les Ballets C de la B, I like their philosophy and the work they produce. Since my injury, I’ve also done a lot of research on art, art history and national history, anatomy. I collect all those ideas when I start working on a show, and there are a lot of them. Music is also important, but I’d rather work with musicians than simply be influenced by it.

 

What’s next for you after the festival?

I need a long holiday after this show, and then I have plans to make a new solo piece – I haven’t been on stage in seven years. I feel ready to do it.

 

Any Christmas wishes for your company?

I hope my performers will find good jobs, and I wish Chantal [Guevara, director of the festival] all the best. For myself, just happiness would be fine, but my dancers and musicians work so hard that I really wish them the best for their careers.

 

Many thanks to Chantal Guevara for making these interviews possible.