Morag Deyes is the Artistic Director of Dancebase in Edinburgh. If she's saying that Do You Nomi is "one of the most refreshing, dark, funny, erotic and original new works it’s been my pleasure to see," I am interested. Deyes sees a great deal of work - she books a season during the Fringe that has kept the dance fires burning amidst the chaos of comedy, and if Alan Greig's team up with Grant Smeaton has her attention, it deserves mine.
It's got some team, too: it's about one of the 1980s' more fascinating characters (Alan Miler, Glasgow's DJ Hushpuppy and my go-to man for matters of alternative culture insisted that he came on the radio show to discuss him). Apart from Smeaton and Greig, it stars Jack Webb, most recently spotted with David Hughes Dance and soon to perform at Buzzcut, Drew Taylor, last seen dropping science at Open Art Surgery, Laurie Brown (The Arches' Christmas show, The Ugly Duckling, a show with a subtext) and Darren Anderson.
Here's a snippet from the press release.
It is the story of Klaus Nomi, a man with a unique singing talent and his rise to fame in the New York avant garde scene of the 1970s and 80s. It is also the story of a world which would be transformed by the new and much misunderstood AIDS virus.
An interdisciplinary performance weaving together dialogue, dance and theatre, Do You Nomi? will take its audience on a humorous, dark and sensual journey. Four male performers will shine a light on the life of Nomi, combining an emotionally driven narrative with the power and athleticism of dance.
And here's the transcript of an interview I did. A version of this can be found on The Skinny website, or in print.
Gareth K Vile: Throughout your career, you seem to have been fearless and eclectic in your choice of subjects - and Nomi is yet another exciting personality to explore! Is there any abiding philosophy behind the work that you make, and the subjects that you cover, or the way that you approach them?
Alan Greig:: Fearless and eclectic that is a great quote! My personal philosophy is that the company is a platform for me as an artist to create, to be expressive and explore my own idiosyncratic approach to movement and dance. I try to approach each new project in a different way and that might be in working in film or a site specific context or like this project by finding a collaborator.
GS: Yes, at the moment, I do.
Do you ever stop working? Isn't this the third major piece you've done in the last twelve months? What keeps you enthusiastic about dance as a medium for expression?
AG: Never! I need the money darling! Seriously, I am self employed so when I am not working I am not earning. Also this is my life, I love being involved in projects and the fact that I teach, perform and choreograph gives me lots of variety and possibilities.
It is the story of Klaus Nomi, a man with a unique singing talent and his rise to fame in the New York avant garde scene of the 1970s and 80s. It is also the story of a world which would be transformed by the new and much misunderstood AIDS virus.
An interdisciplinary performance weaving together dialogue, dance and theatre, Do You Nomi? will take its audience on a humorous, dark and sensual journey. Four male performers will shine a light on the life of Nomi, combining an emotionally driven narrative with the power and athleticism of dance.
And here's the transcript of an interview I did. A version of this can be found on The Skinny website, or in print.
Gareth K Vile: Throughout your career, you seem to have been fearless and eclectic in your choice of subjects - and Nomi is yet another exciting personality to explore! Is there any abiding philosophy behind the work that you make, and the subjects that you cover, or the way that you approach them?
Working with Grant, who is coming from a acting/theatre background makes me as a choreographer work in a completely different way. For example, in dance I would normally arrive in a large empty room with some ideas and the show would slowly evolve. For this show we have a script and a clear sense of a narrative and a beginning, middle and ending. We have the characters and the dialogue and I am creating movement from the scenes to link them, expand them and to meld the two mediums of theatre and dance.
Dance, however expressive, does have an abstract quality and theatre gives story and emotion. I find trying to combine these two opposing qualities really challenging and interesting. And there is perhaps a long winded way to say that my philosophy is to keep challenging myself, to keep the work interesting and fresh otherwise there would be no point, especially after twenty three years of running the company!
Grant Smeaton: I think the last few years I've been looking back at some of the events I've lived through and the personalitlies that populated those events and trying to put them into some sort of perspective. Living through something and the emotions and experiences you have at the time can be very different to how you look back to them. Even trying to remember exactly how you felt about something can be difficult but I like that challenge.
This team up is something of a power duo - both of you have worked in some impressive collaborations in the past - and both of you bring a wealth of experience and success to the project. How did the Greig/Smeaton supergroup come about?
AG: Grant and I met years ago through mutual friends and in 2008 I was looking for an actor for a promenade performance to take the audience on a journey through the Freemasons halls in Edinburgh (other voices other rooms) and thought of Grant. That collaboration was so successful I brought him in to direct me in a solo show I was making for the Shanghai Dance Festival in 2009. I needed an outside eye and someone from theatre rather than from dance.
Grant Smeaton: I think the last few years I've been looking back at some of the events I've lived through and the personalitlies that populated those events and trying to put them into some sort of perspective. Living through something and the emotions and experiences you have at the time can be very different to how you look back to them. Even trying to remember exactly how you felt about something can be difficult but I like that challenge.
This team up is something of a power duo - both of you have worked in some impressive collaborations in the past - and both of you bring a wealth of experience and success to the project. How did the Greig/Smeaton supergroup come about?
AG: Grant and I met years ago through mutual friends and in 2008 I was looking for an actor for a promenade performance to take the audience on a journey through the Freemasons halls in Edinburgh (other voices other rooms) and thought of Grant. That collaboration was so successful I brought him in to direct me in a solo show I was making for the Shanghai Dance Festival in 2009. I needed an outside eye and someone from theatre rather than from dance.
We then searched for an idea to work together on a more substantial project and found Klaus Nomi to be an ideal subject. Exactly two years ago Dance base gave us a small fee and two weeks rehearsal space to research and develop ideas for this show. A year later Creative Scotland, Dance House and again Dance Base supported us to this time pay ourselves and to work with actors and dancers for a four week R and D session. I really think this slower and long time approach to making the work has paid off and given us a show with depth and power.
GS: We'd both seen each other's work through the years when I was working a lot at the Arches and Alan was touring with X Factor dance. I was always impressed by the fact that Alan would always like to use text in his dance shows. Usually larger than life comedy characters which Alan had created and performed himself. And let me tell you - I think he is a very fine comedy performer! He makes me laugh! And I think this collaboration is a giant step up from a dance show with little bits of spoken material.
Again, you've both done work that sits in an undefined place between dance and theatre, although I would argue that you are both associated with particular performance arts, which means that you'll be pulling in slightly different audiences to each other... forgive me for being typical, and asking whether you'd be willing to define what sort of work Do You Nomi is? Does it sit somewhere on the continuum of dance theatre?
AG: This is the difficult one to answer because sometimes a company may describe themselves as dance theatre but it is 95% dance. This is a theatre show with actors and dialogue but it is also a dance show with athletic, fluid dance. We are trying to make it half theatre and half dance and we hope that audiences from the different arts we represent will understand and respond to what we are creating. It is a risk that the dance audience for example say 'it wasn't dancey enough'
GS: We'd both seen each other's work through the years when I was working a lot at the Arches and Alan was touring with X Factor dance. I was always impressed by the fact that Alan would always like to use text in his dance shows. Usually larger than life comedy characters which Alan had created and performed himself. And let me tell you - I think he is a very fine comedy performer! He makes me laugh! And I think this collaboration is a giant step up from a dance show with little bits of spoken material.
Again, you've both done work that sits in an undefined place between dance and theatre, although I would argue that you are both associated with particular performance arts, which means that you'll be pulling in slightly different audiences to each other... forgive me for being typical, and asking whether you'd be willing to define what sort of work Do You Nomi is? Does it sit somewhere on the continuum of dance theatre?
AG: This is the difficult one to answer because sometimes a company may describe themselves as dance theatre but it is 95% dance. This is a theatre show with actors and dialogue but it is also a dance show with athletic, fluid dance. We are trying to make it half theatre and half dance and we hope that audiences from the different arts we represent will understand and respond to what we are creating. It is a risk that the dance audience for example say 'it wasn't dancey enough'
However I like that risk I welcome it and hope that before the audience arrive we have been clear in our publicity that it is a theatre and dance show and that the audience will be open and responsive to that.
GS: It's actually very difficult to describe. Even from the inception of the project and trying to pigeonhole what we're doing from a marketing point of view has not been easy. I've never done a show like this before and neither has Alan.
GS: It's actually very difficult to describe. Even from the inception of the project and trying to pigeonhole what we're doing from a marketing point of view has not been easy. I've never done a show like this before and neither has Alan.
I've never seen a show like this so it certainly doesn't fit easily into a category. Unlike most dance shows it has a strong narrative story. And unlike most theatre shows it has a strong abstract element. And we think both these elements sit very comfortably with the spirit of the man himself - Klaus Nomi.
Nomi the Man seems to sit at a nexus of different concerns - cabaret, activism and, as much as I hate to say it, a vibrant period of historical change. Although his attraction is clear, what specific details of his life made him ideal for this collaboration?
AG The details that you mention are what attracted us to him, his unique singing voice, his melding of pop. rock, opera, fashion, caberet, and theatricality make him an ideal subject as we too are trying to bring in lots of different styles and approaches to the show we are creating.
GS: Klaus Nomi took his incredible operatic voice, his unusual and unconventional look, his penchant for new wave and pop music and his cartoon like costumery - threw them together and created an irresistable character which still fascinates people today. Alan and I both felt that dance and theatre were the perfect combination to tell this man's story.
In a predictable move, can I ask which artists have inspired you over the years, and what work do you currently find exciting or share an affinity with?
AG: Artists we have inspired me include Alwin Nikolais, Pina Bauch, David Lynch, Hitchcock, Bernard Herrman, Kate Bush, Gore Vidal, Truman Capote, Bette Davis and Meredith Monk. An artist I currently find exciting though I am not sure we have any affinity would be Pedro Almodovar.
GS: Oh God - Kurt Weill, Sarah Vaughan, Bowie, Luis Bunuel and nature.
The last few things I have seen Grant Smeaton perform he's taken on iconic characters (including Benny Hill, which led to one of my more bizarre reviews, mainly because you made me feel sympathy for a man who was actually banned from the TV in my parents' house). I did miss Ch Ch Changes, to my regret, which might have skewed my perspective, but do you have a preference for making performances about these huge presences?
Nomi the Man seems to sit at a nexus of different concerns - cabaret, activism and, as much as I hate to say it, a vibrant period of historical change. Although his attraction is clear, what specific details of his life made him ideal for this collaboration?
AG The details that you mention are what attracted us to him, his unique singing voice, his melding of pop. rock, opera, fashion, caberet, and theatricality make him an ideal subject as we too are trying to bring in lots of different styles and approaches to the show we are creating.
GS: Klaus Nomi took his incredible operatic voice, his unusual and unconventional look, his penchant for new wave and pop music and his cartoon like costumery - threw them together and created an irresistable character which still fascinates people today. Alan and I both felt that dance and theatre were the perfect combination to tell this man's story.
In a predictable move, can I ask which artists have inspired you over the years, and what work do you currently find exciting or share an affinity with?
AG: Artists we have inspired me include Alwin Nikolais, Pina Bauch, David Lynch, Hitchcock, Bernard Herrman, Kate Bush, Gore Vidal, Truman Capote, Bette Davis and Meredith Monk. An artist I currently find exciting though I am not sure we have any affinity would be Pedro Almodovar.
GS: Oh God - Kurt Weill, Sarah Vaughan, Bowie, Luis Bunuel and nature.
GS: Yes, at the moment, I do.
Do you ever stop working? Isn't this the third major piece you've done in the last twelve months? What keeps you enthusiastic about dance as a medium for expression?
AG: Never! I need the money darling! Seriously, I am self employed so when I am not working I am not earning. Also this is my life, I love being involved in projects and the fact that I teach, perform and choreograph gives me lots of variety and possibilities.
Some are high profile like choreographing 'Ulysess' for the Tron theatre, or reworking my show Echoes for Jin Xing Dance Company in China. And some work the public never see but are special to me like working in Livingston with young school kids and older people on an intergenerational project that was so creative and so much fun.
I think this is what keeps me enthusiastic about dance, working at all the different levels: how can I work with actors or with people with special needs? How can I challenge myself or other professional dancers or encourage people in there late seventies to be expressive? I think if I just had one focus I would not be able to be enthusiastic especially after working for twenty seven years in this business!
Nomi came from a more cabaret style environment, while I associate you with a more "high art" background (the first time I saw X-Factor, it struck me that you were all about classical forms filtered through a contemporary format... admittedly, later work disabused me of that notion, but it kind of remains...). Do you feel any affinity with the sort of work Nomi was making?
AG: 'High art?' I have never thought of myself in that context and I certainly would never describe myself as such. I suppose artists make work and it is other people who catergerise them. I just make work and don't really think too much about 'am I a post modernist?' or am I 'physical theatre' I feel a huge affinity for Klaus and the work he was making.
Nomi came from a more cabaret style environment, while I associate you with a more "high art" background (the first time I saw X-Factor, it struck me that you were all about classical forms filtered through a contemporary format... admittedly, later work disabused me of that notion, but it kind of remains...). Do you feel any affinity with the sort of work Nomi was making?
AG: 'High art?' I have never thought of myself in that context and I certainly would never describe myself as such. I suppose artists make work and it is other people who catergerise them. I just make work and don't really think too much about 'am I a post modernist?' or am I 'physical theatre' I feel a huge affinity for Klaus and the work he was making.
I think in the present pop scene there are so few innovators or people pushing the boundaries. The TV show X factor claims it is looking for this elusive 'x factor' but it seems to me that they are actually looking for the complete opposite and just want pretty, docile puppets that they can mould and manipulate to make money.
Climbing off my soap box, I think Klaus was all about experimentation, expression and a sense of 'lets see if this works' or 'lets give this a try' So in that sense yes I feel a great affinity for him as someone prepared to look and sound different and to stand out from the crowd.
Biographies
GRANT SMEATON is a Herald Angel Award winning director and performer. He was an original member of the Arches Theatre Company and was founder and artistic director of Tangerine Productions and Hopscotch Theatre. He is a regular collaborator with the Glasgay! Festival, most recently performing and directing the critically acclaimed Ch Ch Changes at the Citizens’ in Glasgow. Other recent productions include Bette/Cavett and Whatever Happened to Benny Hill?
ALAN GREIG formed Alan Greig Dance Theatre in 1990 (formally X Factor Dance). The company has toured Scotland’s leading venues on a regular basis for nineteen years and has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, London, Cologne, Nuremburg, New York, Hong Kong and Shanghai. The company is a platform for Greig’s choreography and has also showcased the talents of New York’s, Stephen Petronio and French luminary, Phillipe Decouffle. Alan is known throughout the UK as one of the leading educators working with a diverse range of talents from youth groups through to professional companies, specialising in improvisation and choreography. He has performed with Common Ground, Off Kilter, Theatre Du Pif (Hong Kong) and David Hughes Dance (The Red Room).
Listings:
Fri 8 Feb at 7:30pm
The Brunton (Musselburgh) £11/£9/£6.50 (under 18s)
0131 665 2240 /
Thu 14 Feb at 7pm
The Lemon Tree (Aberdeen) £7.50 (+ booking fee)
01224 641122 /
Fri 15 Feb at 7:30pm
Byre Theatre (St Andrews) £10/£8
01334 475000 /
Wed 20 and Thu 21 Feb at 7:45pm
Tron Theatre (Glasgow) £12/£7
0141 552 4267 /
Sat 23 Feb at 7:45pm
Cumbernauld Theatre £9/£6
01236 732887 /
Fri 1 Mar at 7:30pm
The Beacon (Greenock) £10/£8
01475 723723 /
Tue 5 Mar at 8pm
An Lanntair (Stornoway) £10/£9/£8
01851 708480 /
Thu 7 Mar at 8pm
Macphail Theatre (Ullapool) £8/£6 (schools: £2)
01854 613336 /
(part of Ullapool Dance Festival)
GRANT SMEATON is a Herald Angel Award winning director and performer. He was an original member of the Arches Theatre Company and was founder and artistic director of Tangerine Productions and Hopscotch Theatre. He is a regular collaborator with the Glasgay! Festival, most recently performing and directing the critically acclaimed Ch Ch Changes at the Citizens’ in Glasgow. Other recent productions include Bette/Cavett and Whatever Happened to Benny Hill?
ALAN GREIG formed Alan Greig Dance Theatre in 1990 (formally X Factor Dance). The company has toured Scotland’s leading venues on a regular basis for nineteen years and has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, London, Cologne, Nuremburg, New York, Hong Kong and Shanghai. The company is a platform for Greig’s choreography and has also showcased the talents of New York’s, Stephen Petronio and French luminary, Phillipe Decouffle. Alan is known throughout the UK as one of the leading educators working with a diverse range of talents from youth groups through to professional companies, specialising in improvisation and choreography. He has performed with Common Ground, Off Kilter, Theatre Du Pif (Hong Kong) and David Hughes Dance (The Red Room).
Listings:
Fri 8 Feb at 7:30pm
The Brunton (Musselburgh) £11/£9/£6.50 (under 18s)
0131 665 2240 /
Thu 14 Feb at 7pm
The Lemon Tree (Aberdeen) £7.50 (+ booking fee)
01224 641122 /
Fri 15 Feb at 7:30pm
Byre Theatre (St Andrews) £10/£8
01334 475000 /
Wed 20 and Thu 21 Feb at 7:45pm
Tron Theatre (Glasgow) £12/£7
0141 552 4267 /
Sat 23 Feb at 7:45pm
Cumbernauld Theatre £9/£6
01236 732887 /
Fri 1 Mar at 7:30pm
The Beacon (Greenock) £10/£8
01475 723723 /
Tue 5 Mar at 8pm
An Lanntair (Stornoway) £10/£9/£8
01851 708480 /
Thu 7 Mar at 8pm
Macphail Theatre (Ullapool) £8/£6 (schools: £2)
01854 613336 /
(part of Ullapool Dance Festival)
No comments :
Post a Comment