This week on the podcast, I'm joined by movement artist and hip hop head Elsabet Yonas. We discuss the benefits of dance at all stages of life, learning to find cheerleaders for your dance journey, and her film work Sisterhood, recently showcased in a digital dance festival curated by The Place. We discuss how the film mixes hip hop dance with musings on the nature of identity and finding your tribe. Lastly, we talk about Elsa's new community-focused work in development at the Barbican Open Lab. 

To find out more:

Instagram: @elsabetter

Website: www.elsa-bet.com

Sisterhood: https://youtu.be/dnHDRNKGNAk

Barbican Open Lab: https://www.barbican.org.uk/take-part/emerging-practising-artists/open-lab/theatre-and-dance

This week on the podcast, I'm joined by Welsh artist Emily Robinson. We discuss her short dance film "Seedlings of Time," a diaristic dance duet with her father, exploring his love of gardening and their relationship through a month-long daily practice dancing together. We talk about how through touch, dance facilitates a means of connecting and relating to others. I love how Robinson's work peels back the layers and creates beautiful portraits of her dancers, their individuality, and their relationship on stage. The work feels honest and direct but soft to touch. Here, she extrapolates on the role of questions in her work. How shared questions become shared investigation, and I start to understand where this connected quality comes from in her work. I hope you enjoy hearing about her process and all the epiphanies it has fostered along the way. 

To find out more:

Instagram: @emilyrobinsondance

Website: www.emilyrobinsondance.com

Watch Seedlings of Time: https://youtu.be/vi82fs14VTg

This week on the podcast, I'm joined by contemporary and musical theatre choreographer and dance teacher Ughetta Pratesi. We discuss how her choreographic process varies for contemporary and musical theatre and how she adapts her process to the cast, client, and project. We talk about her way of making dances on location to respond to the space and how she creates digital works using collaboration. A choreographer of lyrical and expressive choreography that carries you along with it, I hope you enjoy listening to her process. 

To find out more: 

Instagram: @ughettap

Website coming soon: www.ughettapratesi.com 

This week on the podcast I’m joined by dance artist and strength & conditioning coach Hayleigh Sellors. 

We discuss her work with Botis Seva’s Olivier Award-winning company Far From The Norm, and how her journey as a dancer led her to develop skills as a strength and condition coach to address the need for bespoke conditioning in the Hip Hop dance scene. This work is important because street styles draw on various physicalities that require unique conditioning and practice. 

We discuss how to appraise where you are with your dance progression so you understand how to take steps to improve and how to put together an essential lockdown workout that will keep you physically and mentally on your game. It was a pleasure speaking to Hayleigh, and she has a lot of great advice to help everyone find improvement in their dance. 

To find out more: 
Hayleigh’s Instagram: @hmsellorsx and @allthings_selfe 
Get in touch with Hayleigh for strength & conditioning: www.allthingsselfe.co.uk
An excerpt from Botis Seva’s BLK DOG is available to watch on the BBC until the 25th Feb: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0952ztm/dancing-nation-2-part-two-akram-khan-and-natalia-osipova-far-from-the-norm-and-boy-blue

This week on the podcast, I’m joined by dance artist Josh Smith from the esteemed Jasmin Vardimon Company. Josh describes how his working-class background made him well-adjusted to take on difficult subject matter and life as a dancer. We talk about learning self-awareness and humility to look after yourself and your team on long tours and growing in maturity as you grow in your dancing. We discuss how to combine a creative heart with an understanding of the industry to create consistent work throughout the year and create a ladder to your career goals. And lastly, the importance of understanding our dance career in the broader context of other life goals: financial, relational, and experiential.  

I’m a huge fan of Josh’s highly technical but loose and passionate dance style. He was so generous in his spirit and advice on the podcast, and he helped paint a clearer map of how to navigate a career in dance. I hope you also glean some gems of your own from this gifted individual. 

To find out more:
Instagram: @joshuajs91

This week on the podcast I talk to dancer and writer Isaac Ouro-Gnao. We discuss the shenanigans of the street dance battle and competition scene, the way West African dance has allowed him to explore identity and heritage, how house dance has given him more freedom, and how he developed a physical practice to support these styles. We ponder how every dancer is motivated to grow in different ways and how if we accept and utilise what actually drives us, we will accelerate our growth. 

In addition to being an incredible dancer, Isaac is so cerebral and well-thought in the way he approaches his practice and I feel I have new ideas to chew on every time we speak. Always a pleasure, I hope you enjoy this one. 

To find out more: 
Instagram/Twitter: @isaacourognao
Website: www.isaacourognao.com

This week on the podcast I’m joined by multi-talented dancer, teacher, and actor Jeremiah Olusola. We discuss the relationship between dance and our mental health, the intangible benefits of dance class, how to balance dance work with dance artistry, and how to stop doubting your artistry and make it happen. I had so much fun on this podcast. Jeremiah and I always have a laugh, and it was great to catch up and talk shop with such an amazing dancer. 

To find out more about Jeremiah’s projects and dance classes:

Instagram: @jeremiaholusola

This week on the podcast I am joined by dance artist Alexander Benjamin. We talk about how important project-based learning and sage teachers were in guiding him on his dance journey. We unpack how he realised dance was for him, getting the most out of dance training, how he unlocked new movement possibilities, and finding a quiet confidence. This conversation was a great way to close out the year. Even though 2020 has been a disruptive year, listening to the passion with which Alex talked about dance re-affirmed for me the love for this art form we all have and that together we will find a way forward. David’s Dance Podcast will return on 11th Jan. Happy Holidays all.

Find out more:

Instagram: alexander_benjamin

This week on the podcast, I discuss the news that breakin’ will be added to the Paris 2024 Olympic games! This is not surprising as breakin’ was trialled at the Youth Olympics in 2018, but it has big implications for the culture. I discuss my thoughts on the pros and cons, the judging system, how dance cultures thrive or die and how we can understand this development in the context of the overall health of the breakin’ scene. Let us know your thoughts on this development by messaging us at [email protected].

To find out more: 
About the judging system: https://medium.com/@glissando/trivium-or-delirium-a-review-of-the-youth-olympics-judging-system-for-breaking-32e6c5eeae70
My instagram: @dance_across_mediums

This week on the podcast I’m joined by choreographer Bakani Pick-Up. Bakani creates dance works for the stage that infuse the care and trust he cultivates during his process, his interest in philosophy, and his painting-inspired approach to composition. We jump straight into discussing the focusing effect the pandemic has had on his work and what inspired him in creating My dear, time has passed. We question what works “mean” and how choreography is to be interpreted and talk about the role choreography has had in expressing and processing his grief. Lastly, we embark on the topic of choreography as a form of reality-warping and world-building. This conversation left me feeling really touched, with some new thoughts on choreography and lots of questions to head-scratch about. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did,

David

To find out more:

Website: bakanipickupcompany.com

Instagram: @sanzuku

Harsh Light Webinar: David Harradine & Bakani Pick-Up: https://www.blocprojects.co.uk/exhibitions-events/2020/harsh-light-5

Further reading: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/embodied-cognition/