MOVERS SHAKERS MAKERS

In part II of our episode on mental health and the classically trained ballet dancer, Emma Lister talks to counsellor (and ex-dancer) Terry Hyde. They discuss the symptoms and triggers of panic attacks and depression, the loss of identity that plagues dancers when they leave the profession and the danger of pushing your feelings away. Terry also speak frankly about how the dance world needs to ‘call out the bullies’.

If you missed part I of this episode, go back and listen to it now! In it, Emma is joined by cohost Zoë Ashe-Browne, they discuss a 30 question survey released to ballet dancers with questions about their mental health, training and professional life -- over 400 hundred dancers took part.

Zoë, joins us near the end of the show to put forward some constructive suggestions for the dance world based on what we've learnt.

Terry Hyde MA MBACP
www.counsellingfordancers.com

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Instagram: @makeshiftcompany
Twitter: @moshmapod

This episode was slightly altered April, 2021

This mini-series  has been made possible by a grant  using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

...and here's the Theresa Ruth Howard talk that Shelby Williams referenced in Pt I.

Emma Lister and cohost Zoë Ashe-Browne released a 30 question survey about ballet dancers' mental health. They never expected the response it got--hundreds of classically trained dancers filled it out. This is obviously a topic we need to talk about!

In this, the first episode of MOVERS SHAKERS MAKERS ballet mini-series, they reveal some of the statistics collected, the stories shared and speak candidly about what it all means. 

Special guests: Barry Drummond, Alex Newton, Shelby Williams

—THE SURVEY—

30 questions. Completed by over 400 trained ballet dancers. Graduated 2010-2020: 45%  and pre1990-2010: 55% .

*Below are only the results discussed in the podcast*

SCHOOL LIFE

To the best of my knowledge, my school had qualified, professional teachers:

Strongly agree 51.69%

Agree 37.3%

Neither agree nor disagree 6.29%

Disagree 3.6%

Strongly disagree 1.12%

I received a well rounded dance education.  (Not an exhaustive list): injury prevention, professional development, physical maintenance, performance experience, access to counselling, nutrition, other dance forms, dance theory:

Yes 52.36%

Not sure 10.56%

No 37.08%

In ballet school I felt I could voice my concerns or questions:

Strongly agree 3.37%

Agree 15.96%

Neither agree nor disagree 22.25%

Disagree 35.06%

Strongly disagree 23.37

I experienced first-hand (either witnessed or personal experienced) verbal abuse from my ballet school staff: bad language, yelling (in anger, not above the music!), comment that made me feel uncomfortable, comment that made me feel bad about myself:

Strongly agree 50.11%

Agree 31.69%

Neither agree nor disagree 5.17%

Disagree 10.11%

Strongly disagree 2.92%

I experienced eating distress in school: guilt after eating, restricted calorie intake, purging, obsessive thoughts about weight, obsessive eating habits, extreme negative thoughts about body shape:

I did not suffer from eating distress 18.88%

I experienced sexually inappropriate behaviour from staff at my ballet school:

Strongly agree 11.01%

Agree 19.33%

Neither agree nor disagree 10.34%

Disagree 31.46%

Strongly disagree 27.87%

If you experienced sexually inappropriate, homophobic, sexist, racist behaviour, did you report it or talk about with another adult? 

Yes 12.97%

No 58.54%

Didn’t know who to report it to 28.48%

PROFESSIONAL LIFE

In my career I have predominantly been under the care of professional, experienced staff:

Strongly agree 16.97%

Agree 40.43%

Neither agree nor disagree 21.30%

Disagree 18.77%

Strongly disagree 2.53%

I experienced verbal abuse from staff in my work place (examples as before):

Strongly agree 38.04%

Agree 35.14%

Neither agree nor disagree 10.14%

Disagree 11.96%

Strong disagree 4.71

I have a positive relationship with at least one member of staff where I work/recent long contract:

Strongly agree 33.45%

Agree 53.09%

Neither agree nor disagree 8%

Disagree 4%

Strong disagree 1.45%

I experienced eating distress in professional life (symptoms as before):

I did not suffer from eating distress 22.26% 

I experienced sexually inappropriate behaviour from staff in my work place:

Strongly agree 15.58%

Agree 25.72%

Neither agree nor disagree 13.04%

Disagree 26.81%

Strong disagree 18.84%

I have access to professional help with my mental health through my employer/s:

Strongly agree 4.35%

Agree 12.32%

Neither agree nor disagree 12.32%

Disagree 35.51%

Strong disagree 35.51%

Performance poet, Piers Harrison-Reid rose to national visibility with a poem that bridged two of the UK’s greatest institutions: The National Health Services and the BBC. The poem Love is for the Brave, an ode to the NHS was commissioned by the BBC and has garnered a million views and counting across various platforms. With roots in hip hop, dub and slam poetry Piers’ poems are often vehicle for potent political and social commentary and are therefore in demand on news media as immediate responses to world events. Like his response to the latest wave of BLM uprising More Blacks, More Dogs, More Irish, which he says brought with it a surprising, disappointing amount of negative response. Did I mention he’s also an A&E nurse?

THIS EPISODE HAS BEEN AUDIO TRANSCRIBED.

Piers' Website
piersthepoet.co.uk

Links to videos discussed in the epidose:

More Blacks, More Dogs, More Irish

 Car Crash People

 Jenny

 Love is for the brave I (2018)

Love is for the brave II (2020)

The last three questions.....

PIECE THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING

Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet

PIECE THAT DIDN’T LOVE BUT HAS VALUE

Experimental Film, i.e. Richard Linklater’s Waking Life

NOMINATE AN ARTIST FOR US TO CHECK OUT

Musician, The Heartseas Kid

Poet, Kae Tempest 

This season of MOVERS SHAKERS MAKERS has been made possible by grants from the Norfolk Arts Project Fund and using public funding by the National Lottery through  Arts Council England.

Monique Jonas is still only at the beginning of her dance career and she’s already worked with Rambert Dance, Kim Brandstrup, New Adventures and Richard Alston Dance Company. Not only that, but she’s also started her own company-- Jona Dance Company . 

She talks to Emma Lister about how aged 6 a twist of fate introduced her to dance, the frustrations that led her to start her own company, as well as her work on the Young King music video and the creation of her newly commissioned piece for Matthew Bourne’s Adventures in Film, Checkmate.

INSTA: @jona_dance_company 

INSTA: @mon_jonas

 Watch the Young King video here!

Watch Checkmate, for Adventures in Film here! 

The last three questions...

PIECE THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING

School trip to see Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater perform: Alvin Ailey’s Revelations

PIECE THAT DIDN’T LOVE BUT HAS VALUE

Just Us Dance Theatre’s Born to Manifest

NOMINATE AN ARTIST FOR US TO CHECK OUT

Rhys Dennis and Waddah Sinada‘s dance company: FUBUNATION
www.fubunation.org

This season of MOVERS SHAKERS MAKERS has been made possible by grants from the Norfolk Arts Project Fund and using public funding by the National Lottery through  Arts Council England.

Kellie Shirley knows about the highs and lows of being an actor in Britain. She chats to Emma Lister about resisting early pressure to shed her accent, her big break in a film that no one saw and  how she "went back to square one" before landing a dream job. Fame came knocking in the 00's with a reoccurring role on Britain's beloved soap, Eastenders (BBC), but with it came the paparazzi and sometimes being pigeon holed as a 'soap actor'.

Now she's starring in Idris Elba's warm hearted show In the Long Run ( Sky, Starz) and was selected to take part in the prestigious BAFTA Elevate program.

Kellie’s interview is another link in our ‘artist chain’ after having been nominated by Rhoda Ofori-Attah in the previous season!

Kellie's website:
www.kellieshirley.co.uk

 The last three questions....

PIECE THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING

Pantomime performance with her dad

PIECE THAT DIDN’T LOVE BUT HAS VALUE

Tiger King on Netflix

NOMINATE AN ARTIST FOR US TO CHECK OUT: 

Fraser Ayres, writer,  actor,  producer,  CEO of Triforce Creative Network

 
This season of MOVERS SHAKERS MAKERS has been made possible by grants from the Norfolk Arts Project Fund and using public funding by the National Lottery through  Arts Council England.

We're back for a second season with more fascinating chats with artists!

Mid-season we also have our first mini-series: Ballet for the Twenty First Century. We'll be doing a deep dive on three issues in ballet that need updating.

This season of MOVERS SHAKERS MAKERS has been made possible by grants from the Norfolk Arts Project Fund and using public funding by the National Lottery through  Arts Council England.

In the last episode of our inaugural season Emma Lister speaks to actor Rhoda Ofori-Attah. Born in Ghana but raised in the UK, Rhoda trained at the Oxford School of Drama. Some of her credits include: The Bill (ITV), Coronation Street (ITV), Silent Witness (BBC), Cold Feet (ITV) and Informer (BBC) among many others. She plays Miss Griffiths in the new season of the BAFTA nominated show Top Boy (Netflix). In 2019 she was selected for the prestigious BAFTA Elevate Program, designed to support people from underrepresented groups in TV and film progress in their careers. She discusses that program, her preparation for her role in Top Boy and the moment on stage when she realised she had found her calling.

Rhoda is the first interview in our artist chain after having been nominated by Seeta Patel in Ep. 1.2

Rhoda's Instagram: @rhoda.oforiattah

Rhoda's IMDb

BAFTA Elevate
 

The last three questions...

What’s the piece of art that changed everything for you?

French cinema, specifically the films of Emmanuelle Béart, Juliette Binoche and Jeanne Moreau.

What’s a piece of art that you didn’t necessarily love, but has value?

Emmerdale

Nominate another artist that we should all know about…

Actors:

Kellie Shirley (In the Long Run)

Manjinder  Virk (The Arbor)

Anjli Mohindra (The Bodyguard, Doctor Who)

Finnish circus artist Sakari Männistö is a performer recognised for his innovative, technical juggling. In this week’s podcast, he and Emma Lister discuss the solitary nature of juggling practice, his most memorable performance and what he did when he lost all the footage during the making of his cult video Juggle Doll (with no back up)! They also discuss his new project UNUM, as well as Jong, his collaboration with Finnish composer Lotta Wennakoski— a piece for juggler and chamber orchestra.

Sakari’s website:
www.sakarimannisto.fi

The UNUM 360 circus project.
This project is supported by The Finnish Cultural and Academic Institutes’ Together Alone project, and produced by Agit-Cirk. 

Jong was composed by Lotta Wennäkoski and commissioned by Agit-Cirk. The piece was co-produced by Agit-Cirk and Lapland Chamber Orchestra and premiered at Korundi, in Rovaniemi 2013, with conductor John Storgårds. 

The last three questions...

What’s the piece of art that changed everything for you?

'Pommi and Gommi',  Finnish children’s entertainers M.A.Numminen & Pedro Hietanen

What’s a piece of art that you didn’t necessarily love, but has value?

The challenge of performing, sometimes unwelcomed, in pubs in remote Finland.

Nominate another artist that we should all know about…

Composer Outi Tarkiainen www.outitarkiainen.fi

As ‘Chula the Clown’, Gabriela Muñoz has performed all over the world with her hit show Perhaps, Perhaps, Quizas. She discusses it and why ten years on she felt ready to make her newest show, DIRT! She also discusses her work with charitable organisations that bring laughter and clown workshops to areas of conflict, and how her interactions with the people she met there forever informed her approach to performing.

Gaby’s website
chulatheclown.com

Gaby’s Instagram: @chulatheclown 

The last three questions...

 What’s the piece of art that changed everything for you?

Robert Wilson’s 'The Black Rider'
The Bible

What’s a piece of art that you didn’t necessarily love, but has value?

The work of William Shakespeare

Nominate another artist that we should all know about

Visual artist Floria Gonzáles www.floriagonzalez.com

Emma speaks to Guy Hoare, the British lighting designer whose striking work has appeared at the Royal Opera House, Sadler’s Wells, The Old Vic, Donmar Warehouse and many other world-famous stages. They discuss how he sees lighting as an extension of dramaturgy, the creativity of science and how he shaped the light for Arthur Pita’s The Metamorphosis and Alexander Whitley Dance Company’s Overflow.

Guy’s website:
www.guyhoare.co.uk

The Metamorphosis

Alexander Whitley’s Overflow

The last three questions...
 

What’s the piece of art that changed everything for you?

Yves Klein’s 'Victory of Samothrace S9'

What’s a piece of art that you didn’t necessarily love, but has value?

Working with the score of a contemporary composer

Nominate another artist that we should all know about

-William Butler Yeats, 'The Lake Isle of Innisfree'

-Virgil, Eclogues

-Tacita Dean’s found postcards