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/ 

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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 

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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/ 

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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 

https://www.projectelimu.org/ 

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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 

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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/ 

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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's website

Misty on Instagram @mistyonpointe 

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Life changing moments with Why Dance Matters!

We’ve made over 50 episodes of Why Dance Matters, and the conversations often hinge on life-changing moments. This special episode gathers some compelling chats about change. Some are personal choices which prove momentous: the unlikely decision to pursue ballet, or to host a ballet class in your front room. Others include being part of a major cultural event, like a movie the whole world is watching, or a period of historic change, happening before your eyes.

 From Carlos Acosta to Barbie, here are moments that changed our guests’ lives: past, present, even future. And don’t forget to explore our previous episodes, for more life-changing conversation with the people for whom dance matters.

Carlos Acosta is artistic director of Birmingham Royal Ballet. Dame Monica Mason is a Vice-President of the Royal Academy of Dance and former director of the Royal Ballet. Victoria Treviño is an RAD dance teacher based in Mexico. Jennifer White is a stage and film choreographer. Wayne McGregor is a choreographer and director of Company Wayne McGregor.

Find out more about the work of the RAD

Read a transcript of this episode

Follow the RAD on social media and join the conversation with host David Jays:

Instagram @royalacademyofdance

Facebook @RoyalAcademyofDance

Twitter @RADheadquarters

YouTube / royalacademydance

David Jays @mrdavidjays

Sign up to our mailing list to keep in touch!

RAD is an independent educational charity and does not receive regular government funding. Every penny we make goes back into the work we do. You can support us by either naming a seat as part of our Name A Seat Campaign or making a donation.

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With members in over 80 countries around the world, and Royal Academy of Dance’s relationship with its members depends on its National Directors. They include Olivia Lume, who last year celebrated her 40th year with the RAD. As National Director for the Academy in Africa, she has lived through historic changes, and has seen the RAD grow, especially after its flagship event – now The Fonteyn, formerly the Genée International Ballet Competition – was held for the first time in Africa, in Cape Town in 2011. How did a professed non-dancer come to be crucially woven into the heart of a dance organisation?

Olivia Lume is National Director, Africa, for the Royal Academy of Dance. She is based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Find out more about the work of the RAD

Read a transcript of this episode

Follow the RAD on social media and join the conversation with host David Jays:

Instagram @royalacademyofdance

Facebook @RoyalAcademyofDance

Twitter @RADheadquarters

YouTube / royalacademydance

David Jays @mrdavidjays

Sign up to our mailing list to keep in touch!

RAD is an independent educational charity and does not receive regular government funding. Every penny we make goes back into the work we do. You can support us by either naming a seat as part of our Name A Seat Campaign or making a donation.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.