Why Dance Matters

Phil Chan is a dancer, arts advocate and activist born in Hong Kong and now based in New York. With Georgina Pazcogin of New York City Ballet, he co-founded Final Bow For Yellowface in 2017. Provoked by stereotypes of Asian characters and culture in classic ballets – mostly notably in The Nutcracker – their campaign has already had impact in the US and beyond, offering resources for companies striving for change. As the dance world examines its entrenched culture and its historic and current abuses, Phil’s is an eloquent voice leading difficult conversations. He explains what meaningful change looks like – and how we make it happen.

Phil Chan is a co-founder of Final Bow for Yellowface, and most recently served as Director of Programming for IVY, a networking organisation for young professionals. He is a graduate of Carleton College and an alumnus of the Ailey School. As a writer, he was Executive Editor for FLATT magazine and contributed to Dance Europe, Dance and the Huffington Post. He was founding General Manager of the Buck Hill Skytop Music Festival, and General Manager for Armitage Gone! Dance. He is the author of Final Bow for Yellowface: Dancing between Intention and Impact, and was a 2020 New York Public Library Dance Research Fellow.

The RAD hosts an interactive webinar with Phil Chan as part of Making Connections: A Symposium for Dance Teachers. Find out more and book here: https://bit.ly/3vtNkEa

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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: https://bit.ly/3fnxEwm  or make a donation: https://bit.ly/3bxA6z5

Find out more about Final Bow for Yellowface: https://www.yellowface.org/

Teachers seeking resources to make their classes more inclusive can contact Phil at https://www.yellowface.org/contact

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Dance, and especially ballet, can sometimes seem remote from people’s lives. How do you bolt it into the heart of a community?

The answer often lies with an RAD Teacher. In this case, Victoria Treviño, who teaches in Mexico City, has used ballet to change the lives of young people facing very challenging circumstances. After the ballet school she taught at was suddenly and unexpectedly forced to shut, leaving 30 young people with nowhere to turn, Victoria offered her home as a makeshift studio. This is surprisingly more common than you might think in Mexico, but it makes her story and passion no less compelling.

With the support of the students’ parents, Victoria opened her home to students wishing to learn ballet - little did she know this would become so much more than a ballet school to her local community. Nor that she would face so many obstacles to simply keep them dancing. Here she shares how much of an impact dance can have, far beyond pirouettes and pliés.

Victoria Treviño began studying classical ballet with Patricia Pallmann in Cuernavaca, Morelos Mexico. She later completed her studies with Royal Academy of Dance Syllabus and the Cuban Ballet system under the tutelage of Claudia Trueba and Gustavo Herrera in Mexico City. Dancer of the Neo-classical Company Danzanté (1999-2005). Certified teacher of the Royal Academy of Dance and Diploma of the University of Surrey in Dance Education (2006). Founder of Wimbledon Ballet Club for Children and Youth (2007). In 2010 she founded her school: Ballet Club Mexico and in 2014 the non-profit Civil Association: Ballet Teatro del Olmo Azul, A.C. that focuses on funding studies and opportunities for unpriviliged ballet students. She saw the most success amongst the boys only programme: Ballet para Chavos. Later on, saw the need to create a youth ballet company: Ballet Joven CDMX. She has been hired as a guest teacher / choreographer in: Mexico, United States (2020), Canada (2012-14) and England (2004-06). 

The RAD has a network of teachers across the world in 85 countries. Find your local teacher: https://bit.ly/3cs67JA

Find out more about the work of the RAD: https://bit.ly/2T8RkNd

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

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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: https://bit.ly/3fnxEwm or make a donation: https://bit.ly/3bxA6z5

Read more about Ballet Joven: https://balletjoven.org/

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The choreographer Cathy Marston has a rare gift for telling stories in dance. Now a major player in leading ballet companies (including The Royal Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, American Ballet Theatre) that until recently were a boys’ own club, her starting point is often literature or history – in ballets about Jane Eyre or Lolita, Queen Victoria or Jacqueline du Pré. One chapter in the Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Ballet (which is released with a special online launch hosted by the Royal Academy of Dance) peeks inside Cathy’s rehearsal room: Why Dance Matters also asks her how she creates eloquent stories through dance.

Cathy Marston is an award-winning choreographer and artistic director. She spent two years at the Royal Ballet School, before launching a successful international career. She was Associate Artist of the Royal Opera House and director of Bern Ballett. In major creations for The Royal Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Northern Ballet and Danish Royal Ballet, she lends new perspectives to old narratives: in Jane Eyre, Lolita, Lady Chatterley’s Lover, or the historically-inspired The Cellist, Victoria and Witch-hunt. She won the South Bank Sky Arts Award for Victoria (Northern Ballet), the UK National Dance Award for The Suit (Ballet Black) and in 2020 the prize for Excellence in International Dance from the International Institute for Dance and Theatre.

Find out more about the launch for the Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Ballet, co-edited by RAD’s Head of Research Dr Kathrina Farrugia-Kriel: https://bit.ly/3wTKvNN

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

Instagram @royalacademyofdance

Facebook @RoyalAcademyofDance

Twitter @RADheadquarters

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David Jays @mrdavidjays

Sign up to our mailing list: https://bit.ly/3frWPh9

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: https://bit.ly/3fnxEwm or make a donation: https://bit.ly/3bxA6z5

Cathy Marston’s website http://www.cathymarston.com/

Cathy has co-founded Companie La Ronde, a new Swiss, independent company producing dance-led, theatrical works. https://www.cielaronde.com/

Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Ballet https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-oxford-handbook-of-contemporary-ballet-9780190871499

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Gurinder Chadha doesn’t make dance films or musicals – but with the slightest nudge, films like Bend It Like Beckham, Bride and Prejudice and Blinded by the Light could easily become full-blown song-and-dance spectaculars. On Why Dance Matters, Gurinder describes how dance formed her own British-Asian identity – from kathak classes to daytimers – and how she encourages her cast and crew to have a bop on set. And, speaking as the UK edges out of lockdown, she explains why live audiences are just as crucial in cinema as in dance.

Gurinder Chadha is one of the UK’s most proven and respected film directors and producers. Her award-winning films include Bhaji on the Beach, Bend It Like Beckham, Bride and Prejudice, Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging and Viceroy’s House. Recently, Gurinder created Beecham House, an epic drama series set in India in 1795 (ITV and Masterpiece/PBS). Her films have received awards and nominations from, among others, the Golden Globes, BAFTA, European Film Academy, and the Writers Guild of America.

Find out more about the RAD: https://bit.ly/2T8RkNd

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: https://bit.ly/3frWPh9

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: https://bit.ly/3fnxEwm or make a donation: https://bit.ly/3bxA6z5

Gurinder’s website

https://www.benditnetworks.com/

Gurinder’s 1989 film I’m British But… is free to view on BFI Player

https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-im-british-but-1989-online

Dream Palace season at the BFI

https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/Online/default.asp?BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::permalink=dreampalace&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::context_id=

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Xander Parish tells a story of snatching triumph from the jaws of frustration. After a great start – winning a silver medal in the RAD’s Genée International Ballet Competition (now named The Fonteyn) and joining The Royal Ballet – his career seemed to be going nowhere. Then a coach from St Petersburg visited London, saw Xander’s passion to prove himself, and snapped him up for the Mariinsky Ballet. Xander is now a Principal at one of the world’s great companies, dancing the princes he was born to play. Listen to his rollercoaster ride, described with unfailing honesty and good humour.

Xander was born in East Yorkshire, England. He trained at the Royal Ballet School in London and in 2005 joined The Royal Ballet Company with his sister Demelza. In 2009, he was invited to join the Mariinsky Ballet by its director Yuri Fateyev, becoming the company’s first and only British dancer. Now a Principal, his roles include Albrecht in Giselle, Siegfried in Swan Lake, Romeo in Romeo and Juliet and the title role in Apollo, for which he won Best Male Performance (Classical) at the UK’s Critics Circle National Dance Awards. In 2019, he was awarded an OBE. In 2004, Xander won a silver medal in the RAD’s then-named Genée International Ballet Competition.

Find out more about the RAD’s flagship event, The Margot Fonteyn International Ballet Competition: https://bit.ly/2RV9Qb7

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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: https://bit.ly/3fnxEwm or make a donation: https://bit.ly/3bxA6z5

Xander is launching balletclass.com this summer: leading dancers from the UK and Russia are recording classes which students and fans can follow.

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