Sunday, November 05, 2006

Rhythm Is It!


“Try to be silent. We work in silence because when we dance,
we have to speak through the body.
So it’s important not to let the energy go out of your mouth.”








The Importance Of Focus
by Royston Maldoom, choreographer, Rhythm Is It!

I cannot plan before I get in because even though I will direct a choreography very much; it starts the moment I'm in the room, with the people. It depends; if the sun is shining, if it's raining, if I had a good night before or a bad one… how they are; it's really impossible to tell. We will just go, do a warm-up, do a lot of work on focus. The majority of the work I do with people is getting them to focus on themselves and how to find stillness. The secret of dance is stillness. In the same way music begins with silence. Without silence you cannot begin to create the music. Painting begins with the blank page, and dance begins with stillness.

So the hardest thing for any group of people who are not used to this work is to find focus. I insist on it. It's not only that it makes our working process easier but also when they are going on stage they have to work for 35 or 40 minutes without speaking. It's a dance performance. That's a very hard thing for any young person today and we have to begin on day one to practice that. It's something they always find very hard and sometimes they find it a little controlling in the beginning. But once they experience it, it is such a good feeling when you discover it, that they become very enthusiastic about it. It will make them look very, very professional when they go on stage.