Episodes
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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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To celebrate our tenth series, we are launching this season with a brilliant episode with Sir Matthew Bourne whose Swan Lake returns this year for its 30th anniversary.
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Episodes manquant?
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Crazy Smooth chats about his dance journey and his new intergenerational work Crazy Smooth: In My Body coming to Southbank Centre this month.
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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:
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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 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:
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David Jays @mrdavidjays
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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 or making a donation.
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The Silver Swans programme is one of the Royal Academy of Dance’s most life-enhancing initiatives. Silver Swans are people of 55 and over taking a specially-designed programme of RAD ballet classes: some are experiencing dance classes for the very first time, and describe how Silver Swans fosters physical and emotional wellbeing. Rebecca Yates, an RAD teacher in north east England has developed a committed community of Silver Swans. But what are the charms and challenges of teaching people old enough to be your parents? And has Rebecca herself been changed by her teaching?
Rebecca Yates is Founder and Director of Complete Ballet CIC. She took her first classes at the Kathleen Burdon School of Ballet at the age of six, progressing through the full RAD examination syllabus and achieving RAD Registered Teacher Status in 2012. She has since become officially licenced to teach RAD’s Silver Swans and is a Practical Teaching Supervisor for the RAD to assess and support trainee dance teachers.
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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Patrick Makuakane is a dance maker, teacher and hula master and recently received a fellowship from the MacArthur Foundation. The fellowships are given to preeminent artists and thinkers and are popularly known as the ‘genius’ awards. Patrick is a passionate and thoughtful advocate for hula, a form of dance inextricably linked with Hawaii’s history and culture. Born in Honolulu, Patrick is now based in San Francisco, where he has built a vibrant community of hula dancers and students. He speaks to us from Hawaii.
Patrick Makuakāne studied hula with several kumu hula (master teachers) and received the title of kumu hula himself in 2003. He has been the director and founder of Nā Lei Hulu i ka Wēkiu, a community-centred hula company and cultural organisation, since 1985. He also serves as a spiritual and cultural advisor for the Native Hawaiian Religious Spiritual Group at San Quentin State Prison. His company has performed at venues in New York, San Francisco, Hawaii and New Orleans. He was awarded a Fellowship by the MacArthur Foundation in 2023.
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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In 2021, Naomi Smart qualified as a teacher from the Royal Academy of Dance. ‘Never thought dance teaching was an option for me but here I am – Deaf people can do anything.’ What are the particular challenges around ballet and dance teaching for a Deaf teacher? How did Naomi create a way of teaching that works for her and her students, and what advice would she have for teachers trying to make their classes as inclusive and welcoming as possible?
Naomi Smart is an RAD teacher based in London. She is also a writer and Deaf awareness activist, and is researching a PhD about community dance at Kings College London.
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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We launch the new season of Why Dance Matters with a vital figure in African contemporary dance. Wesley Ruzibiza discovered dance almost by accident – he was studying financial management at the University of Rwanda when he decided to sample a dance class. It set him on the path to becoming a choreographer and co-Artistic Director of the École des Sables in Senegal, one of the world’s most influential training organisations (their production of Pina Bausch’s Rite of Spring is an international sensation). Wesley grew up in turbulent times: Rwandan, he was raised in Kinshasa in Congo; the family was imprisoned for almost a year during the civil war. He recently created a festival around the idea of Tolerance – there’s no one better to ask about dance’s role in troubled times.
Wesley Ruzibiza is a dancer, choreographer and co-Artistic Director of the École des Sables in Senegal. He is also Associate Professor at the CPARC research centres in Bordeaux, National University of Rwanda and Muda Africa School of Dance in Tanzania. His productions have toured all over the world and he co-founded the award-winning Amizero Company, with the University of Rwanda’s Centre for the Arts, and created the international festival EANT in 2012, one of the first professional contemporary platforms in East Africa.
Find out more about the work of the RAD
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 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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Why Dance Matters celebrates its 50th episode in conversation with one of the world’s great ballerinas. Olga Smirnova’s Giselle with Dutch National Ballet will be broadcast to international cinemas on 21 January. She joined the company after making headlines in 2022 with a courageous, life-changing decision to leave Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In a wide-ranging and thoughtful conversation, she discusses stage fright (she never feels it), the challenges of being a ballerina in the age of smartphones, her momentous decision to leave Russia and her profound sense of why dance matters.
As a young girl, Olga Smirnova had no dream of becoming a ballerina. However, she did go to dance classes, and was then accepted into the famous Vaganova Ballet Academy in St Petersburg. On completing her training in 2011, she joined the Bolshoi Ballet, starting immediately as a soloist and shining not only in the classics, but also in new and modern works. In 2016, she was promoted to prima ballerina, but when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Olga – strongly opposed to the invasion – decided to leave her homeland, making the transition to Dutch National Ballet.
Find out more about the work of the RAD
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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This festive episode visits the pantomime: that uniquely British blend of song, dance, and silliness. Explaining its appeal is the cherished comic actor, Nina Wadia, who stars in Jack and the Beanstalk at York Theatre Royal. Nina, who grew up in India and Hong Kong, is the perfect guide to anyone who is not steeped in panto. She also discusses a career that includes her trailblazing sketch show, Goodness Gracious Me, the iconic British soap opera, EastEnders, and a terrible car crash that helped her embrace the vagaries of an actor’s life. She has also appeared in many other comedies (Still Open All Hours, All About Me, The Vicar of Dibley) and dramatic roles (Holby City, White Teeth, Skins).
Nina's many awards include the Chairman's Award at the Asian Women Awards in 2004, Best Comedy Performance and Best Onscreen Partnership at the 2009 British Soap Awards, and the Outstanding Achievement in Television Award at the Asian Awards in 2013. She was awarded an OBE in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to entertainment and charity. Jack and the Beanstalk is at York Theatre Royal until 7 January 2024.
Find out more about the work of the RAD
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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In this episode of Why Dance Matters, we revisit a conversation from October 2022, in tribute to the poet, performer and activist Benjamin Zephaniah, who died earlier this month. As a performance poet he gave words a glorious physical form, his rhythms dancing from line to line. He had also provided a voiceover for Rambert’s dance version of the hit tv series Peaky Blinders. In our conversation, Benjamin was impressively candid about his journey, richly reflective about poetry, and also emotionally generous – unexpectedly moved when speaking about the generations of readers who have been touched and shaped by his work.
Find out more about the work of the RAD
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.
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Aaron S Watkin seems like a man who knows what he likes: perfect material to direct a leading ballet company, and to judge a leading ballet competition. The new artistic director of English National Ballet was recently a judge for the Royal Academy of Dance’s Margot Fonteyn International Ballet Competition in London. Canadian-born Aaron danced with many international companies and led the Semperoper Ballett in Dresden for 17 years, and has just taken charge at English National Ballet. What are the sensitive choices he must make as a director – and as a Fonteyn judge?
Born in British Columbia, Canada, Aaron graduated from the National Ballet School of Canada in 1988. He enjoyed a full career in dance including National Ballet of Canada, English National Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, William Forsythe’s Ballett Frankfurt and the National Dance Company of Spain. Having been Associate Artistic Director in Madrid and a choreographic assistant to William Forsythe, he became Artistic Director of the Semperoper Ballett, Dresden in 2006. After a 17-year tenure he became Artistic Director of English National Ballet in 2023.
Find out more about the work of the RAD
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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Pam Tanowitz is now an in-demand choreographer – but her career has followed a unique trajectory. For years, she and her company had an under-the-radar following in New York, but only recently did she win wider attention. A work set to TS Eliot’s 4 Quartets led to international tours and commissions for the Royal Ballet and New York City Ballet. Before that happened she worked and worked: at dance, but also unglamorous admin jobs. When we met at the Barbican for the London premiere of her Song of Songs, she talked about giving hope to all the late bloomers.
Pam Tanowitz has delineated her own dance language through decades of research and creation. Now, the world’s most respected companies – Martha Graham Dance Company, Royal Ballet, New York City Ballet and more – are integrating her poetic universe into their repertories. In 2000 she founded Pam Tanowitz Dance to explore dance-making with a consistent community of dancers. She has been commissioned by Fisher Center at Bard, Joyce Theater, Jacob’s Pillow and others. Four Quartets (2018) was called ‘the greatest creation of dance theater so far this century’ by the New York Times.
Find out more about the work of the RAD
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.
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Jakob Wheway Hughes was gold medallist at the Royal Academy of Dance’s Margot Fonteyn International Ballet Competition 2023. The Fonteyn took place at His Majesty’s Theatre in London, the opulent home of Phantom of the Opera. Jakob performed a new solo and a bravura classical variation, and seemed strikingly at ease on stage, communicating his dance to the packed audience. It was no surprise that Dame Darcey Bussell, the RAD President, presented him with the gold medal. Jakob,16, who trains at Tring Park School tells us why dance matters to him.
Find out more about the work of the RAD
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.
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