Rosie Kay: Photo by Article19

IDFB may well be an international festival but that doesn’t mean the home-grown talent is not holding its own. Scottish dance maker and performer Rosie Kay has been creating works now for several years following an eclectic history of working around the UK and Europe and scooping up a few awards along the way.

At the Festival Rosie will be performing Double Points: K inspired by the Dutch dance maker Emio Greco.

How did the idea for this work come about?

It’s a really long story! I first saw Emio Greco’s work at the Edinburgh Festival, back in 1999 I think. I loved it! It was so beautiful and unique in its technical language and used incredible lighting. Later in my career I worked with a dancer who was with Emio for several years, and so in some way some of my work, through my dance partners has been influenced by his training.

This unique collaboration occurred through two situations. Firstly David Massingham asked me to start looking into international collaborators, as he was thinking of an International Festival (this was a long time ago!) and I was looking for someone for quite a while.

After completing The Wild Party in 2006, which was extremely theatrical, I had long wanted to work with a choreographer who had their own unique physical language, and I began to really think about Emio Greco.

Fortunately I was awarded a Rayne Foundation fellowship, and I contacted Emio Greco | PC, to see if I could shadow Emio, just watch him work. I was amazed when instead of shadowing the director, they offered that I should come and learn Double Points: Two and then re-interpret the work as a dancer, a choreographer and a performer.

I went over to Amsterdam in June 2007, learnt the work, performed an extract at the Theatre Bellevue, and now I am trying to find my own view on such an incredible piece.

Can you describe the movement style?

Its incredibly rich, meaty and beautiful! When you learn it, it can take a day just to learn one simple phrase as you have so much to think about. Its a very rich experience as a dancer, because you are constantly trying to dance at the full stretch of your body, and think though every single tiny transition.

Every phrase has a logical extention and story within the body. As the speed increases you almost have to just give over your entire mind to the movement- you stop trying to ‘dance’ or ‘perform’- it is so demanding that you just must give yourself up to the complex articulation of the movement. That sounds rather complex, but the result is beautiful, fluid movement that is incredibly articulate.

What exactly is extreme electro?

Ask my producer!! Haha! I am mixing Dub Step with J.S.Bach, very early 1980’s French electro with Aphex Twin; its an extreme mix of classical and electro styles from the past 20 odd years to today.

Will it tour beyond the festival?

Yes- we have been invited to Edinburgh Festival, August 2008. Can’t say more at the moment!

Your stuck on a desert island with John Prescott, 2 miles away through shark infested waters is another, empty island. Do you stay or do you go?

I find him quite funny! I spent a week with MP’s in Westminster recently- I think they are interesting people. I would like to know what really went on during the lead up to Iraq, and find out what Blair and Brown were like together. Politicians are real gossips! Then I would find the furthest corner of the island and impose an ASBO on him to leave me alone!
Emio Greco l PC & Rosie Kay are performing at The Patrick Centre, Birmingham Hippodrome on Friday 2nd May at 8pm.

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