Those who dance know this, the landing of a pirouette is not written in the moment of the turn, it is written in the steps the dancer had taken working towards that turn. Everything that happens is happening because a prior choice, a prior moment, a prior decision, has led to it.
The transformation of one moment into the other does not happen in an instance. Transformation is not a moment, it is a process.
The transformation process is one we often witness in the children attending our programmes. But this transformation is not one that is immediately seen or felt, in fact, it is so subtle, it is often suddenly recognised, realised: like the increased strength and flexibility in the body, the newfound confidence to perform in front of strangers, the stepping into harmonious synchronisation with fellow dancers, the coming together of a piece of choreography.
Whoever said we were completely evolved? Perhaps we are only ever evolving.
In his Four Quartets, T.S Eliot wrote: “in my beginning is my end, in succession”. At the end of each transformation, another one awaits. Life is a series of transformations. Eliot continued in his Quartets: “we shall not cease from exploration, for the end of all exploring will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time”.
We shall not cease from transforming.
What we feel when we watch the youths in our programme is a hopefulness. This hopefulness comes with watching the progress, the process of growth in each of them. This is because hope does not lie in the fact that a frog can turn into a prince, hope, for me, lies in the turning, the fact we still might be able to make a difference. I am hopeful because we are still being made. So when asked about What Dance Can Do’s objective, I would say: this process of transformation is one of our main objectives.
We are here to teach our youths that they are still being made, and if they keep going, the journey will continue. We are here to instil a hope that no matter what it feels like, things will, and are still in the process of, getting better.
We are not there yet, hardly. We are only getting better.
Aurélia Sellier
Roundup & What’s Coming Up!
These last months we have wrapped up the 23/24 school year and now the summer has kicked off for What Dance Can Do!
Last April, What Dance Can Do Switzerland turned 6 years old, What Dance Can Do New Zealand turned 2, and in May, What Dance Can Do France turned 3! We are so thankful to everyone who supported us these first years!
WDCD Founder Aurelia Sellier shared the stage with social activists from Taiwan and the US, in New York. The Forum was a wonderful platform to exchange with like-minded people and call for action! Thank you Women’s Federation for World Peace.
Camille di Fiore, who leads our activities in schools in Brussels since 2021, started a new program with 21 children aged 8 to 10 at Ecole Fondamentale de l’Héliport. She offers weekly sessions and closely collaborates with the school’s team, who warmly welcomed the program. On April 18th we invited the company Opinion Public directed by Sidonie Fossé (godmother of the WDCD project in Brussels) to hold a residency at the school. This allowed the children participating in the programme to attend a run-through of ‘Opinion Public’s’ piece called "MANIAC," performed by Victor Launay and Larissa Dorella. Following the performance they held a discussion with our students who were given the opportunity to ask questions about the creation process for ‘Opinion Public’ and then had the opportunity to perform themselves for the company.
Our performances at Necker Hospital continue to bring joy and inspiration. Our last two performances were held on April 29th, May 24th, and June 3rd, 2024.
Since February 2024 we have been working regularly with a group of children in Tunis. On May 26th, the students gave an emotional first performance for friends and family. We are so proud of all of you!
Our students in Clichy-sous-Bois had their final performance on the 11th of June at the Conservatoire municipal de Clichy-sous-Bois, our biggest congratulations to all of you!
Our Falconbrook Elementary students will have their final showcase at the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) theatre on June 25th, we are very excited!
Our students in Brussels will have their end of year performance on July 2nd at the Héliport School, Brussels Belgium, toi toi toi to each of you!
Dancers on transformation
For this issue's interview section we decided to shake it up a bit! Our writer Sally, selected four dancers around the world and asked them all one question;
What role/performance was transformative to you as a dancer and how?
You can watch the beautiful answers from Corina Kinnear, Kai Chung, Nicholas Isaiah King Rose and Juliann Fedele Malard below, enjoy!
“I think Transformative is constantly happening, all the different pieces, different stories, you will get different experiences and different feeling and in the process your changing… We all are transforming, all the time…”
-Kai Chun Chuang
“Dance, and each performance allows me to grow find a new part of myself and identify a new part of who I am and it has not stopped, it’s just my favourite way to navigate this life experience that we have.”
-Corina Kinnear
“Participating in this (Prix de Lausanne) was life changing, I learned how to believe in myself and listen to my values”
- Juliann Fedele Malard
“He (William Forsythe) encouraged me to - keep going don’t listen to anyone’s opinions, just focus on the music and dance my choreography like its your own - …At any given moment anything can happen and you have to be ready and I always like to remain ready.”
-Nicholas Isaiah Rose
From Port de Bras to Wings
“Our arms start from the back because they were once wings.”
-Martha Graham
My transformation as a dancer begins the moment I walk into the ballet studio. As my left hand wraps around the barre in preparation for the first exercise in every ballet class, the plié I would take in my first breaths in preparation with the lift of the arms and let the music flow through my body. In those few seconds, my body and mind take on that of a dancer. My chin lifts, ribs close, and the feeling of grace and power captures my entire being and I begin to dance. It's a small and subtle transformation but one that has become more automatic with each practice. From that first transformation, many will follow.
One of the most beautiful transformations visible to me, is the transformation of a dancer into the role or character within a ballet, or choreography, becoming a part of the story told to the audience. The collective transformation of dancers in the corps de ballet, into a compelling emotive performance can be one of the most beautiful things to watch.
I often think of the classical ballet, Swan Lake, as the epitome of the transformation story. One because of its beautiful aesthetic and technicality it demands of each individual dancer who morphs gracefully from human to swan. And also because of the transformation of Odette into the Swan Queen, and Odile. But the ballet itself has had its own history of metamorphosis.
The original ballet was premiered in 1877 by the Russian Imperial Ballet at the Bolshoi Theatre. Choreographed by Julius Reisinger and composed by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky, this first performance was, well, a flop. It was for this ballet that Tchaikovsky created a musical score that was wildly different from previous ballet scores. He used the ‘light motif technique’ to compose Swan Lake. This means that he associated a motif with a character who is dancing to it and which in turn voices the character. This was a new style of composing music for ballet and one that, at the time, was not fully appreciated by dancers or the audience. After the first initial flop of Swan Lake, two choreographers Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov picked up its pieces and, holding much belief in the original score of music, re-choreographed the version we all know and love today. In his memoirs, Petipa is quoted as having said;
"I could not assume that Tchaikovsky’s music was bad, that his part of the work had no success; the problem was not in the music but in the production of the ballet, in the dances."
Since this leap of faith in restoring Swan Lake it shot to fame in the ballet world and has since been developed into multiple versions throughout companies, classical, contemporary and modern, around the world. Some notable versions include Mathew Bourne and Angelin Preljocaj’s version. They retold the story we all know while transforming it into a new original creation allowing different depictions of the story to come forth. In this version many of the female danced roles are played by male counterparts and vice versa. Another notable stage version is the English National Ballet’s “Mega Lac”. The first version to be done ‘in the round’, meaning on a 360 degree stage. This production held 70 swans which is a stunningly large scale production. First premiering in 1997 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, it was not initially received well, similar to the very first performance in 1877, but it is now a critically acclaimed version. The transformation of Swan Lake has not stopped there and in 2010 it was told on screen in the film Black Swan (Aranofsky, 2010, Rated R).
The role of the White/Black swan, also known as Odette/Odile, holds one of the most iconic metamorphosis of a dancer. Today, the part of Odette/Odile is usually performed by the same dancer who, in the span of the full ballet, must transform physically three times.
Depending on the version you are witnessing, the change from human to white swan holds, in my opinion, one of the most difficult transformations. The slightest change in a port de bras can bring to life an enormous metamorphosis, similar to that at the beginning of a ballet class. In this clip of ABT’s Swan Lake, we can see this transformation of Odette turn from human to swan in moments. Alongside the costume transformation, notice the strength in the slight port de bras change and how it allows the full transformation to take place.
Odette’s port de bras holds a purity, grace and virtue while Odile, often the same dancer, carries her arms with a sensuality, bewitchment and controlling power. These attributes are evident throughout the entire body. Apart from the detail in physicality and training to execute such a role, the transformation of a character mentally plays a powerful part as well. Roles holding this level of transformation carries a strong sense of acting and character play alongside the physical transformation.
This dual role pulls the ballerina or Danseur in two. In some studies it is good vs evil, in others it is spirit and human, whereas in the film Black Swan (Aranofsky, 2010, Rated R) it is a fight between one's personalities and psyche.
An interesting dissertation written by Bonnie Bright (M.A. Depth Psychology) dissecting this film and its psyche brings this to light, you can read it here.
At the end of a performance, specifically one as strenuous as Swan Lake, a dancer then has the daunting task of stepping back into their ‘human form’. As the curtains close and the roar of applause dies down and one makes their way to the dressing room pulling out the hairpins and slipping out of the costume. Around is the ever so personal, post-show ritual each performer has built for themselves to reground before slipping on a pair of sneakers, picking up their dance bags and exiting the backstage door. Just as the day began with the most subtle transformation of placing the left hand on the ballet barre, the end of each performance is also as subtle a transformation which usually goes unnoticed by anyone but the dancer themselves.
Pushing through by Rainer Maria Rilke
It’s possible I am pushing through solid rock in flintlike layers, as the ore lies, alone; I am such a long way in I see no way through, and no space: everything is close to my face, and everything close to my face is stone. I don’t have much knowledge yet in grief– so this massive darkness makes me small. You be the master: make yourself fierce, break in: then your great transforming will happen to me, and my great grief cry will happen to you.
This WDCD newsletter has been put together for you by Sally Cowdin and Raina Ng and we hope you enjoyed it.