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drinks Monday 1 September 08 Edinburgh Reunion in London
Topping And Butch Hit Leicester Square 26-27 September 08
Interview - Liv Lorent
'Intimacy is the last taboo ... There are other forms beyond whether you've got your underpants on'. Dance sensation Liv Lorent talks to Peter Andrews
What would make someone come and see your company?
'If they love beauty, they will find plenty. The thirteen dancers are beautiful inside and out – not because they look like models but because of their spirit, freedom and individuality. The choreography embraces this uniqueness and lets them be vulnerable. There is something about vulnerability, light and truth that makes people very beautiful. Like the beauty of children and the old when they don’t have lots of facades and are being themselves. If you can crystallise that and add beautiful music, costumes and good raw material it works.
'There is an audience for dance in London. In the North – I’ve been here for ten years – I couldn’t fill a theatre with my niche audience. The Arts Council would say "Don’t be stupid Liv. You’re not going to take that to Sunderland or Washington with American minimalist music, stark costume, serious weighty subjects and indulgent choreography." It is the audiences in Sunderland, Washington, Hexham and elsewhere I want to attract. I love making pieces for "real" people not for a "dance mafia". Dance fans already have lots to see. I hope they appreciate what balletLORENT are doing as well. It's not facile work but I get a personal reward from introducing new people to a magical experience of dance.
'I love being up here because I'm in touch with regular life, regular people – I walk through Grainger Market on the way to work. This contact informs everything I do. On tour, whether it is Cornwall or deepest Scotland, people are not left mystified but moved. I want to give them the same experience you can get from watching a movie.'
Why did you choose the performance spaces for La Nuit Intime? (Night clubs, music venues and a beach bar).
'There's times when I (as an audience member) can't be arsed to sit there quietly in a row and not get a drink or a cigarette. I wanted to engage dance with a really lovely evening out. I wanted to create an atmosphere of warmth and excitement. Frequently in pubs and nightclubs, you don’t have that. You have dancers in cages being provocative and "sexy". Lap-dancing disappoints me because the aesthetics are really poor. It's not very sexy or sensual but there is a huge amount of technique. You see a good pole-dancer and they are incredible. It's a shame it's so badly done. There's bad music, then they get down to a horrible little G-string and pick up their bra and leave. I wanted to reclaim that space with something that's beautiful. I want to take dance into a place that is very 21st Century. It's not remotely post-modern, ironic or anything like that. What I'm giving is the fantasy that I couldn't find in reality.'
How does your work evolve?
'First there's a concept. La Nuit Intime started about eighteen months ago based on past pieces and a response to life. I've wanted to redress the pole dance and lap dance culture for a long time. Nightclubs have sometimes been horrible and I don't quite fit in. I don't like the door policy of "you can't wear those trainers" or "you've got to be that age or that beautiful". I want to create a very loving environment. Something my friends feel comfortable with.
'How does the reality actually happen? It takes a huge amount of thought, a good business head and confidence. How will people view it? How will they market it? What are the potential risks? I'm putting myself up to be shot down but I'm not stupid. I work with great collaborators, lighting, sound, the rehearsal director and the dancers – who are wonderful. It's about creating an idealistic world in which I give the best of my humanity and vulnerability. If you give that much to another human being they respect it and give it back.'
What do you do if faced with an audience that is indifferent or hostile or responds in an unexpected way?
'It's a big company. There are a lot of us there. The dancers are totally aware of what they’re doing. They are rarely alone. Security is present but hidden. I don't want to do anything that accentuates a sense of vulgarity or possession. I'm not asking them to perform in the traditional sense merely to be.
'Suppose I went down to my local pub and took my top off. As a performer, the audience possess me almost as a slave. Performers can appear like pets. They do not have the same rights as you. If they try to please like a puppy you can pat them on the head or the bum. There's no respect.
'There's a different psychology to being a streaker – doing it for a dare. It would inspire a different reaction. They are not trying to create the same kind of impression. This is a real human being in character – invulnerable.'
Where do you see balletLORENT going next?
'La Nuit Intime has taken a significant part of our lives. It's a strange moment – I can't prove it works. We had a successful pilot in April. You can't tell until you tour something whether you just got lucky that night. The tour will inform how we work next. I still live with a idealistic spirit about dance, its power and my passion for it. My conviction is that what I'm making is so beautiful a lot of people will just love it. It could be I have my love spectacles on and no one else will see it.'
Do you see the company developing a repertoire?
'We did The Ball for three years and I didn’t expect that to happen. If balletLORENT had a repertoire of different work we could present a piece that was site specific, and then put a different piece on in middle scale theatres. So there's a rest from having to give quite so much and the dancers never get bored.'
How do you measure success?
'I am very focused but not ambitious. I am making this work as my heart's desire. I freelance with other companies but when it's your company, your baby, you have to take responsibility. You take the risk, you fund raise and you pay everyone. It's a real labour of love. With the number of hours it takes I'm probably working way below the minimum wage. I am doing what I want with my own company. It's a very precious thing. Anything else is not worth the effort.
'When somebody comes up to me and says "I didn't know it was possible to feel like this" - a few years later they still remember it – that is a measure of success – not when someone strokes their chin and says "Very interesting but what was it really about?" I'm making work for ordinary people. Whether they're intellectuals or watch soap opera or do both or read the Sun or The Sunday Times doesn't matter. That's great. That's most of us. I hate all this pretentiousness, "high art" bullshit.'
Who do you think is your audience now?
'Most human beings if they're feeling like being human are the target. If they want to intellectually criticise it they're not going to have fun. It's for someone who feels they've lost touch with their own vulnerability. Someone who wants an atmosphere that is not cold, academic or fashionable. It's for those who want to be comfortable and accepted for who they are.
'They'll be around very brave dancers. I'm using nudity – (of which there is very little in two and a half hours) – as one of the many forms of intimacy. There are other forms beyond whether you've got your underpants on. They're about how you look at other people, how they look at you. How real, how "not posed" you are. You might usually only be like that when you're alone – dancing in your bedroom.
'At the end of La Nuit Intime you should be nicer to your partner. If you haven't got a partner you might be feeling how good it would be to get one to hug. In the last few years its been all about sex. Intimacy is the last taboo.'
END
(c) Peter Andrews 31 January 2006
La Nuit Intime – Tour 2006
balletLORENT - c/o DanceCity, Temple Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4BR Telephone +44 (0)191 233 1811 - http://www.balletlorent.com
‘La Nuit Intime’ and balletLORENT with Liv Lorent Artistic Director and Choreographer at Dance City, Newcastle upon Tyne - 27 January 06
31st January & 1st February Premiere performance - Hyena Café Leazes Lane, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4PF http://www.thehyena.com
3rd February The Watering Hole, Perranporth Beach, Cornwall http://www.the-wateringhole.co.uk
5th February The Annexe Night Club, Lincoln
9th February The Wardrobe, St. Peters Square, Leeds http://www.thewardrobe.co.uk
13th February Pave, Princes Ave, Hull
16th February Brewery Arts centre, Kendal http://www.breweryarts.co.uk/
20th February - The Spitz, 109 Commercial St, Old Spittalfields Market, London - http://www.spitz.co.uk/
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2008
