Our penultimate Dance Season interview features Meta4 Dance Company.
What was it that motivated you to become a dancer?
Both myself and Lily started dancing at local dance schools from a young age. As far as motivation to become a dancer first and foremost it was a love for the art, but as we grew older it became more about the expression of ourselves, having a way of expressing ourselves physically was essential for us. For us both, dancing was something that we felt we were meant to do, it’s something we just enjoyed on a very basic level and just had a thirst to develop our skills, knowledge and make our own work. As we continue to work, we continue to stay motivated by each other and those around us. It’s important to look at other artists, get inspired but also see things you don’t like and ask why and how would you interrupt something.
How have recent restrictions affected your processes?
Well, they have changed things dramatically but thankfully we already do quite a lot of things that don’t restrict us. We tend to work on a small scale (just the two of us) which means we could still keep working on our own practice. The restrictions and slowing down in pace has allowed us to take a step back and really consider our process a little more and develop work with less time pressure. We have also developed connections with artists over recent times and explored different avenues for our work such as working with Marc Craig, an artist based in London.
In a few words, describe how this latest performance makes you feel when you are performing it? Also, is there some feeling you hope to evoke in the people watching it?
This latest work was in partnership with a design company that we have worked with in the past, it was a brilliant piece to work with because it was the first thing we were able to do during the pandemic which was outside of the house we were in. It felt very freeing and a relief to perform again, we want people to feel the joy and alleviation we felt while dancing. The work highlights the freedom & fluidity within the building so we hope people resonate with that.
For people eager to get started in the dance world, is there any advice you could give them?
We are still finding our feet in the dance world and think that you are probably always finding your feet in a world that can be quite turbulent. I suppose in our short period of experience we would say that you should take any opportunity you can as you never know what it will lead to. Go and meet people, if you want to work somewhere or with someone, just go and speak to them, if it doesn’t happen first time don’t be put off. Don’t beat yourself up for mistakes, just try to learn from them. Nobody knows everything so don’t be scared to forget stuff, but equally take your time to plan. Measure twice and cut once. It will be hard but if you love it, its worth it.
If people wanted to check out more of your work, where could they go?
People can go to our website www.meta4dance.com or you can check us out on Facebook and Instagram by searching Meta4Dance Company. But equally, just send us a message or email, we like to talk about what we do and meet new people so feel free to just get in touch personally.
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