0:00:02 > 0:00:05Creating an all-male company just seemed like
0:00:05 > 0:00:06the right thing to do.
0:00:06 > 0:00:07We'd worked...
0:00:09 > 0:00:10..as ballet dancers at the Royal Ballet,
0:00:10 > 0:00:13where there's probably the same amount of girls as guys,
0:00:13 > 0:00:15and typically you'll stand behind a woman,
0:00:15 > 0:00:16you're making her look pretty,
0:00:16 > 0:00:19that's the typical role of the male ballet dancer.
0:00:21 > 0:00:25We danced with the Royal Ballet Company for 12 years before
0:00:25 > 0:00:27starting our own company, BalletBoyz,
0:00:27 > 0:00:29back in I think it was 2000.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34Michael and I spent a lot of time dancing together.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36The one thing we could be sure of is that we had each other,
0:00:36 > 0:00:40so we had a repertoire that involved lots of male duets
0:00:40 > 0:00:44and there was something about that kind of males dancing together
0:00:44 > 0:00:48that really inspired choreographers and really appealed to an audience.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50So when we started The Talent,
0:00:50 > 0:00:54we thought that was something we should really continue to explore.
0:00:54 > 0:00:59The Talent is made up of ten young male dancers.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02Very different training to us, most of them in contemporary dance,
0:01:02 > 0:01:04some, very little training.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07One thing in common, I suppose, they all have this energy,
0:01:07 > 0:01:08you want to watch them.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12Just up on the shoulder, bring him down, put him down, run.
0:01:12 > 0:01:17And we wanted to see if there was something that we could offer them,
0:01:17 > 0:01:19the benefit of our experience, I suppose.
0:01:19 > 0:01:20Once more?
0:01:20 > 0:01:23We created an evening of dance and it just took off,
0:01:23 > 0:01:24audiences loved them.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37Certainly sold more tickets than Billy and I ever did.
0:01:37 > 0:01:38APPLAUSE
0:01:39 > 0:01:42Even now, five years into the project,
0:01:42 > 0:01:45choreographers are still interested in working with these guys,
0:01:45 > 0:01:47and just these guys.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51For this show, we asked two choreographers,
0:01:51 > 0:01:53Russell Maliphant and Liam Scarlett.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56Both were trained at the Royal Ballet School,
0:01:56 > 0:01:59both went on to dance in one of the Royal Ballet Companies,
0:01:59 > 0:02:01but there's a significant difference
0:02:01 > 0:02:03in the way in which they approach choreography.
0:02:03 > 0:02:04So, you go.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08Russell, his choreography is informed by everything
0:02:08 > 0:02:11from sculpture to martial arts, Capoeira, yoga.
0:02:11 > 0:02:12One more time.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16Liam is from the very classical world,
0:02:16 > 0:02:17which is very different.
0:02:17 > 0:02:18Yeah.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22Starting with a company you don't
0:02:22 > 0:02:24know any of the dancers with is
0:02:24 > 0:02:26always tricky so I think on day one,
0:02:26 > 0:02:29it's getting to know people as people.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32In the studio, you need to have a very safe haven to be able to
0:02:32 > 0:02:36just do whatever you want and know you're not going to be laughed at.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41I think the starting point for Fallen was probably...
0:02:43 > 0:02:44..the boys.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48They have that kind of energy.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50There's enough of them, they can fill the space.
0:02:50 > 0:02:52You know, they're like an orchestra.
0:03:25 > 0:03:27I'm beyond excited for this.
0:03:27 > 0:03:32It's the culmination of 14 years of hard work.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35We created BalletBoyz back in 2000.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38Right here at the Roundhouse was our opening performance.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41We spent every penny we had kitting the place out.
0:03:41 > 0:03:45It's taken us 14 years to get back but here we are, back again,
0:03:45 > 0:03:46just as ambitious.
0:03:48 > 0:03:49As you've probably heard or seen,
0:03:49 > 0:03:52we've got the BBC Concert Orchestra here with Paul Murphy conducting,
0:03:52 > 0:03:55and what's really unusual about that for us
0:03:55 > 0:03:57is that we only ever dance to recordings.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00Obviously, we're a very small company,
0:04:00 > 0:04:02but to mark the success of this programme,
0:04:02 > 0:04:07we've pushed the boat out and hired the BBC Concert Orchestra.
0:04:07 > 0:04:09I just hope the boys can hold it together because
0:04:09 > 0:04:13when you dance to a recording, it's exactly the same every night.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17These boys have done 70, 80 shows of this all over the world
0:04:17 > 0:04:21and it's in their body memory, they dance at that tempo.
0:04:21 > 0:04:22Now...
0:04:23 > 0:04:27..real human beings are playing real instruments and...
0:04:27 > 0:04:28It has a different edge to it.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30You know, the conductor can pull things out,
0:04:30 > 0:04:33he can chop them short, he can speed up, he can slow down.
0:04:33 > 0:04:35The boys have to react very quickly to that.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38INTERVIEWER: So, Liam, can I just ask you what it's been like
0:04:38 > 0:04:40working with the BalletBoyz?
0:04:42 > 0:04:44It's been long. It's been a long process.
0:04:44 > 0:04:46I think we started a year ago.
0:04:46 > 0:04:47But it's been good.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52I guess, for me, it's a different way of working.
0:04:52 > 0:04:58It's really finding a different way of using males together
0:04:58 > 0:05:03and I've definitely explored a lot more different partnering
0:05:03 > 0:05:06ideas in the work, and the more I do with these guys,
0:05:06 > 0:05:09the more it's going to cross over into other stuff.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11It's funny, I think with my other work,
0:05:11 > 0:05:14the women really drive the piece.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17So with the absence of them, it was...
0:05:17 > 0:05:22It was actually really nice to focus on, you know,
0:05:22 > 0:05:25the beauty of the male physique and the sensitivity,
0:05:25 > 0:05:30the physicality, the strength that goes into that.
0:05:33 > 0:05:34The piece...
0:05:35 > 0:05:37The piece is called Serpent.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43We tried to get a fluidity of the body.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46We wanted to go for that snakelike thing,
0:05:46 > 0:05:53to have a real track from bottom to top in a very seamless way,
0:05:53 > 0:05:57on top of that animalistic quality, to have something supple
0:05:57 > 0:06:01and beautiful with more of a deadly attack underneath.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04It took a while, but once you find that language
0:06:04 > 0:06:07and build up on it, it gets quite exhilarating.
0:06:11 > 0:06:12I think.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26MUSIC: Europe After The Rain by Max Richter
0:12:04 > 0:12:06MUSIC: The Twins (Prague) by Max Richter
0:13:50 > 0:13:53That was beautiful, guys. Yeah, good.
0:13:53 > 0:13:57This is good but I still think it can just lead a little bit more.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01Almost keep it low so that there's not that moment
0:14:01 > 0:14:03of there and then there.
0:14:03 > 0:14:10I called it Serpent just because of the ambiguity that a snake has
0:14:10 > 0:14:15and the...writhing and the unpredictability of it.
0:14:15 > 0:14:21Intention-wise, any of this, think more like a cobra's hood than arms,
0:14:21 > 0:14:23so that it has that,
0:14:23 > 0:14:27so it doesn't...ever really stop.
0:14:27 > 0:14:29There should be that constant movement and constant flow
0:14:29 > 0:14:34and constant kind of...a sense of tension and possible attack
0:14:34 > 0:14:38the whole time, even with the slow stuff...yeah.
0:14:38 > 0:14:44I have a morbid phobia of snakes. I hate them, can't look at them.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47But there's something that also intrigues me
0:14:47 > 0:14:48because I don't understand them.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52Sometimes there is just an unpredictability about them.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55There is also something so sensual.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58You know, they represent everything that is evil,
0:14:58 > 0:15:02or they're personified as everything that's bad
0:15:02 > 0:15:08but, yet again, they can be the most beautiful things.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10MUSIC: Andras by Max Richter
0:17:52 > 0:17:56Day one is always trying to start a conversation as you would
0:17:56 > 0:17:57in kind of the outside world,
0:17:57 > 0:18:03so that you don't go in and impose anything on them immediately.
0:18:03 > 0:18:05It's trying to gain people's trust.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09We were a little bit worried at first
0:18:09 > 0:18:10because we knew that Liam
0:18:10 > 0:18:12was from a classical background
0:18:12 > 0:18:14and we hadn't had that before.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17And I'm sure he wasn't used to working with contemporary dancers,
0:18:17 > 0:18:18but when he came into the studio,
0:18:18 > 0:18:22he set up this really good atmosphere and it was like he was one of us.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25It was really easy to work for him and it was really, really good.
0:18:25 > 0:18:29I'm always one to try and take them out of their comfort zones
0:18:29 > 0:18:33a tiny bit but not to make them feel alienated,
0:18:33 > 0:18:36and to push them in a different direction, to make them
0:18:36 > 0:18:37think in a different way.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40All the boys really stood up to that challenge
0:18:40 > 0:18:41and they were very collaborative.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44Especially with their duet work - they were so creative
0:18:44 > 0:18:47and I think that comes from gaining people's trust.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50You know, it's a vulnerable art form, what we do
0:18:50 > 0:18:52and everyone kind of exposes themselves
0:18:52 > 0:18:54a lot more than I think people realise.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58So on day one, I kind of didn't really have any clue
0:18:58 > 0:18:59what I was going to do.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02It was the exhilarating buzz that you get with
0:19:02 > 0:19:04going into a group of people and not knowing what
0:19:04 > 0:19:08they're necessarily capable of or what their attributes are.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10And then after day one, day two, you can really go
0:19:10 > 0:19:15back into the studio and start kind of cultivating some sort of piece.
0:19:21 > 0:19:25We had a day where we'd done a lot of leg work.
0:19:27 > 0:19:29We just stood face-to-face,
0:19:29 > 0:19:34and I always think that those combat movies or choreography
0:19:34 > 0:19:38or just the intricacy of arm work
0:19:38 > 0:19:40is sometimes neglected.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48It's very hard to sustain something like that
0:19:48 > 0:19:52and I really wanted to be able to do that,
0:19:52 > 0:19:53and it took hours.
0:19:55 > 0:20:00But, I mean, it's my favourite bit of the piece, definitely.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03MUSIC: November by Max Richter
0:25:41 > 0:25:45I like to be able to watch a different performance
0:25:45 > 0:25:46every single time I watch it.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50I like people to use whatever mood they're in that day
0:25:50 > 0:25:52to amplify what they're doing,
0:25:52 > 0:25:57and I think there's enough ambiguity within the piece
0:25:57 > 0:25:59for the boys to be able to find those moments
0:25:59 > 0:26:01where they can change it every night.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11I like the freedom that Liam gave us
0:26:11 > 0:26:13to take the choreography and make it really personal
0:26:13 > 0:26:16so every night would be a different performance.
0:26:19 > 0:26:21The step would be always the same,
0:26:21 > 0:26:25but there would be something - small details could change.
0:26:25 > 0:26:26For example, in my solo,
0:26:26 > 0:26:29I was experiencing different qualities every night.
0:26:29 > 0:26:33I think it grows with every performance that they do,
0:26:33 > 0:26:36and they find something different where they can play off.
0:26:36 > 0:26:43But I think it works, because you can honour what the steps are,
0:26:43 > 0:26:46but then translate it for your own body as well.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50Again, every person has that kind of moment where they can shine,
0:26:50 > 0:26:55and I think they've really taken those moments and shone.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01MUSIC: Embers by Max Richter
0:30:10 > 0:30:12APPLAUSE
0:30:19 > 0:30:22CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:30:34 > 0:30:39Yeah, it's the first time working with a live orchestra on this scale,
0:30:39 > 0:30:40it's something you can't really explain
0:30:40 > 0:30:43until you actually do it with the audience there, and...
0:30:45 > 0:30:48..and them going full whack, which makes us go full whack.
0:30:48 > 0:30:50It's like...
0:30:50 > 0:30:51Yeah, it's pretty amazing.
0:30:53 > 0:30:57The orchestra were really excited by the whole project.
0:30:57 > 0:30:59I had a few comments tonight's from players saying,
0:30:59 > 0:31:01"Well, we weren't sure what to expect",
0:31:01 > 0:31:05but as soon as they saw what was involved, they were all buzzing.
0:31:05 > 0:31:06Absolutely terrific.
0:31:09 > 0:31:13We've done Serpent about 70, 80 times now.
0:31:13 > 0:31:16But it felt completely different with the live music.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19Completely different atmosphere and energy.
0:31:19 > 0:31:22The music is amazing. It gives you a lot.
0:31:22 > 0:31:24It gives you a lot to perform with.
0:31:25 > 0:31:27Some bits were a bit too fast or too slow,
0:31:27 > 0:31:31so we had to speak about that, but it was good.
0:31:31 > 0:31:33We really enjoyed.
0:31:34 > 0:31:37With contemporary dance, like this programme tonight,
0:31:37 > 0:31:39the music drives the dance.
0:31:41 > 0:31:43I mean, classical dance, you're sort of locked into
0:31:43 > 0:31:45the confines of choreography,
0:31:45 > 0:31:48so it was a much more freeing experience in some ways.
0:31:48 > 0:31:49Ladies and gentlemen,
0:31:49 > 0:31:52would you please take your seats for this evening's performance...
0:31:52 > 0:31:53Well, for the second half of the show,
0:31:53 > 0:31:57we wanted something that would feel completely different.
0:31:57 > 0:32:00That's why we asked Russell to make a piece using all ten dancers
0:32:00 > 0:32:03that would have a kind of epic feel to it.
0:32:03 > 0:32:06When he's creating the choreography in the studio,
0:32:06 > 0:32:08you never know quite what he's going to come up with.
0:32:08 > 0:32:10Taking bits from here, taking bits from there,
0:32:10 > 0:32:12putting it in a new order, making it in reverse,
0:32:12 > 0:32:15bit slower, bit faster, trying all different sorts of music
0:32:15 > 0:32:18until he finds exactly the right combination.
0:32:18 > 0:32:24Only up till the last minute do we actually see the shape of the show.
0:32:24 > 0:32:30I think we've got the nuts and bolts of the vocabulary. Yeah. Good.
0:32:30 > 0:32:32We were interested in the way he...
0:32:32 > 0:32:34You know, he has the classical training,
0:32:34 > 0:32:37but he has all this capoeira experience, yoga, t'ai chi,
0:32:37 > 0:32:40we wanted to see how all of those things fused together
0:32:40 > 0:32:42with our dancers.
0:32:42 > 0:32:45See if there was something really spectacular that he could make.
0:32:45 > 0:32:48This is a pretty challenging piece, I think,
0:32:48 > 0:32:50in many... I think it needs to be.
0:32:50 > 0:32:55To see ten guys doing that, you know,
0:32:55 > 0:32:56kind of challenging work...
0:32:56 > 0:32:59Yeah, that's what you want to... Who else is doing that?
0:33:01 > 0:33:05I felt that when I was going to this project,
0:33:05 > 0:33:10I always like to have things, tasks, in the bag to go in with.
0:33:10 > 0:33:17And the initial task was doing certain vocabulary movements to get
0:33:17 > 0:33:22a kind of flow and movement quality and a technique into the body
0:33:22 > 0:33:25and then to play with moving from the one to the other
0:33:25 > 0:33:28to another to another to see how they might piece together,
0:33:28 > 0:33:33which was more about choreographic flow.
0:33:33 > 0:33:36When we've got to that, things start to attach themselves
0:33:36 > 0:33:40very naturally and sometimes really beautifully.
0:33:40 > 0:33:46I think then it's worth kind of beginning to become aware of that.
0:33:46 > 0:33:49I think that's one of the major challenges.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00RHYTHMIC MUSIC PLAYS
0:38:03 > 0:38:04MUSIC STOPS
0:38:06 > 0:38:11I think there's a lot of heart in Armand's music
0:38:11 > 0:38:13and also a lot of energy.
0:38:13 > 0:38:15Some of it is big, orchestral music.
0:38:15 > 0:38:21I think often I find I can't use that in my company with a duet.
0:38:21 > 0:38:25You know, it needs, it kind of demands
0:38:25 > 0:38:29a certain equality in energy to the music.
0:38:29 > 0:38:31I thought that with these guys, you know,
0:38:31 > 0:38:33they have that kind of energy.
0:38:33 > 0:38:35There's enough of them, they can fill the space
0:38:35 > 0:38:39so that orchestral music kind of equated to them.
0:38:39 > 0:38:43But, I mean, I make mostly things for up to six people,
0:38:43 > 0:38:48so to work for the size of BalletBoyz as it was in Fallen
0:38:48 > 0:38:50was different for me.
0:38:57 > 0:39:00EERIE MUSIC PLAYS
0:43:07 > 0:43:11I don't want to be pigeonholed into anything except dance.
0:43:13 > 0:43:16You know, is it contemporary? Mis it classical?
0:43:16 > 0:43:18If we do an Arabesque, does that make it classical?
0:43:18 > 0:43:21If we do an Aikido roll, is that contemporary?
0:43:24 > 0:43:28I mean, strictly speaking, if you're working with a classical vocabulary,
0:43:28 > 0:43:311st position, 2nd position, 3rd position, 4th, 5th,
0:43:31 > 0:43:34if we're working with all of those vocabulary,
0:43:34 > 0:43:38I guess that you could say that it's a classical language,
0:43:38 > 0:43:40even if you change the energy.
0:43:42 > 0:43:44I think more about language.
0:43:44 > 0:43:47I love line and line is really a part
0:43:47 > 0:43:52of classical ballet and classical sculpture,
0:43:52 > 0:43:57but I think it's something that I try and work with.
0:43:57 > 0:44:01I was originally a classical dancer, so I was a little bit apprehensive
0:44:01 > 0:44:03when I first made the move into contemporary dance.
0:44:03 > 0:44:07I think it was just fear of the unknown, really.
0:44:07 > 0:44:10It's a bit like being a football player
0:44:10 > 0:44:14and then suddenly deciding you want to become a rugby player.
0:44:14 > 0:44:17Working with Russell was a great experience.
0:44:17 > 0:44:21He was the first contemporary choreographer I'd ever worked with.
0:44:21 > 0:44:23He was really nurturing to work with him,
0:44:23 > 0:44:25cos he's a really relaxed guy.
0:44:25 > 0:44:29He takes the time to show you how it should be and then lets you grow
0:44:29 > 0:44:33and evolve over time, which I found very helpful.
0:44:37 > 0:44:39MID-TEMPO MUSIC PLAYS
0:47:29 > 0:47:30MUSIC STOPS
0:47:33 > 0:47:35THRUMMING SOUND
0:47:38 > 0:47:40EERIE MUSIC BEGINS
0:49:13 > 0:49:19I don't think there is a "should" in the way I want people to see it.
0:49:19 > 0:49:24For me, I want it to be something like a dream.
0:49:26 > 0:49:29It's hard to say what Fallen actually means,
0:49:29 > 0:49:35just because Russell never really gives a narrative to the process.
0:49:37 > 0:49:40It's strange, because a lot of people, when they come to see
0:49:40 > 0:49:43the show tend to interpret it in so many different ways.
0:49:43 > 0:49:47It could be that they think we're soldiers or even prisoners,
0:49:47 > 0:49:49but when we were in the studio with Russell and he was creating
0:49:49 > 0:49:52the work, he never gave it any narrative, as such.
0:50:01 > 0:50:04You can have images that relate to something.
0:50:04 > 0:50:08They might say something to you that is quite different to
0:50:08 > 0:50:13the person who's sat next to you or on the other side.
0:50:13 > 0:50:18So I don't want it to be so specific that it's only one thing.
0:50:18 > 0:50:22EERIE MUSIC CONTINUES
0:51:22 > 0:51:24CREAKING AND CLUNKING
0:52:02 > 0:52:08I felt like quite a lot of the guys already have that element of trust.
0:52:18 > 0:52:21They're willing to take a risk, knowing that they trust
0:52:21 > 0:52:27the other partners to break their fall or catch them or...
0:52:27 > 0:52:30I knew that I wanted to get into that material
0:52:30 > 0:52:32where the men are higher.
0:52:32 > 0:52:34I wasn't sure how that would be,
0:52:34 > 0:52:37but I thought there's enough guys that we can have two men
0:52:37 > 0:52:42holding or, you know, can climb - run up one and on to another.
0:52:42 > 0:52:47So it was related to a falling, a literal falling.
0:52:49 > 0:52:52As it happened, when it seemed...
0:52:52 > 0:52:54When the piece seemed to reveal more of itself,
0:52:54 > 0:52:58there is a kind of image, for me,
0:52:58 > 0:53:00that relates to the fallen men from war.
0:58:02 > 0:58:06APPLAUSE
0:58:06 > 0:58:09CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:58:34 > 0:58:36CHEERING AND APPLAUSE CONTINUES