0:00:35 > 0:00:37Yeah, it's so crazy right now...
0:00:37 > 0:00:43The music on Strictly's so important because it's the heart of the dance.
0:00:43 > 0:00:48With no music, with a good song, there won't be any good performance.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51At the start of each series we talk to all the dancers
0:00:51 > 0:00:54and ask them to send in a list of music they'd like to use.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57Each of the dance styles we use on Strictly Come Dancing
0:00:57 > 0:01:00have their own tempo, their own characteristics
0:01:00 > 0:01:04and it's my job, with the dancers, to decide on a piece of music
0:01:04 > 0:01:09which will give them the best opportunity to do the best dance they possibly can.
0:01:09 > 0:01:13It's not necessarily possible for us to use each of the dancers' first choices.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17Sometimes the piece of music has been used before.
0:01:17 > 0:01:23If you take a track like Just Dance by Lady GaGa, it's a good tempo for a cha-cha-cha.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25A lot of the dancers requested it this year.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29But because that music is so electronic in its composition
0:01:29 > 0:01:33we just don't think that it would sound great with our live band.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36It wouldn't be using our band to their maximum.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40Once we've decided on a piece of music with the dancer, I then speak
0:01:40 > 0:01:45to my music editor, Mark, and say, "I'd like a one minute 30 cut."
0:01:45 > 0:01:50Ben Skilbeck will send me a track which will be three or four minutes long. I will take that track,
0:01:50 > 0:01:56edit it down to a 90-second format, which will be an introduction, verse, chorus, ending, usually.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59Maybe a guitar solo to make it more interesting.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02# Holiday, holiday. #
0:02:02 > 0:02:07It can take two minutes or it can take two hours.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11I will bounce this down and e-mail it back to the guys
0:02:11 > 0:02:13and they will tell me if it's any good.
0:02:13 > 0:02:19Ben will then go back to the dancers. They'll go, "I don't like that. The chorus is in the wrong place.
0:02:19 > 0:02:20"It's the wrong tempo."
0:02:20 > 0:02:23If the tempo's not right, I have to speed it up or slow it down.
0:02:23 > 0:02:28It goes backwards and forwards till everyone's happy.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31We get the music on the Saturday night after the live show.
0:02:31 > 0:02:36Then on the Sunday, as soon as I wake up, I have my little espresso
0:02:36 > 0:02:39and then start playing the music over and over again,
0:02:39 > 0:02:42so I can get the feel of the song.
0:02:42 > 0:02:47This is the title of the song, Holiday, and this is the "rev3".
0:02:47 > 0:02:51That means the song has been cut already three times.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54So fingers crossed I'm going to like it.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58MUSIC: "Holiday" by Madonna
0:02:58 > 0:03:02My name's Dave Arch and I'm the music director of Strictly Come Dancing.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06I have to deliver all the music to be played by the band
0:03:06 > 0:03:10and I'm sort of responsible for it sounding good.
0:03:10 > 0:03:11I guess!
0:03:11 > 0:03:13# Holiday... #
0:03:14 > 0:03:19After I get the edits, I need to listen to all of those tracks analytically
0:03:19 > 0:03:23and write down every single note of them for the band to play.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27# It would be, it would so nice... #
0:03:27 > 0:03:30That could take between four to five hours per track.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33I never change the music during the week.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35What I do sometimes, I change the ending.
0:03:35 > 0:03:40A different ending will fit better with my celebrity partner.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45The best thing about my job is Saturday
0:03:45 > 0:03:49when we get to the studio and the band starts playing all this music.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52The atmosphere in the studio is electric.
0:03:52 > 0:03:57That's when it really comes home to everybody that, yeah, show day. Time to perform.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00The band first see the music at band call,
0:04:00 > 0:04:03which is typically about lunchtime on the Saturday.
0:04:03 > 0:04:08We have a little sound check, where we might play a couple of the harder things.
0:04:08 > 0:04:14Then we move on to a band call, where we're playing for the dancers. We do each track twice.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18Sometimes we get in there, they might be a couple percent slower
0:04:18 > 0:04:19or a little bit faster.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22We go through it roughly around three times.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25By the end of it, it's spot on. We really enjoy it.
0:04:28 > 0:04:29Here we go.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31Will you lot shut up?
0:04:31 > 0:04:36Even though the band plays the track at exactly the same tempo that the couple has been practising to,
0:04:36 > 0:04:39sometimes when they get to the studio,
0:04:39 > 0:04:42sometimes they hear things differently.
0:04:42 > 0:04:44They ask to speed things up, slow things down.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48We can always do that. It's the great thing with having a live band on this show.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59Then we have a dress run.
0:04:59 > 0:05:00Then we're live on air.
0:05:00 > 0:05:04So it's normally the fourth time that we play.
0:05:04 > 0:05:05That is pretty hairy.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08Live television is not easy.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10Once the music's ready for the live show,
0:05:10 > 0:05:14once we've gone through band call, there's nothing I can do about it.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17It's now up to the dancers to do their best stuff.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19The band will do what they do and play it live.
0:05:19 > 0:05:20It's samba time.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28# Celebrate, it would be so nice. #
0:05:38 > 0:05:42As a creative force, Soulwax are impossible to pigeonhole.
0:05:42 > 0:05:47They play live with their band of the same name, are two of the world's genuine superstar DJs,
0:05:47 > 0:05:50and their self-produced side project 2 many DJs
0:05:50 > 0:05:54was a mash-up album that blew dance culture apart.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57When the brothers are not on stage,
0:05:57 > 0:06:01they are two of the most sought-after remix producers on the planet.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04Their new album brings together a collection of their best remix work
0:06:04 > 0:06:09and includes underground classics, alongside tracks from Kylie and Robbie Williams.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13So what do you need to hear in a track to make you go, "Yeah, OK"?
0:06:13 > 0:06:16There's no real system. If the track is not that good,
0:06:16 > 0:06:21it makes it sometimes easier because you can take a little part that you like and just use that.
0:06:21 > 0:06:26Most of the remixes we do, we just take a little bit and we completely redo it.
0:06:26 > 0:06:31Have you turned remixes down simply because you didn't like the artist?
0:06:31 > 0:06:35- Yeah.- Really?- Yeah, but we tell them we don't have time.
0:06:35 > 0:06:40So right now there are loads of artists going, "Wait a minute, they told us that."
0:06:40 > 0:06:44- It's not you.- There are also a lot that we like that we turn down because we didn't have the time.
0:06:44 > 0:06:49Do you listen to music in a way that's different to other people?
0:06:49 > 0:06:53- No.- You don't listen to music and de-construct it?
0:06:53 > 0:06:55I don't know, I listen...
0:06:56 > 0:06:59That's like asking, "How do you look at things?" I don't know.
0:07:02 > 0:07:07A Soulwax club re-working of your track provides a kudos,
0:07:07 > 0:07:11a coolness by association that artists are literally queuing up for.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15Given the guys' reputation, I was dying to have a look at where and how they work.
0:07:17 > 0:07:19On first impressions, it's not quite where you'd expect
0:07:19 > 0:07:22two of the world's best producers to base themselves.
0:07:22 > 0:07:26Oh, my gosh, this is the lab!
0:07:26 > 0:07:30It's like a 1970s science fiction film.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32The place is crammed full of vintage gear.
0:07:32 > 0:07:38Most of it you'd be more likely to find in a skip, never mind a working studio.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42One of the many tracks they remixed here was by indie rockers The Gossip.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48When you break down a track like Standing In the Way Of Control by The Gossip,
0:07:48 > 0:07:52how many parts do they send you?
0:07:52 > 0:07:56- How many does that mean?- 30 tracks?
0:07:56 > 0:07:59Yeah. Something that takes a lot of tracks is drums.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03There's a kick drum, snare drum, overhead mics.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07Ambient mics. There's a lot of tracks for drums,
0:08:07 > 0:08:12but internally we bounce it down to two tracks.
0:08:12 > 0:08:16- We have two tracks for drums. - Do you think anybody is still following this?
0:08:16 > 0:08:21The guys begin work by stripping songs back to their basic recorded elements,
0:08:21 > 0:08:24and then set about reinventing the track.
0:08:24 > 0:08:29So by this point, these sets are building up
0:08:29 > 0:08:33to the point where they are going to replace the rest of the guitars and base.
0:08:33 > 0:08:39At some point, it will just be these kind of machines.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43That added with the drums would give you...
0:08:43 > 0:08:46Sorry.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49That's the chorus.
0:08:49 > 0:08:55Yeah. Then the guitars, bass, and...
0:08:59 > 0:09:02So this is the whole thing together.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05What amazed me about their method of working
0:09:05 > 0:09:11is that they use 30 or 40-year-old analogue gear alongside state-of-the-art digital equipment.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15This mix of the old and new is crucial to how the brothers work,
0:09:15 > 0:09:20providing edge to the process that gives each track a unique quality.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24Those sounds would be almost impossible to replicate if they only used digital devices.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28The thing with this desk also is, and I think that's one of the cool things...
0:09:28 > 0:09:31Most mixing desks now are automated,
0:09:31 > 0:09:35which means that any movement you do now,
0:09:35 > 0:09:36it remembers it.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39You do something, like you're mixing the levels and everything,
0:09:39 > 0:09:42then you push a button and it will go back to where you were.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44With this desk, it's old school.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46It's a really, really old one.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49So the slightest touch sometimes changes the whole sound.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51It means that you have to be prepared.
0:09:51 > 0:09:56We have to prepare ourselves because the minute we put it on there, that's it.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59We can't go back to it. Like the version you had of The Gossip,
0:09:59 > 0:10:05if someone asked us to redo it - make the same remix - it would take us weeks.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07It's a really delicate process.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10It's kind of like conducting something.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13You really have to prepare it. It's nice,
0:10:13 > 0:10:17cos you know once you do it, it's always going to be hard to do it a second time.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21Spending time with Soulwax, what hits you is the level
0:10:21 > 0:10:25of real musicianship that they bring to the remix process.
0:10:25 > 0:10:32People always think about electronic dance music, electronica, as being always modern thinking.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36All these big companies are coming up with the latest sound modules.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40You guys, this is all retro. How old is this machine?
0:10:40 > 0:10:43- Mid-'70s.- So what does this give you?
0:10:43 > 0:10:49What does this give you that a 21st-century digital sound module can't give you?
0:10:49 > 0:10:53That's what makes it interesting for us. See, for example, with this.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56You know how this goes...
0:10:58 > 0:11:00It's not perfect.
0:11:00 > 0:11:04It's kind of... The de-tuning is what makes it interesting.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07I think it's also what the human ear picks up.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10Something that doesn't sound right.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14- OK.- A lot of electronic music is just made with presets like a machine.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18You just have 99 presets, and you just go through them.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21"Yeah, that sounds right to me."
0:11:21 > 0:11:25That, to us, is boring. Cos it... You're not really doing anything.
0:11:25 > 0:11:32You find that you spend a lot more time going through all those presets than actually making...
0:11:32 > 0:11:35If you have limited possibilities,
0:11:35 > 0:11:38you make your own sounds. It's a lot more interesting.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41- This is kind of sadomasochism doing this?- Yeah.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44The motto of Soulwax is, "Why do it the easy way?"
0:11:44 > 0:11:47It just doesn't seem to work for us.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08Venezuela is an unlikely setting for a musical revolution.
0:12:08 > 0:12:13Despite having some of the largest oil reserves in the world,
0:12:13 > 0:12:1660% of its population lives in poverty.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21Since 1975, an ambitious scheme,
0:12:21 > 0:12:23known simply as El Sistema - The System,
0:12:23 > 0:12:28has been taking children from all over the country and putting instruments in their hands.
0:12:29 > 0:12:34But it's not just about music. It's unashamed social engineering -
0:12:34 > 0:12:40keeping kids off the streets and away from drugs and gangs.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47The Simon Bolivar is an orchestra like no other.
0:12:47 > 0:12:52Apart from anything else, there are 200 players - twice as many as in the average orchestra.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55The musicians have all grown up together
0:12:55 > 0:12:58and they now work and tour internationally.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01They're at the pinnacle of the Venezuelan system,
0:13:01 > 0:13:06which comprises 150 youth orchestras and 70 children's orchestras.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09270,000 kids in all.
0:13:13 > 0:13:18The man who started El Sistema 33 years ago
0:13:18 > 0:13:22is Jose Antonio Abreu, and he's still in charge today.
0:13:22 > 0:13:27Abreu began with just 11 youngsters, rehearsing in an underground car park.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31Now 15,000 teachers train over a quarter of a million children.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41What made you start The Sistema in 1975?
0:13:46 > 0:13:49TRANSLATION: I realised one of the most efficient ways
0:13:49 > 0:13:53to fight poverty was to introduce excluded children
0:13:53 > 0:13:56and young people to a musical education.
0:13:56 > 0:14:01Give them a way into music that they didn't have before.
0:14:05 > 0:14:10And turn their families and communities into our allies.
0:14:17 > 0:14:21Jhoanna Sierralta started learning the viola at the age of 13.
0:14:21 > 0:14:25Now, at 23, she leads the viola section.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29TRANSLATION: The goal for all young musicians in Venezuela
0:14:29 > 0:14:31is to play with the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra,
0:14:31 > 0:14:34what used to be the National Children's Orchestra.
0:14:37 > 0:14:43TRANSLATION: All the others in the orchestra with me moved to Caracas
0:14:43 > 0:14:45so they could train to join the Simon Bolivar Orchestra.
0:14:45 > 0:14:49Back then there were 100 of us, now there are nearly 200.
0:14:52 > 0:14:57The Sistema and its musicians don't exist in isolation.
0:14:57 > 0:15:03Following Abreu's original vision, music is fully integrated into the life of the country.
0:15:07 > 0:15:13TRANSLATION: The Sistema doesn't just produce musicians, people to play in orchestras.
0:15:13 > 0:15:14It also trains us as people,
0:15:14 > 0:15:17as human beings who are going to teach younger kids,
0:15:17 > 0:15:21not just how to play an instrument, but about friendship and sharing.
0:15:30 > 0:15:3231 years ago there wasn't much here.
0:15:32 > 0:15:36Just a few people studying music and they all wanted to work abroad.
0:15:36 > 0:15:41They'd say that there was no future for musicians in Venezuela,
0:15:41 > 0:15:44but when Maestro Abreu developed his vision,
0:15:44 > 0:15:50he was thinking beyond music to a wider social welfare aspect.
0:15:50 > 0:15:55It's not just a question of giving children an instrument or pointing them towards a music school.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58We go out and try to track them down.
0:15:58 > 0:16:02Try to motivate them, get them away from drugs and alcohol,
0:16:02 > 0:16:06from problems with their parents or other family members.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09And we tell them, "Here's an instrument for you.
0:16:09 > 0:16:11"You don't have to pay for it."
0:16:17 > 0:16:20Hard work can overcome anything.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23All the children and young people involved in the Sistema
0:16:23 > 0:16:25are proof of that.
0:16:25 > 0:16:32Across Venezuela, nearly 200 music schools have been established to attract the very youngest children.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37TRANSLATION: This is the Simon Bolivar Conservatory.
0:16:37 > 0:16:42My mother and I came here without realising that it was part of Maestro Abreu's Sistema.
0:16:42 > 0:16:47It's very close to my home. One of the best things about the Sistema
0:16:47 > 0:16:49is that it's accessible for most people,
0:16:49 > 0:16:52as there are schools all over Venezuela.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57Lots of times I saw kids coming out with instruments.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00That caught my attention and it's how I got started.
0:17:00 > 0:17:06We spent about six months studying theory, rhythm and how to read music.
0:17:06 > 0:17:11Then they gave us instruments and that was just totally different.
0:17:15 > 0:17:19THEY PLAY A SCALE
0:17:27 > 0:17:31TRANSLATION: Then suddenly it was, "Here's Tchaikovsky's Fourth."
0:17:31 > 0:17:34It's one of the first pieces the orchestras work on here.
0:17:34 > 0:17:40We kept saying how difficult it was, but Maestro Abreu reminded us that nothing is impossible.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44The more difficult it was, the easier it had to be for us to achieve it.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47We just had to work much harder.
0:17:48 > 0:17:52What's good here in Venezuela is that when you learn an instrument,
0:17:52 > 0:17:54you learn as part of an orchestra.
0:17:54 > 0:17:59You don't spend five or six years practising at home or at music school.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02ORCHESTRA REHEARSES
0:18:15 > 0:18:19Two years after their international smash hit, Black Watch,
0:18:19 > 0:18:21the National Theatre of Scotland are launching 365,
0:18:21 > 0:18:24a show that aims to turn equally difficult subject matter
0:18:24 > 0:18:28into an abstract and truly theatrical experience.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31In the run-up to its opening in Edinburgh,
0:18:31 > 0:18:35we went behind the scenes to their rehearsal rooms in Glasgow.
0:18:35 > 0:18:40Can they turn one of society's biggest problems into the hit show of 2008?
0:18:40 > 0:18:41I absolutely don't know.
0:18:41 > 0:18:46I think, I think it's really challenging, this piece. I really do.
0:18:46 > 0:18:48It could all go wrong. We haven't got anything to fall back on.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51It may end in abject failure.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54I might piss Scottish social workers off en masse.
0:18:54 > 0:18:56You need to go.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59You need to learn how to do these things.
0:18:59 > 0:19:03365 tackles the issues faced by young people brought up in care.
0:19:03 > 0:19:10'The starting point for me was something I kind of had as a pet thought or theory or something,'
0:19:10 > 0:19:14which was about how we call ourselves a civilised society,
0:19:14 > 0:19:17yet we allow child misery to exist everywhere.
0:19:19 > 0:19:23The show is set in a practice flat, a halfway house where young care leavers
0:19:23 > 0:19:26learn to live on their own for the very first time.
0:19:26 > 0:19:32The practice flat is a place where there is supported accommodation or living.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36Where the young people go to learn how to budget, to cook, to exist, to live, to be free.
0:19:36 > 0:19:40Often they've been in homes surrounded by loads of other people.
0:19:42 > 0:19:48All these ideas floating around my head shrunk into one image of a flat, and a door opening.
0:19:48 > 0:19:52And somebody, who's had a really unconventional, complicated childhood,
0:19:52 > 0:19:55walking into this flat, to have to learn to be an adult.
0:19:57 > 0:20:03I think all of us had no idea, kind of, what care was like at all.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07You kind of have this view of it, which is wrong.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10I think people kind of know that kids are in care.
0:20:10 > 0:20:12But nobody really knows these fine details.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16This is the furthest away I have ever been for myself.
0:20:16 > 0:20:21It's been quite difficult. I think I can say that for everybody, really.
0:20:21 > 0:20:23We have to go to quite an awful place really.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26A lot of the times, there's been tears shed.
0:20:33 > 0:20:39We talked right at the start before rehearsals about restraining kids.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41The idea that, when that's happened to you,
0:20:41 > 0:20:43you recall it in your body as a physical experience.
0:20:43 > 0:20:47It's amazing that these people are treated in that way.
0:20:47 > 0:20:48That's part of their life,
0:20:48 > 0:20:51being restrained, and being held down by people.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57Like Black Watch, 365 is based on meticulous research,
0:20:57 > 0:21:00and real experiences across the care industry.
0:21:00 > 0:21:05But this time, the NTS are going one stage further in the way the show has been devised.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09The script is a collaboration between award-winning playwright David Harrower,
0:21:09 > 0:21:12and the improvisations of a very young cast.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15I use the actors very, very closely in this.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18I've brought stuff, and they've added to it.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21It's been a constant to-ing and fro-ing process.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25If you have an idea, you go to David and say, "I've got a great idea, can I tell you about it?"
0:21:25 > 0:21:30It's always open door. So, you feel as though you're very attached to the material,
0:21:30 > 0:21:33because you're creating it as much as the writer is.
0:21:33 > 0:21:37For an auteur like David Harrower, this is an unusual step.
0:21:37 > 0:21:42David's been writing all the way through. I don't think one scene remains that we started with.
0:21:42 > 0:21:43Everything's been re-written.
0:21:43 > 0:21:48One of the things we've set out to the actors is, if we get to the first preview and it's not working,
0:21:48 > 0:21:50we could scrap it and start from scratch.
0:21:52 > 0:21:58With three weeks to go, the team leave Glasgow for dress rehearsals and previews in Inverness.
0:21:58 > 0:22:04It's the first time they'll play to a live audience. But the show still isn't finished.
0:22:04 > 0:22:05I'm nervous. Really nervous.
0:22:05 > 0:22:09- It's two days to go.- And we're still getting scene changes.
0:22:09 > 0:22:10That process is really hard.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14Scene changes and new scripts. But it's exciting. It's good.
0:22:14 > 0:22:18You might want to come in two different ways.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21'A lot of things have changed. There's been eight'
0:22:21 > 0:22:24new scenes written, which have replaced other scenes.
0:22:24 > 0:22:29I promised the actors that I'll stop making changes after this Friday, which is five days away.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32But I can't really promise that.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36HE KNOCKS LOUDLY
0:22:36 > 0:22:38Are you in there?
0:22:38 > 0:22:41Open the door.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44The thing about the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
0:22:44 > 0:22:48is that audiences are there because they want to go to the theatre and they're interested.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51So there's definitely a sense of adventure.
0:22:51 > 0:22:55Opening at the international festival is slightly different than the Fringe.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59The eyes of the world are upon it. You're going into the lion's den.
0:22:59 > 0:23:01- Get away from my front door! - I'm not going anywhere.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04I'm staying right here until you face me.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19Katie Mitchell is one of theatre's most innovative directors,
0:23:19 > 0:23:25enthusiastically using film and multimedia in her stage productions.
0:23:25 > 0:23:27Ready? Action.
0:23:32 > 0:23:37I'm watching rehearsals for her new National Theatre production, based on Dostoevsky's The Idiot.
0:23:37 > 0:23:43It's all filmed and projected live on to a screen above the stage.
0:23:43 > 0:23:50While actors appear silently on the screen, others provide voiceover and sound effects,
0:23:50 > 0:23:53and even operate the cameras.
0:23:57 > 0:24:02As a film critic, I've always been very sceptical about artists from other media
0:24:02 > 0:24:04attempting to transpose film into their work.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08It's a very dangerous area, and, put simply,
0:24:08 > 0:24:13the chances of getting it badly wrong are much greater than the possibilities of getting it right.
0:24:13 > 0:24:17But Mitchell claims this method of live filming is the only way
0:24:17 > 0:24:20to try and simplify the difficult source novel.
0:24:21 > 0:24:25Explain for me in terms of, it's a theatre production,
0:24:25 > 0:24:30how you used the cinematic imagery with the theatre production.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33We started using video like this when we did Virginia Woolf's The Waves,
0:24:33 > 0:24:37and we were trying to find a form, actually, which could communicate a novel,
0:24:37 > 0:24:42which was entirely made up of internal monologues, which are just thoughts inside people's heads.
0:24:42 > 0:24:47So we realised we couldn't do that as spoken word, we'd have to use some other tool.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51So we looked at video close-ups, and then voiceovers.
0:24:51 > 0:24:54And, from that, we evolved a way of shooting,
0:24:54 > 0:24:59and combining that shooting with live performance.
0:24:59 > 0:25:03It would be almost impossible to adapt The Idiot on stage,
0:25:03 > 0:25:08and capture huge swathes of the internal dynamics in someone's head,
0:25:08 > 0:25:11like Myshkin, the protagonist, absolutely impossible.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13In moments of great joy,
0:25:13 > 0:25:16he always felt sad, and did not know why.
0:25:16 > 0:25:21The thing that's most impressive in just the scene that I've seen being rehearsed,
0:25:21 > 0:25:29is how beautifully choreographed the projected image is.
0:25:29 > 0:25:33I quite like the ugliness of the chaos of the construction, and the exquisiteness of the shot.
0:25:33 > 0:25:39And we aim to set the bar very very high on the shots, to make them be as lit,
0:25:39 > 0:25:41as beautiful as they possibly can be.
0:25:41 > 0:25:46And the problem is, or the beauty perhaps is, there will always be errors,
0:25:46 > 0:25:48because it's entirely live.
0:25:48 > 0:25:54As soon as the audience cotton on to the fact that every element is live, you can see the audience suddenly go,
0:25:54 > 0:25:59"Whoosh," because they go, "This is not pre-recorded output, it's live.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01"And there could be an error at any moment."
0:26:01 > 0:26:05And there's a great delight in participating in that, I think, as an audience member.
0:26:08 > 0:26:13The film elements aren't add-ons here, but are integral to the performance,
0:26:13 > 0:26:16so I feel a whole lot more comfortable with them.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18But Mitchell's style hasn't always won her fans.
0:26:18 > 0:26:23Critics have accused her of an arrogant, auteurish approach.
0:26:23 > 0:26:27One theatre-goer posted a programme of her production of Chekhov's The Seagull back to her
0:26:27 > 0:26:30with one word scrawled on it, "Rubbish."
0:26:30 > 0:26:34One of the criticisms of your work is, "She'll take a text, then throw it out the window
0:26:34 > 0:26:36"and make her own version of it."
0:26:36 > 0:26:41You have come in for a certain amount of flak with people saying, "It's her vision."
0:26:41 > 0:26:43Hm. Yes.
0:26:43 > 0:26:47In my head, I'm not looking at a play like The Seagull
0:26:47 > 0:26:51and smashing it to smithereens in a careless fashion.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54Actually, I'm studying it really carefully.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58So, for me, it's very delicate to make a very old play,
0:26:58 > 0:27:04from a much earlier time, live very clearly and brilliantly now.
0:27:04 > 0:27:08Do you like to think of yourself as an auteur? I would take that as a compliment.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12I don't like so much to be called an auteur.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15It doesn't sit very comfortably on me.
0:27:15 > 0:27:20I'm just trying to do things as clearly as I possibly can.
0:27:20 > 0:27:24In a way, every director makes a huge range of interpretational decisions,
0:27:24 > 0:27:29the costuming, the casting, the translation of a text, the design of it.
0:27:29 > 0:27:33And it's just different degrees of intensity of interpretation.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37So I suppose in mine, it's just a little extremely interpreted.
0:27:37 > 0:27:41But it's almost as if there's me extremely interpreting it,
0:27:41 > 0:27:46and everyone else doing a very discreet, beautiful, true to the text thing. But that's not the case.
0:27:46 > 0:27:50They're all interpreting it, but they're interpreting it in a different direction.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54I'd like to reclaim that term as a term of praise,
0:27:54 > 0:27:56not a term of abuse. When people call you an auteur,
0:27:56 > 0:28:01- you should say, "I am. And I'm very proud of it." - I'll try it out then.- OK.
0:28:11 > 0:28:16It's the recipe for the blockbuster musical that no-one's been able to match.
0:28:18 > 0:28:20Take a deformed ghost,
0:28:20 > 0:28:23a virginal beauty,
0:28:23 > 0:28:25her rather drippy suitor,
0:28:25 > 0:28:28and a collapsing chandelier.
0:28:28 > 0:28:33Add lashings of lush romantic music, and there you have it,
0:28:33 > 0:28:37the most successful stage show in history.
0:28:37 > 0:28:43Transforming the show into a lavish West End musical fell to the late Maria Bjornson.
0:28:43 > 0:28:49But, the opera designer had never worked in mainstream theatre before.
0:28:49 > 0:28:52This I'd quite like to be a shiny black,
0:28:52 > 0:28:57- that's actually quite reflective, and to mix velvet with a shine. - Sure.
0:28:57 > 0:29:02Maria was a crazy genius really.
0:29:02 > 0:29:04She was tough to work for,
0:29:04 > 0:29:06she was always tearing her hair out
0:29:06 > 0:29:10about some terrible detail that wasn't going right.
0:29:10 > 0:29:16But you put up with it all, because you knew the final product was going to be amazing.
0:29:16 > 0:29:23The crazy genius and her assistant were facing one of the biggest challenges of their careers.
0:29:27 > 0:29:33Their task was to recreate the Phantom's original home, the majestic Paris Opera House.
0:29:53 > 0:29:59Maria and I came here in late November '85, and there was a sprinkling of snow outside.
0:29:59 > 0:30:02And we came here, really, to get the spirit of the building.
0:30:02 > 0:30:07We took hundreds of photographs, and went all the way down to the basement and up to the roof.
0:30:10 > 0:30:15We spent a lot of time here on the staircase because, obviously, it's a prominent feature of the show,
0:30:15 > 0:30:21and really to find out how we could adapt the details to be part of a theatrical presentation.
0:30:31 > 0:30:35A key feature of the show was to be a massive chandelier,
0:30:35 > 0:30:39which would crash down over the heads of the audience.
0:30:39 > 0:30:42We looked at this amazing chandelier and thought,
0:30:42 > 0:30:47"How are we going to get anything like this in a small London theatre, and make it work?"
0:30:47 > 0:30:52But, by looking at the design - and it's made in hoops, which makes it collapsible,
0:30:52 > 0:30:58which was a godsend to us, we were able to take those elements, and made a simplified design.
0:31:00 > 0:31:04On 30th September, previews began.
0:31:04 > 0:31:10The public's first opportunity to see the show before its official opening.
0:31:12 > 0:31:19All eyes were on the other star attraction - the massive chandelier, which had taken weeks to build.
0:31:20 > 0:31:27Not surprisingly, the local council wasn't that keen to let it fall over the heads of the audience.
0:31:29 > 0:31:31I was always nervous because you thought,
0:31:31 > 0:31:34"Well, if they end up saying no, you haven't got a show."
0:31:34 > 0:31:37It really wasn't until the first preview,
0:31:37 > 0:31:39which the authorities allowed us to do,
0:31:40 > 0:31:42and they saw the show...
0:31:43 > 0:31:45and we all sat beneath it as it came down.
0:31:48 > 0:31:52And they went, "Oh no, fine. It's all OK. The show's great. Do it."
0:31:52 > 0:31:54We were terrified that this chandelier
0:31:54 > 0:31:56was going to fall into the pit.
0:31:56 > 0:31:59This occupied my thoughts completely.
0:31:59 > 0:32:02We were told it could not come in the pit.
0:32:02 > 0:32:05Categorically, it couldn't come into the pit.
0:32:05 > 0:32:09- From where you were sitting, could you see it fall?- I could see it.
0:32:09 > 0:32:10I could see Mike Reed conducting.
0:32:10 > 0:32:14The person who was most terrified was the conductor.
0:32:14 > 0:32:16When it came down, he'd conduct like this.
0:32:16 > 0:32:20I remember I used to have to duck because it used to come right over my head.
0:32:20 > 0:32:22And the first time it happened, I thought,
0:32:22 > 0:32:27"Oh, shit. This is going to... This is... This is a bit close."
0:32:27 > 0:32:30And it always missed but, you know, just.
0:32:40 > 0:32:43The internet has made sketch comedy more democratic.
0:32:43 > 0:32:46Anyone who thinks they're funny can upload content.
0:32:46 > 0:32:51I love the fact that you no longer need a broadcaster to make your sketches.
0:32:51 > 0:32:55A case in point is my childhood comedy hero, Richard Herring.
0:32:55 > 0:32:59He records his own material and then podcasts his show, all out of his own pocket.
0:32:59 > 0:33:04I've set myself the ridiculous task of writing around 45 minutes of brand-new material every week
0:33:04 > 0:33:08for ten weeks, on my own, with no team of writers like all the other proper comedians.
0:33:08 > 0:33:12How did the idea come about for running your podcast live?
0:33:12 > 0:33:14I'd been doing a Radio 2 show that was about history,
0:33:14 > 0:33:16and then I said to them,
0:33:16 > 0:33:18"Can I do one about what's happened to me this week
0:33:18 > 0:33:21and what's going on in the world, but from my perspective?"
0:33:21 > 0:33:26It didn't happen and then I just kind of thought, "Why don't I just do it myself?"
0:33:26 > 0:33:30It just felt quite exciting to be able to do a show where anything could happen,
0:33:30 > 0:33:35and I didn't have to worry about upsetting people because people choose to download it.
0:33:35 > 0:33:37That's another good thing about the internet.
0:33:37 > 0:33:42If you're on TV or radio, you're being broadcast into people's homes, and you have a responsibility.
0:33:42 > 0:33:46- On the internet, they choose to listen.- And they can stop quite easily.
0:33:46 > 0:33:48They can stop and they don't have to listen.
0:33:48 > 0:33:53So I had the freedom to think, "I'll do something that I know people who like me will like,
0:33:53 > 0:33:57"maybe it'll get more people to like me, maybe it won't, but let's see how it goes."
0:33:57 > 0:34:03That suits stand-ups as well because when you're a stand-up, you write your own shows, you're the boss.
0:34:03 > 0:34:06I think, for me, TV comedy, not exclusively,
0:34:06 > 0:34:13but the people who are deciding what goes on TV and radio generally don't know as much about comedy as I do,
0:34:13 > 0:34:16and are putting shows together, like, "I like him, and him, and him.
0:34:16 > 0:34:20"Let's put them together and do the same sketch every week."
0:34:20 > 0:34:25So it's that freedom to go, "Look, I've got an idea. It IS good enough that people will like it."
0:34:27 > 0:34:31And if people like it, the potential for a cult audience is huge,
0:34:31 > 0:34:34as Will Ferrell proved when he posted a sketch about his landlord.
0:34:34 > 0:34:36Hi, Pearl.
0:34:37 > 0:34:38You don't have to raise your voice.
0:34:40 > 0:34:41I can give you half.
0:34:41 > 0:34:44The sketches received over 65 million hits,
0:34:44 > 0:34:48and led to the creation of the website Funny Or Die.
0:34:48 > 0:34:52The site thrives on its audience critiquing the sketches.
0:34:52 > 0:34:57Viewers are asked to rate the sketch as funny, or whether it should just be killed off.
0:35:00 > 0:35:03A year ago, a British version of Funny Or Die was set up.
0:35:03 > 0:35:09I caught up with its creative director, James Serafinowicz, as he filmed one of his sketches.
0:35:09 > 0:35:13How do you think the internet has changed the way people make comedy?
0:35:13 > 0:35:16It's slowly starting to make people be more open
0:35:16 > 0:35:18to ideas of making other stuff.
0:35:18 > 0:35:20Like, in the past, I think,
0:35:20 > 0:35:24everyone would kind of squirrel their ideas and protect them,
0:35:24 > 0:35:28and if you had, like, you know, an idea for a sitcom or whatever,
0:35:28 > 0:35:33then you'd make sure that no-one in the world would ever find out what it is,
0:35:33 > 0:35:36just in case that was your ticket to fame and fortune.
0:35:36 > 0:35:38It's easier to do, because...
0:35:38 > 0:35:41You can see what we are filming today, it's just, you know,
0:35:41 > 0:35:44you've turned up, we're going to do it, and in an hour we'll be finished.
0:35:44 > 0:35:50So it might be easy to make, but, if you're starting out, how do you know that your sketches are even funny?
0:35:50 > 0:35:52Hello, welcome to Popcorn Comedy.
0:35:52 > 0:35:54Thank you for coming along.
0:35:54 > 0:35:56Popcorn Comedy is a night that's run like a gig,
0:35:56 > 0:36:01where the best in new internet sketch talent is showcased in front of an audience.
0:36:01 > 0:36:06Hi, darling. I'm John Cornish, your husband of 25 years.
0:36:06 > 0:36:08And I'd like to welcome you to this DVD.
0:36:08 > 0:36:12The night was set up a few months ago by two comics.
0:36:12 > 0:36:15I think, for the film-makers, they get a chance to see
0:36:15 > 0:36:17their films in front of an audience,
0:36:17 > 0:36:21and understand where the laughs come, and the reaction.
0:36:21 > 0:36:26And that really helps you in the future, so that you know what works. You kind of understand it.
0:36:26 > 0:36:31What do you feel the advantages are of making films online as opposed to trying to get things made on TV?
0:36:31 > 0:36:35It's quite liberating, cos you don't have to worry about...
0:36:35 > 0:36:37In TV, the further up you seem to go in TV,
0:36:37 > 0:36:42the more people there are to sort of tell you where you have to change your script,
0:36:42 > 0:36:46or just all chipping in there like the proverb, too many cooks thing.
0:36:46 > 0:36:50But with the internet, you kind of, you know, you can just do what you want.
0:36:50 > 0:36:54What advice would you give to people thinking about making their own sketches?
0:36:54 > 0:36:57Make it, put it up. If you've got an idea, put it out.
0:36:57 > 0:37:03And also, don't be precious about ideas because, you know, maybe it isn't funny.
0:37:03 > 0:37:08But you've got to kind of get through the layers of rubbish before you strike gold.
0:37:08 > 0:37:11You can always delete it. If it's not funny, just delete it.
0:37:11 > 0:37:15So if anyone can make their own sketches and put them online,
0:37:15 > 0:37:18where does a traditional broadcaster now fit in?
0:37:18 > 0:37:21People can certainly be successful without a broadcaster,
0:37:21 > 0:37:24of course they can. And that's great, but...
0:37:24 > 0:37:29So I think it's more for the broadcaster to work out how they fit into the equation.
0:37:29 > 0:37:31There is a whole audience out there who are...
0:37:31 > 0:37:35They're consuming more media, so television is still being watched.
0:37:35 > 0:37:40But they're also consuming it online, and it's part of their media mix.
0:37:40 > 0:37:45And if we're not part of that, then we miss out a whole part of people's time and their interests.
0:37:45 > 0:37:48And I think there's a danger of becoming less relevant.
0:38:01 > 0:38:03Hello, sir, welcome to the hotel.
0:38:05 > 0:38:06We do hope you enjoy your stay.
0:38:08 > 0:38:14Mark Watson's latest project, The Hotel, is possibly the boldest show at this year's Fringe.
0:38:14 > 0:38:18Billed as installation art meets promenade theatre meets comedy,
0:38:18 > 0:38:24it's been a three-month labour of love for Watson and production company, The Invisible Dot.
0:38:24 > 0:38:31A cast and crew of 75, all working for free, have transformed an empty building on Queen St into a hotel,
0:38:31 > 0:38:34cramming its five floors with an incredible amount of detail.
0:38:34 > 0:38:37I've done some weird things in Edinburgh, but this
0:38:37 > 0:38:39is the most difficult to explain.
0:38:39 > 0:38:41It's not really a play,
0:38:41 > 0:38:45it's not really a... arguably, it's not even really a show.
0:38:45 > 0:38:49What's basically happening is the audience is going to come in and be taken round the rooms.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52Second floor, one above that. Enjoy the show.
0:38:52 > 0:38:56They'll be sort of funnelled through the hotel by officious staff,
0:38:56 > 0:38:59who will be getting in the way and ordering them around.
0:38:59 > 0:39:04People will come in groups or couples and, even then, they will sometimes be sort of forcibly separated.
0:39:04 > 0:39:06Hello, madam. Come this way, please.
0:39:06 > 0:39:08The restaurant's full at the moment. This way.
0:39:08 > 0:39:11I'm as suspicious of audience participation as anyone.
0:39:11 > 0:39:15I hate the idea of being coerced into doing stuff, but, because of the setting,
0:39:15 > 0:39:19I don't think people will feel they're made to do something unpleasant.
0:39:19 > 0:39:22Some things that you go to, like this where it's more of a museum,
0:39:22 > 0:39:27or installation piece, and it's quite static, you can look around and think, "I've seen this now."
0:39:27 > 0:39:31I think here, people will always feel like there's more to see, you know.
0:39:31 > 0:39:34Work began on the site back in July,
0:39:34 > 0:39:39when a small army of volunteers arrived to scavenge for props, and start building the set.
0:39:39 > 0:39:41I think of it in two stages, really.
0:39:41 > 0:39:43Stage one is build the thing,
0:39:43 > 0:39:46and stage two is to fill it with comedians.
0:39:46 > 0:39:49And then Mark Watson's arriving in Edinburgh about 2nd August.
0:39:49 > 0:39:54So me and Mark will work with all the comedians, and work up their scripts and things like this.
0:39:54 > 0:39:57So it will be by the seat of our pants. We're making it up as we go along.
0:39:57 > 0:40:02We got 20 volunteers. They're not getting paid, I'm not getting paid, Mark's not getting paid.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05All the money goes on building the show.
0:40:05 > 0:40:09Even best-case scenario, you can't make any money.
0:40:09 > 0:40:12So I don't really know what I'm doing here.
0:40:12 > 0:40:17Started recruiting people on no more sort of substantial basis than just saying,
0:40:17 > 0:40:21"We're doing something in a hotel. It will be a show. Do you fancy it?"
0:40:21 > 0:40:25And, Edinburgh being what it is, incredibly, a lot of people did come forward from that.
0:40:25 > 0:40:29The cast were brought in just one day before the show opened.
0:40:29 > 0:40:33They were given some notes by Mark, and then left to improvise.
0:40:33 > 0:40:37I think you're all about sort of making these empty statements.
0:40:37 > 0:40:39So, in a way, you ran that very fast.
0:40:39 > 0:40:41In another way, you didn't run that very fast,
0:40:41 > 0:40:44and, in another way, it wasn't you running. Things like that.
0:40:44 > 0:40:46And the track wasn't even there.
0:40:46 > 0:40:48I think one of the things about...
0:40:48 > 0:40:52- There's an envelope in this room. We need to push that.- Exactly, yeah.
0:40:52 > 0:40:56My guy is Vivian Fleet, who is a wellness tsar.
0:40:56 > 0:40:59I think it's going to involve some degree of spandex.
0:40:59 > 0:41:01Wellness is all around us.
0:41:01 > 0:41:03- Yes, I can see that, but is it really?- It's on the windows.
0:41:03 > 0:41:06- OK.- This woman here...- is not well.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08- She thought she was well, she isn't.- OK.
0:41:08 > 0:41:12What proportion of the guests would you say, are, "well," as you put it?
0:41:12 > 0:41:16No-one, apart from myself. Holly is getting there, my assistant.
0:41:16 > 0:41:18So not a single person is actually...
0:41:18 > 0:41:23No. We've just done a wellness exercise, and it was done extremely poorly by the people in here.
0:41:23 > 0:41:25Couldn't even shut their eyes.
0:41:25 > 0:41:27There is no precedence, there's no expectations.
0:41:27 > 0:41:31There are no rules, so some people will, I think,
0:41:31 > 0:41:32be really wowed by it, as they say,
0:41:32 > 0:41:36and will really go away feeling like this absolutely unique experience.
0:41:36 > 0:41:41But quite feasibly, other people will think, "That was stupid, a stupid thing to do."
0:41:41 > 0:41:44And I'm... I think we're all quite happy with that, basically.
0:41:44 > 0:41:46Please come again soon.
0:42:07 > 0:42:10I've always believed in, with my shows, that in the main,
0:42:10 > 0:42:14that it's great to try and sort of bring forward the boundaries of the musical.
0:42:20 > 0:42:23At the moment I think the interest in India is at an all-time high.
0:42:23 > 0:42:27So, if you ever had to do something like this, this is the right time to do it.
0:42:31 > 0:42:34This is going to be a big dance show.
0:42:34 > 0:42:37They just move, and they don't stop moving all the way through.
0:42:41 > 0:42:45The shows that I've worked on successfully
0:42:45 > 0:42:49is when the team gels, and there's no overriding egos.
0:42:49 > 0:42:56I mean, we all have our egos, but it's when the egos actually combine and move forward as one.
0:42:56 > 0:43:00And it's a very, making musicals is a very, very difficult thing,
0:43:00 > 0:43:04because the number of people there with their egos, with their creative ideas...
0:43:04 > 0:43:08You have the choreographer, the director, the designer, the costume designer,
0:43:08 > 0:43:12the lighting designer, let alone the authors, the composer and writer.
0:43:12 > 0:43:18Steven Pimlott and Anthony Van Laast are here to visit Bombay,
0:43:18 > 0:43:21to research Bollywood dance routines with Farah Khan,
0:43:21 > 0:43:24which their British Asian cast will need to master.
0:43:24 > 0:43:27- It's quite exciting seeing it all for the first time.- It is very exciting.
0:43:37 > 0:43:40- It's going to be great today, working with the Indian dancers. - Yeah.
0:43:40 > 0:43:43It's going to be very interesting.
0:43:43 > 0:43:47It's the first day of my collaboration, really.
0:43:47 > 0:43:49- Yes, it is.- And how it's going to...
0:43:49 > 0:43:51How it's going to work.
0:43:52 > 0:43:57- Hi, everybody. This is Anthony. - Hi, hi, hi.
0:43:57 > 0:44:01- This is Gita.- Gita, nice to meet you. And this is Nicola.- Hi, Gita.
0:44:01 > 0:44:05- Finally.- And this is Steven Pimlott here, the director. - Nice to meet you, hi.
0:44:10 > 0:44:14Farah Khan choreographed the famous train sequence in the film Dil Se,
0:44:14 > 0:44:19which was composed by AR Rahman, and is to feature in Bombay Dreams.
0:45:01 > 0:45:04What's so good about watching them now is they have a style
0:45:04 > 0:45:07that none of the dancers in England have,
0:45:07 > 0:45:11and I think it's really important that I look at this style with you.
0:45:11 > 0:45:15Just the way the men move too, it's just very different to the way that our men move.
0:45:15 > 0:45:18- Many are better than the girls are. - It's fantastic.
0:45:18 > 0:45:211, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
0:45:21 > 0:45:25- Do that again.- It's just, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6..."- So a double here?
0:45:26 > 0:45:28But you don't move. It's just there.
0:45:32 > 0:45:35- Don't move your legs too much. - You know what? You need more hips!
0:45:35 > 0:45:39And I need to lose mine. You can take mine!
0:45:41 > 0:45:47Watching Nicola move now, you can see that she's actually got a much harder edge to it,
0:45:47 > 0:45:50whereas when you watch Geeta working,
0:45:50 > 0:45:54it's much softer but the weight is right down, the weight is sunk,
0:45:54 > 0:45:58maybe because from classical Indian dancing, where the weight is much more sunk down,
0:45:58 > 0:46:03maybe that's coming through, maybe in the culture, the way that people move here anyway,
0:46:03 > 0:46:05the weight's much further down than we normally work.
0:46:05 > 0:46:09You've got to go up and down.
0:46:09 > 0:46:13'What happens in this song is that the language kind of dictates
0:46:13 > 0:46:17'the kind of movements you would do, especially if they are love songs.
0:46:17 > 0:46:20'If it's just a dance number and they're singing,'
0:46:20 > 0:46:23it doesn't matter what the words mean, but if it's a love song,
0:46:23 > 0:46:28I definitely make sure that what they're saying collaborates with what they're doing,
0:46:28 > 0:46:34you know, because with English lyrics, that could look a little ridiculous.
0:46:34 > 0:46:39But I think I'll face that problem when I hear the songs.
0:46:39 > 0:46:45He's a slum boy who wants to be in films, so he should be doing everything as if he's...
0:46:45 > 0:46:48- Almost like he's the star.- And then the girls can join in behind him.
0:46:48 > 0:46:51We'll have a cart he can climb on, and have someone push it.
0:46:51 > 0:46:53Exactly. So we'll do a little kind of backing dancing.
0:46:53 > 0:46:55Yes, almost like a backing.
0:46:55 > 0:46:59We're going to have these really slummy girls, but almost like back-up singers.
0:46:59 > 0:47:03You know, if he's got a pipe in his hand and he's using it like a mic.
0:47:03 > 0:47:05And these girls behind going...
0:47:06 > 0:47:08Would they do all this?
0:47:08 > 0:47:10- Would they do this?- Yeah, yeah.
0:47:13 > 0:47:20- Lovely.- In the Bollywood pictures, you had 40, 50, 60 people doing the same step over and over again.
0:47:20 > 0:47:25In the West End, on a stage, that would be interesting for about 15 or 20 seconds.
0:47:25 > 0:47:27So what I have to do is somehow...
0:47:27 > 0:47:29That would be the climax of the number.
0:47:29 > 0:47:34There's an old expression in choreography that unison, which means everyone dancing together,
0:47:34 > 0:47:39is the most powerful weapon, but only powerful when used in a very small amount.
0:47:39 > 0:47:42So if you had everybody dancing together for three minutes,
0:47:42 > 0:47:46it would be like hearing someone screaming for three minutes - boring.
0:47:46 > 0:47:49And then also, within the Bollywood steps,
0:47:49 > 0:47:54there are steps which will work and steps which won't work on a West End stage.
0:47:54 > 0:47:57So I have to edit those steps as well to make them work.
0:47:57 > 0:48:00What I've got to do is sculpt them and change them. "Face that way, move that way."
0:48:00 > 0:48:04'They don't do a lot of moving around. It's all done in blocks.
0:48:04 > 0:48:09'I've got to move it around, shape it around, and then find a way of orchestrating it to make it work.
0:48:09 > 0:48:11'It's going to be quite a challenge.'
0:48:22 > 0:48:24We're the Ballet Boyz.
0:48:24 > 0:48:27We were leading dancers with the Royal Ballet for 12 years,
0:48:27 > 0:48:30where the Rite of Spring was one of our favourite ballets.
0:48:30 > 0:48:35It's a production that changed the rules of music and dance forever.
0:48:35 > 0:48:40It tells the story of an ancient tribe, whose pagan ritual climaxes in the sacrifice of a virgin.
0:48:42 > 0:48:46Before that opening night in Paris, ballet looked like this.
0:48:46 > 0:48:49Afterwards, it could be raw, primitive, even ugly.
0:48:49 > 0:48:53The audience was so outraged that fighting broke out.
0:48:53 > 0:48:56A century on, we've set ourselves a challenge.
0:48:56 > 0:49:00Using extracts from the original score, we're re-making the Rite of Spring.
0:49:00 > 0:49:04We're starting with the pounding rhythms of the adolescents' dance.
0:49:04 > 0:49:07This scene introduces us to the younger members of the tribe.
0:49:07 > 0:49:12It sounds to us like a battle, teenagers showing off, trying to outdo each other.
0:49:12 > 0:49:16We think the best way to interpret this music is with break dancing.
0:49:21 > 0:49:24So this is some sort of warm-up. I mean, if you were a ballet dancer,
0:49:24 > 0:49:27you'd be standing at a bar now, bending your knees.
0:49:27 > 0:49:32- But it looks a bit like a battle. I mean, that's kind of...- Yeah, apparently this is how it starts.
0:49:40 > 0:49:45- He's good.- Yeah. I think we're going to take this whole team. This is their A-team.
0:49:49 > 0:49:53So this is the music. I'm not sure if anyone's going to be able to dance to it.
0:49:53 > 0:49:57This could be where the plan just falls apart right now.
0:49:57 > 0:49:59MUSIC: "The Augurs Of Spring" by Stravinsky
0:50:04 > 0:50:07- Stravinsky, right?- Yeah.
0:50:12 > 0:50:16So this is what we see as sort of a battle theme.
0:50:16 > 0:50:18There'd be, like, six guys on each side.
0:50:19 > 0:50:25The time signatures and the tempo's a bit different than what they're used to, but...
0:50:25 > 0:50:29- It's slightly less random. - Are you going to leave us with that, so we can get used to it?
0:50:29 > 0:50:31- Yeah.- Then that's easy.
0:50:31 > 0:50:34- Yeah?- Yeah.- All right, I'll see you in a month's time, then.
0:50:34 > 0:50:35That's cracked it.
0:50:39 > 0:50:41Almost rushing at each other.
0:50:41 > 0:50:44Most of these dancers will never have heard this music before,
0:50:44 > 0:50:46let alone danced to it.
0:50:46 > 0:50:49But we're confident that Kevin understands what we're after.
0:50:49 > 0:50:51What are you working out here?
0:50:51 > 0:50:54Because I think the idea is that there's two tribes,
0:50:54 > 0:50:56and they come together as one,
0:50:56 > 0:51:03so I'm trying to get a bit near the end where they kind of meet and become brothers.
0:51:05 > 0:51:081, 2, 3, 4, good.
0:51:10 > 0:51:17- So they're going to come out, mince and then 1, 2, 3, 4, and everybody's together.- Can you show me a mince?
0:51:17 > 0:51:19Mince, this is a mince.
0:51:22 > 0:51:24That's a mince. Haha!
0:51:24 > 0:51:25Let's go from the top.
0:51:25 > 0:51:31Unlike the music they're used to, the beat in this score follows no regular pattern,
0:51:31 > 0:51:35so Kevin decides just to listen out for the musical highlights.
0:51:35 > 0:51:36Wait, wait.
0:51:36 > 0:51:40I want you to be out by there.
0:51:40 > 0:51:43So, listen to the music. You're most probably going to be first.
0:51:43 > 0:51:46- No. I cant hear that music, bro. Choose someone else.- Why?
0:51:46 > 0:51:49- I can't hear it, bro.- You can, man!
0:51:49 > 0:51:51You have to listen to it over and over.
0:51:54 > 0:51:562, 3, 4, 5,
0:51:56 > 0:51:586, 7, 8,
0:51:58 > 0:52:009, 10, 11, 12....
0:52:17 > 0:52:20It's the music, it's quite challenging for us.
0:52:20 > 0:52:23When you really bang it out, and you catch the beats and the accents,
0:52:23 > 0:52:25it's nice. Yeah, it's good.
0:52:25 > 0:52:27First time you've danced to classical music?
0:52:27 > 0:52:31Not the first time I've listened to it, but the first time I've danced to it, yeah, for sure.
0:52:31 > 0:52:36Definitely. But it's an experience and I'm really enjoying myself. This is fun.
0:53:25 > 0:53:28Imagine, the son of a Cuban truck driver,
0:53:28 > 0:53:32a champion break dancer, who dreams of becoming a footballer,
0:53:32 > 0:53:35but who's sent to ballet school by his father,
0:53:35 > 0:53:38to keep him off the streets and out of trouble.
0:53:38 > 0:53:42That's the story of Carlos Acosta, principal dancer of the Royal Ballet.
0:53:42 > 0:53:48This really is a tale of contrasts, the inspirational story of a brilliantly-gifted dancer,
0:53:48 > 0:53:53who makes the leap from the back streets of Havana to the forefront of classical ballet.
0:54:05 > 0:54:07APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
0:54:07 > 0:54:11I didn't know what ballet was in the first place.
0:54:11 > 0:54:17I didn't know what that was. I just saw these people moving around, you know, the girls, and all this.
0:54:17 > 0:54:18I said, "Ah, forget it," you know?
0:54:18 > 0:54:24"I am athletic, I play sport, I'm not going to do that!"
0:54:24 > 0:54:28And look at me, a ballet dancer now, proud of it!
0:54:30 > 0:54:34'I mean, who would have thought that I would have been here, now,
0:54:34 > 0:54:38'in the Royal Opera House, rehearsing La Bayadere with Darcey Bussell?'
0:54:59 > 0:55:03OK, thanks. You know what I think about this here,
0:55:03 > 0:55:07you start taking her arm too soon,
0:55:07 > 0:55:09and we see you taking it.
0:55:09 > 0:55:11I'll show you.
0:55:11 > 0:55:14No, you should wait,
0:55:14 > 0:55:16- and then take a step.- Ah, OK.
0:55:16 > 0:55:19- Because we can see this hand being taken.- All right.
0:55:19 > 0:55:21- So go all the way.- OK.
0:55:21 > 0:55:24Like that, like that.
0:55:24 > 0:55:27- TANNOY:- 'Chris Porter, contact the stage door, Chris Porter.'
0:55:27 > 0:55:30We don't seem to have any time off.
0:55:30 > 0:55:35'No, we don't. This is our life. This is what we do. We're living. It's a lifestyle.
0:55:36 > 0:55:42'Wake up, come here, get your corrections to improve it to the next day,
0:55:42 > 0:55:46'then go to costume fittings, and then fix your make-up,
0:55:46 > 0:55:51'and then some more corrections and go there, rehearse, class,
0:55:51 > 0:55:56'massage, then go home, eat, rest, and then the next day, the same.'
0:55:59 > 0:56:03Tomorrow morning, we have a general rehearsal also,
0:56:03 > 0:56:08and this ballet's a long ballet, very hard.
0:56:08 > 0:56:12And then I need to wake up and do another ballet, lots of jumps...
0:56:14 > 0:56:17And then on Sunday, it's the recording.
0:56:17 > 0:56:20Then Monday, another general rehearsal.
0:56:20 > 0:56:22And then Wednesday, the show.
0:56:22 > 0:56:24I'm like this.
0:56:26 > 0:56:29I hate it when you don't think. You know, you take one thing at a time.
0:56:41 > 0:56:48The eyes position, please. Nice.
0:56:48 > 0:56:53Accurately, please. Rhythmically, please, rhythmically.
0:56:56 > 0:57:01Hands in the position. Fingers and hands. Thighs again.
0:57:07 > 0:57:13- TANNOY:- 'David, Natalie from the press office. Janine, please go to Carlos Acosta's dressing room.'
0:57:13 > 0:57:17'Janine to Carlos Acosta's dressing room, please.'
0:57:24 > 0:57:31'Ballet's very difficult because it's very unnatural, because the body, the human body's not made for that.
0:57:31 > 0:57:34'You have, constantly, injuries.
0:57:34 > 0:57:36'Pain is part of our lives.
0:57:36 > 0:57:40'It's just very hard, it's very unnatural.
0:57:49 > 0:57:56'Right now, I'm having a problem with my knees. And my ankles, I suffer over my ankles.
0:57:56 > 0:58:00'I have had four surgeries on my right ankle.
0:58:00 > 0:58:05'I use my body so much, I jump very high.
0:58:05 > 0:58:09'Of course, you have to pay a price.
0:58:09 > 0:58:11'It is difficult to keep the level.
0:58:11 > 0:58:17'That's what the people sometimes don't understand, because you are as good as your last show.
0:58:17 > 0:58:20'They don't care.
0:58:20 > 0:58:25'They don't care if you are in pain, they don't care. They just pay to see you at your best.
0:58:25 > 0:58:30'And the day that you don't provide that, then they're going to say,
0:58:30 > 0:58:32"Oh, he's not the same."
0:58:32 > 0:58:36'And that's how it is.'
0:58:47 > 0:58:50Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:50 > 0:58:53E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk