Choreographer, Founder and Artistic Director of MOVE: the company
Interview – July 13, 2015
In this episode of GlobeDancer: In The Studio, I chat with Josh Beamish and learn an excerpt of his solo piece, Adoration.
Josh began choreographing in his teens and founded MOVE: the company in 2005 when he was 18 years old. In 2012, he moved from Vancouver to New York City. Recently, he added London as his third home in what he dubs his ‘tri-national’ existence. He has created and collaborated with artists including Wendy Whelan (former principal dancer of New York City Ballet), Ashley Boulder for the Ashley Boulder Project, and companies such as the American Ballet Theater and the Royal Ballet. At once, a dancer, choreographer, teacher and company director, those experiences inform his views of the dance world which he shares in this interview.
Highlights:
00:40 – Why he moved to NYC – “I was frustrated by the lack of funding I was receiving for my work here.”
01:13 – Comparing Vancouver to NYC: grant funding vs private donors and how funding structures affect dance creation.
03:44 – The current state of dance: “I see all this talent…I’m training all of these people who will be the most qualified artists to dance my work…but I don’t have the consistent enough funding to give them jobs.”
6:26 – Why he creates duets – “I’m a romantic.”
7:17 – Collaborating with Wendy Whelan on the piece Conditional Sentences.
10:40 – On his piece, Burrow, with The Royal Ballet, “…an intimate duet of two men, something that didn’t sensationalize homosexual relationships.”
12:52 – The current state of dance choreography – “I wish I saw more work that moved and challenged me.”
13:58 – Why he’s excited about The Royal Ballet – “It promotes risk taking, innovation and advancement.”
And the dancing starts at 14:45 ~
Josh Beamish. Photo © Ian Whalen.
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