1. Can you give me a little bit of biography please - where are you from? how old? how did you first get involved in dance? how are you finding working with SDT? My name is Matthew Robinson, I am 23 and originally from a small town called Ivybridge in Devon. I began dancing at a young age, working with youth companies in Devon before moving to London when I was 18 to study for three years at London Contemporary Dance School. I began at Scottish Dance Theatre (SDT) as an apprentice dancer upon graduation. It was an incredible opportunity which taught me so much about how to work as a professional dancer. The following year I was taken on as a dancer and I am now in my first year as a full time dancer for the company. Working for SDTis a dream come true for me, a true privilege. Janet Smith (our artistic director) has drawn together such a special and unique group of people, it's like a second family. A family which is supportive and nourishing, while also driven and determined. Its an environment that is ripe for developing us all as intelligent artists, we are not afraid to ask difficult questions to each other, and this only comes out of a deep trust and support for one another. This all helps produce the work we will present in Stirling, through questions, trust and challenge comes exciting, inquisitive contemporary dance theatre.
2. Have you done interactive events before? How have they gone down? As a dancer are they useful? What do you think the audience gets out of them? Do you find audiences willing to learn or to engage, or do they have to be “convinced�? Interactive shows are a way of us engaging more directly with the audiences we perform for. They create a platform for a two way dialogue between us the company and our audience. We perform short sections of our current repertoire, explaining how the work is created while also asking the spectator for their interpretations. We also demonstrate how lights, costume and music all come together to produce our shows, giving the show a kind of 'behind the scenes' feel. I think audiences are able to feel real accessto us through interactives, they are a a fun introduction for anyone who is curious about dance and would like to learn more about how our shows come together. I understand people sometimes feel dance is another language to them, I think interactive shows allow people to realise watching dance theatre should not be about trying to understand a second language, it is about your own individual experience and interpretation and feeling.
3. Obviously being a professional dancer there’s something in the artform that particularly appeals to you - can you explain what
that is? Is there something dance can give an audience that film or theatre can’t? Dance can be so many things and its effect on you can be so varied. Dance can be exciting, thought provoking, moving, entertaining, sad, funny, the list goes on. Live dance performance will always be real people, experiencing real things only a few metres away from you, this is something television and film will never be able to offer. Interesting dance and dance theatre can reach beyond what words can say, and allow people spaceto find their own meaning, interpret what they see however they wish. I think what is exciting about dance is you could be understanding what you are seeing in a totally different way to the person sitting next to you in the theatre, and nobody is going to tell you that you are right or wrong. Our work is deeply rooted in what is relevant today and provokes thought about the world we live in. Dance can alter your ideas and challenge your perceptions, it is another way of telling stories, and what is exciting about it is the immediacy of what you experience as you watch it.
4. From my own experience I have found that a lot of people are willing to give a particular film or piece of theatre a chance, even if it’s outside their usual comfort zone - but that they can be almost scared of dance, insisting either they don’t understand it or it’s just “not for them”. What do you say to people with that attitude? Well I would say dance, and especially the work of Scottish Dance Theatre appeals across generations, to such a wide range of people. Our audience is made up of a real mix of people, older, younger, students, families. I'd encourage nobody to think dance is not for them. We make our work for everybody to experience, whoever you are, wherever you are from, and my hope is that it can resonate on some level for everybody who comes to see us. If you go to the cinema and seea bad film you don't never go to the cinema again, you just try another film. From my experience people often see a dance production that they do not enjoy and then decide they do not like dance, full stop. Different companies and choreographers produce different kinds of work, so people shouldn't basetheir ideas about dance on one show they have seen. I'd encourage everyone to give watching dance a go, it can be exhilarating, touching, thought provoking and exciting. I think SDTis a great company for anybody curious about dance theatre, whether you have seen dance before or not, and also great if you just want an exciting night out of the house.