BalletBoyz to take back ballet

A rabbit man, his face concealed beneath a furry mask sways and rolls with barrelling force to a sober score. A warren of bunny-eared dancers in a vaguely period garb of cropped trousers and braces bound soundlessly behind him as BalletBoyz’s latest turn, Life, unfolds.

The all-male troupe sprang free from the shackles of classical convention long ego, treading uncharted territory as gym-honed boys launched into muscular duets, surreal routines of interlocking bodies without a birdlike ballerina in sight.

And if this brief clip of the company’s fresh double-bill of commissioned works proves anything, it is that the ‘Dadz’ - founders and artistic directors, William Trevitt and Michael Nunn (OBEs) - are in no danger of losing their edge.

“It’s all a little but crazy,” concedes William. “It’s a piece by Pontus Lidberg about a guy a bit alone in the world that gradually becomes accepted by the people around him – who just happen to be rabbits. That’s a slight complication, we don’t need to worry too much about,” he chuckles. “It’s thoughtful, whimsical, gentle and evocative. Act two is much more focusing on the celebration of life. It’s by choreographer Javier De Frutos who imagined, what if there was a terrible accident during the interval, what would the dancers have to do to pull the show back together again. It’s based on his obituary. He’s lived a colourful life and it describes a lot of his antics.”

Merging seemingly dissonant “flavours” in their unstinting pursuit of variety, the pair are keeping to the brief they set themselves more than 15 years ago when they walked out on their prestigious jobs as principals with the Royal Ballet, to reinvent themselves as the BalletBoyz.

Irreverent and bold, they exploded tradition, blazing through a gamut of styles and reclaiming men’s place in the profession, as more than glorified props for primas. Not only did they find their niche, they soon became a global phenomenon.

“We always enjoyed the moments where a choreographer would come work with us and create a new piece of art; when we were ballet dancers that didn’t seem to happen often enough for us,” he recalls. “So when we set up the company the idea was that we would be able to commission people to create new art for us. Of course now we’re retired but the 10 dancers get the same fulfilment from working with choreographers we did.”

As odd as it may sound the all-male element of BalletBoyz, William hastens to add, was never “intentional”, or only in as much as they were two men set on exploring untapped avenues and clinching opportunities.

“When Michael and I were dancing we often ended up dancing together and choreographers were quite interested in how they could work with two men – it’s unusual in the general scheme of things in dance.”

But they’d only just scratched the surface. When middle-age reared its head – in an industry were 40-something dancers are far and few between – and they retired in 2010, they decided to train the next generation of BalletBoyz to take up the mantel.

“We thought we’d have an all-male company and see if there was further we could go - from just male duets, which is what we were doing – if we had eight or ten dancers. We never thought it would last more than nine months or a year. As it happens choreographer don’t get a chance to work with male dancers so whenever we brought one in they’d say, ‘Please don’t change anything’. It’s worked out that way.”

Again, they flouted the rules, recruiting a clique of leftfield dancers - some without formal training, others from gymnastics and even rugby backgrounds. Boyish, stubbly, bearing tattoos, they were miles apart from the prim ballet archetype.

“It’s hard to say what we are looking for, and we don’t really quite now,” he ponders. “It’s something with fitting in with the group. We do auditions where we have a range of dancers. Some have lots of technique and can do all sorts of incredible things but they don’t look like BalletBoyzs and there’s someone there who moves in an interesting way or is not quite what you’d expect, challenges preconceptions and they’re often the people we end up choosing. We have ten dancer all have different skills and different backgrounds but somehow when they work together something really special happens.

“I spent a long time working on my own technique, trying to perfect certain steps but I’ve realised over the years that what the audience really responds to is that alchemy. That’s what we’re looking for. It’s a constantly changing group of abilities, style.”

In this egalitarian troupe, the traditional hierarchy of principals, soloists, and often dwarfed corps de ballet do not apply.

“Everyone is equally important,” insists William. “We didn’t want there to be one star of the show and a group standing behind him. Everybody gets a chance to show what they can do. “Even in a classical ballet company my opinion is that everyone there is playing a vital role. You might be in the background but it’s still really important you do it properly and you do it well. But having said that, what I love about our group of dancers is the team spirit, the way they look after each other and they push each other to achieve greater things. That’s where the power in our company is, I believe. That’s what makes it different from other dance companies out there. It’s not just that we’re all male, it’s that the group is so strong.”

But there is no denying, it is its strong male identity which has turned the award-winning company into a major player. Even so William, adds breezily, he would not rule out introducing female dancers to the mix. Broadening dancers’ scope is ultimately BalletBoyz’s raison d’etre.

“It may well change, it’s the way it goes for us at the moment. When I was a dancer what I really wanted to do was to be able to have versatility, to be able to three, four, five different pieces in an evening and that’s what we have here. Every time a new choreographer comes in the dancers have to adapt, work in a completely different way and show more facets of their dancing ability.”

BalletBoyz will be at the Wyvern Theatre on Friday, Oct 28. To book visit swindontheatres.co.uk or call 01793 524 481.