Hello beautiful people!
Buckle up because today's episode is a real lesson in business ethics, pricing our services as dance artists, making a difference in the world, and how the performing arts can benefit corporates and vice versa.

Our guest today is Graham Alexander.
I had the pleasure to be one of Graham’s teachers at London Contemporary Dance School (The Place) where he studied dance after having graduated in Physics from Oxford University… is a vice president at the De Beers Group, one of the biggest mining diamond companies in the world, with over 20,000 employees working in 28 different nations.

Prior to that, he worked for nine years in various consultancies such as PwC, Javelin Group, OC&C Strategy Consultants, primarily working with clients in the retail and consumer goods industry, such as Superdry, Selfridges, and Heineken, as well as in a number of other industries, like the cabinet office, Brussels Airport, or First Group.
After that, he was employed by the Lego Group to implement their marketing plans.


In this episode, we discussed:

• The relationship between major corporations and the performing arts.
• How one of the largest mining diamond companies in the world's vice president was once a dance student
• The benefits and drawbacks of working in the business world
• The big corporation's bias as the cause of all evil.
• Enhancing physical health and mental performance
• Cons of the dance business
• A set of principles, a way of life, and deeds to improve the world
• The dance industry's model of scarcity and the going rate for working with corporations

A very pragmatic, profound and useful episode.

Enjoy it!!!

This season is brought to you by:

- Choreography Online (https://choreography.online)

and

- Ground Grooves (https://www.groundgrooves.tv)

Support the show

Support the show HERE

It has been a lot of fun to put together this podcast... I had to stop a lot to put aside important bits to create the sound bites because everything they said was so relevant and easily applicable to everyone. There are a lot of wise words in this episode, so get your notebooks ready because you are in for a treat.

Alleyne Dance (AD) is a UK based company with an international reach, founded in 2014 by award winning dancers and twin sisters Kristina and Sadé Alleyne. The choreographic aesthetic reflects the sisters diverse background in athleticism and dance training. Within their abstract contemporary construct, Alleyne Dance blend West African, Caribbean, Hip Hop, Kathak and Circus Skills, delivered as fast paced and dynamic movement. They infuse lyrical and fluid motion, layered with rhythm and textures in physically powerful, yet graceful performances.

Alleyne Dance strives for high quality and excellence as the Company delivers its three main objectives: performance, participation and development.

In this conversation we also talk about:

• Emotional states right after two big premieres
• What are the coaching and the mindset support that the Alleyne twins count with
• How mindset is connected to the body
• Studying psychotherapy to protect others and lead safe practice
• How sometimes is important NOT to have a non-negotiable practice
• Exhaustion and states of consciousness

And of course, we talk about their

• Their intensive and mentorship programmes

IMPORTANT LINKS FROM THIS CONVERSATION:

Alleyne Dance Intensive Training Week 2022:
https://www.alleynedance.com/event/alleyne-dance-intensive-training-week-2022/

Alleyne Dance Mentorship Programme
https://www.alleynedance.com/mentorship-programme/

This season is brought to you by:

- Choreography Online (https://choreography.online)

and

- Ground Grooves (https://www.groundgrooves.tv)

Support the show

Support the show HERE

Welcome to the 1st episode of this 3rd season.

Our guest today doesn't need much of a presentation. He is mainly known as the Artistic Director of the UK-based Hofesh Shechter Company, formed in 2008. His dance company tours the world constantly and is a reference for many people!!
Shechter has also staged and choreographed works for leading international dance companies including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Batsheva Ensemble, Candoco Dance Company, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater 1, Paris Opera Ballet, Royal Ballet and Royal Ballet Flanders. He has also choreographed for theatre, television and opera.

In 2016 he received a Tony Award nomination for his choreography for the Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof. Grand Finale was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production. In 2020, Hofesh Shechter Company was named the winner of the Fedora – VAN CLEEF & ARPELS Prize for Ballet for LIGHT: Bach Dances, in collaboration with Royal Danish Opera and co-directed by Hofesh Shechter and John Fulljames. In 2018 Hofesh Shechter was awarded an honorary OBE (Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) for Services to Dance. In 2020, Hofesh Shechter Company was named the winner of the Fedora – VAN CLEEF & ARPELS Prize for Ballet for LIGHT: Bach Dances, in collaboration with Royal Danish Opera and co-directed by Hofesh Shechter and John Fulljames.

We just talked to him a few days after he finished his surfing holidays in the north of Spain… so that’s where we started, from there we went on talking about:

• Surfing
• What is Hofesh’s mission
• How dance gives us the opportunity to experience life for what it is
• The whole point of dance in a fucked up world
• Transference of consciousness
• How the dancers that work with Hofesh achieve a state of flow through the sense of togetherness
• Does Hofesh's experience flow? What challenges does he encounter?
• Maturity and healthy approaches to difficult jobs

And so much more. A very complex, down-to-earth and pragmatic conversation.

We referenced: Jiddu Krishnamurti

Remember that at the end of each episode, Bridget will also offer a brief summary of this conversation as well as a simple exercise designed to help you take away the best bits of the episode and try them out for yourself.


This season is brought to you by:
- Choreography Online (https://choreography.online)
and
- Ground Grooves (https://www.groundgrooves.tv)

Support the show

Support the show HERE