The buzz at Sadler’s Wells East last night was all about what we could possibly expect from the UK premiere of Michael Keegan-Dolan’s How to be a Dancer in Seventy-two Thousand Easy Lessons. Apart from having one of the most intriguing and informative titles, it turned out to be a most entertaining evening of dance theatre with a perfect balance of hilarity and pathos, honesty and humility, which resonated deeply with the audience.
Originally created in 2022 for his company Teaċ Daṁsa in collaboration with dancer Rachel Poirier and lighting designer Adam Silverman, it is an autobiographical account of his journey to become a dancer/choreographer. With just Keegan-Dolan and Poirier on stage for an hour and 20 minutes, it required a fairly huge dose of charisma to engage a sizeable audience. Fortunately, they have all it takes in abundance.
It began with an unceremonious unpacking of props from a large wooden box including such obscurities as a dartboard, bike, rugby ball and a bunch of flowers, placed carefully across the stage to the background music of Stravinsky’s Firebird. The props act as an aide-mémoire to a series of anecdotal episodes regaled by both dancers. Subjects as diverse as his pigeon-toed feet, his Irish roots, a violent priest, his first sexual experience (an absolute hoot!), a distinctly unsuccessful audition for Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, a stint in musical theatre and how he came to find success as a choreographer via German opera houses and Sadler’s Wells, are told with self-deprecating humour.
He explains that he did his first ballet class at 18 and moved to London to train. His father was disgusted. “How did he get into this dancing shit?” He encounters prejudice, he’s humiliated, he says bleakly when he finally gets a job, “I’ll be able to buy food!” There are some insightful references to the pecking order among the performing arts. He’s told to re-choreograph the movements for an opera by the conductor, making it clear that dance is always the bottom of the pile, the maestro is at the top.
The music plays an integral part in the success of How to be Dancer. Along with the opening of Firebird, there are snippets of Talking Heads, “If there’s a place for David Byrne in the world, then there’s a place for me,” he said gleefully. Towards the end, Poirier danced a prolonged solo to Ravel’s Boléro. As she swirled and leapt and occasionally fell to the floor, the unrelenting rhythm of the music appeared to signify the never-ending quest for improvement that is the inevitable path of a dancer. The plodding onwards, negotiating hurdles, picking yourself up in spite of constant exhaustion – it felt familiar, identifiable. At the end, Poirier looked at the audience as if to confirm that even after all the effort and energy she had expended, there was still more exertion that needed to come.
I could not have imagined laughing so hard at the toils and troubles of a fellow dancer but the entire show was inclusive, poignant, provocative and incredibly amusing. There was plenty of boisterous blasphemy and some heartfelt moments around bereavement during which time stood still.
It was the closing moments that lifted the performance to another level. Both dancers took chairs and sat facing the audience. As the Finale or the Final Hymn, as it’s sometimes called, of The Firebird Suite boomed around the auditorium, Keegan-Dolan and Poirier were motionless, eyes closed, absorbing the magnificence of the score. Slightly surreal, it was a spine-tingling experience. I almost wanted cry. It felt intense and visceral. The message transmitting to me was that the path chosen by dancers and choreographers might often be treacherous, but music makes it all worth it.
The audience was on its feet before they even took their bows. Keegan-Dolan is a maverick with a hint of genius and this was another gem to add to his previous successes.
