Viva Brighton Issue #56 October 2017

PERFORMANCE
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Dad Dancing
'Dad, you're so embarrassing'
Helena Webb, Rosie Heafford and Alexandrina
Hemsley invited their fathers to perform with
them when they were studying dance. Five years
on, as they tour the resulting show, the fundamental
question remains…
Why is dad dancing so embarrassing? A: It's
woven in there. Embarrassment is woven into our
relationships with our families.
R: Our dads would say it's an emotional thing and
men are not allowed to express themselves, not
allowed to dance. I used to make fun of my dad
dancing, but then I got older and wanted to look
past the ridicule. Dance has a radical power to
show who people can be.
A: And no matter who you are, there's something
about dancing that makes people incredibly selfconscious.
But then you see this glimmer of what
they can do.
How do you turn that into a performance?
H: We give people a place where they can play:
imagine you are surrounded by clouds. Imagine
your fingernails are as long as the room. Exercises
like that. And the group becomes a supportive
place where people can take risks.
R: The workshops draw out the individual stories
of the supporting cast, local fathers and their children.
Then we build the show around those.
Stories? So it's not just dancing. A: No, it's
memories and some acting. We've had fathers
telling birth stories, which is interesting because
normally the mother holds that.
R: We've also had fathers who lost contact with
their children.
Wait, fathers without children or children
without fathers? H: Both! One woman asked her
mother to dance because her father had left when
she was young. So her mother was there dancing
with the fathers.
Your website describes the show as joyous,
but it sounds quite serious. A: We want both.
There's a moment where the guys do full-on rockstar
dancing with lights and music. It's a powerful
moment in the show.
How's their dancing? H: It's surprising. My dad
does these splits. He's in his 70s and he'll just drop
into a split. If that's not right for the show I might
object. But it would be specific, not just "Dad, how
embarrassing!"
R: I'm less interested in watching someone do
something amazing they've learned than watching
someone discover something about themselves.
H: When we started this in 2012 the challenge
was getting fathers and children to dance. Now it's
easier, but we are looking at the future of fatherhood.
What is the role of fathers now, and how do
we want to be fathered?
A: As we've got older, the show has changed.
H: Well, we've grown up. Interview by David Burke
Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts, Friday
27th October. Sunday workshops in September /
October. To participate call Sarah Kearney on
01273 645 265
Photo by Zoe Manders
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