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A Career In Dance - A Moving Experience

By Jeanefer Jean-Charles and Pearl Jordan

For two Paddington kids from St Lucian families, life as dancer-choreographers has been one long leap, with many twists and turns.

Best friends since primary school, secondary then University, where they graduated in Performing Arts, Jeanefer Jean-Charles and Pearl Jordan have created a unique partnership. They were joint artistic directors of Bullies Ballerinas Jazz Productions from 1990 to 2000.

Here they describe their goals, their dreams, and how they have spent the past six years reinventing themselves.

We formed our own jazz dance company Bullies Ballerinas in 1990, after more than a decade performing in other peoples’ shows, both as students and professionals. Working collaboratively, we created, choreographed, produced and performed in shows for national and international tours, including memorable trips to Southern Africa, Azerbaijan, Latvia and Italy.

Looking back, it really all started in the late 1980’s, when we taught choreographic workshops in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. We developed a method of incorporating movements into our performances that the young participants from the workshops had devised. When these kids, who were not dancers, saw our show, they recognized their own moves.

That they themselves could create something worthy of professional performance gave them a great sense of achievement and excitement. This inspired us to build on a foundation of accessibility. We believed that dance was something everyone could do if it was taught with an open heart. From that, our philosophy ‘dance for all’, took off. This all pre-dates the current strategies for inclusion and access.

We wanted to reach people who got overlooked and we aimed to have at least 50% of the project’s dancers from ethnic minorities. We wanted to break down barriers using Jazz dance and do away with the idea that dance is elitist. We combined performance with education and ensured that our multi racial company comprised of dancers who could teach.

Over the years, we choreographed Jazz Umbrella; Rhythm Circus; Barefeet &Crazy Legs - all successful touring shows. Sometimes we performed in places where there were few or no black people. Did we change peoples’ perceptions? Yes, in some small places we may have been seen at the beginning, as a bit of a threat. But we never really felt any overt racism. We simply wouldn’t put up with it.

We were beginning to enjoy recognition abroad, working closely with the British Council, and national dance organizations in Britain were clamouring for our work. WAC Performing Arts & Media College, East London Dance and Swindon Dance each understood there was a lack of black dance support and those three organizations in particular supported our work.

But without steady economic backing, it’s very hard to balance the books. Budgeting became a nightmare.

Jeanefer-Jean Charles (JJC): It was proving nearly impossible to keep it going. For instance, we dreamt up a project, which was about £100,000 and we raised £30,000 of it. Therefore what we could do was only a third of what we’d aimed for. We made a decision never the less to go ahead, scrimp and scrape, struggle along, ask dancers to do it for less money, not pay ourselves properly; constantly pulling back and pulling back.

Pearl Jordan (PJ): An issue with Jazz dance is that it is generally up-tempo and fun. It's entertainment. For the funding bodies I feel that was difficult. They wanted us to become innovative straight away, push the boundaries. But our argument was that people don't even know what Jazz dance is and there are so many different styles. We needed to educate first. But the pressure was to move on more quickly and that became quite a challenge.

We continued to receive funding but it was never enough and we used a lot of our energy trying to finance projects instead of creating them.

JJC: There has never been a lot of black dance companies in the UK - maybe for that reason: everyone at that time was struggling. Black companies just had to do their own thing. That was and still is a problem. Back then, there wasn’t ever a cooperative feeling. The community never really came together under one umbrella. ADAD is trying to change that.

PJ: The black experience has often meant too few of us got a taste of commercial or artistic success. So when one artist or company got somewhere, they felt protective of that achievement. Everyone was too busy struggling to reach out to others.

JJC: So after ten crazy, rewarding years and a lot of soul searching, we closed the company.

PJ: It is an acknowledged fact that when approaching forty year of age, an individual can feel that niggling thing called ‘change’. I was exhausted juggling the tour plus my young kids and felt I needed time out. Jean and I decided to take a sabbatical with a view to returning afresh, ready to rock ‘n’ roll once again three months down the line.

But to my surprise, I so enjoyed the break that ‘oh my gosh’, I think it’s time to end the dance thing. That was a really frightening moment. So as Jean has said, after discussions we decided it was time to shut shop.

The following two years were quite an emotional roller coaster. What was strange in my case now changing career path, was certain individuals in the dance world no longer knew what to say to me; they behaved quite strangely, avoiding me as one does when there has been a recent death! It was a huge relief when I decided upon homeopathy. It gave me the opportunity to see who else I could be. Funnily enough, my homeopathy is at its best only when I bring my past Bullies experiences to it!

JJC: For me the closure of bullies was not something I had control over. Pearl needed to move on and I really could not imagine who else would run the company with me in the way Pearl and I did. To find someone else prepared to work the way we did, often unpaid, I believe was pretty much impossible. Plus, I have a lot of respect for Pearl’s work; while we worked with equal status in the company, she challenged me every step of the way, and I did her. Also, it was frustrating, but the reality is so many were applying for the same tiny amount of money allocated to ‘Black Dance’.

Since the opportunities to continue the professional development of the work were proving impossible, it was this issue along with other reasons that brought our company to a close.

PJ: If I’m to recall a couple of points pre-Bullies: I had some great moments being a commercial dancer. It was being exposed to that commercial energy that made me the performer I am today. However as a dark skinned black dancer in the 80’s I was definitely in the minority and this brought its own issues….

Life after our company

PJ: I loved running Bullies Ballerinas with my best mate. There were such fabulous times. Though not looking back through rose tinted glasses, I acknowledge there were some pretty awful times too. But you know what? I wouldn’t change it for the world. I grew ten thousand fold as an individual. I got to meet and work with some amazing people all of whom, if it were possible, I would love to mention and thank. A career in dance is not easy but if it doesn’t break you it makes you.

JJC: Having folded the company, I continued in the world of dance, running schemes for East London Dance, WAC Performing Arts & Media College and directing various dance festivals. I did a lot of community projects, planning, organizing and teaching, in addition to coaching ice dancers in Beijing, Montreal, Switzerland, and the UK. But last year I stopped to reflect and realized that I missed what I love doing the most: choreographing. And as soon as I decided to put my energies into creative work and found my life coach, June Gamble, the opportunities presented themselves.

I was asked to choreograph a massive event in Trafalgar Square led by the Mayor of London office in partnership with Arts Council England and the BBC. Big Dance hinged on an attempt to break a world record by staging the largest number of dance styles being performed at the same time to one piece of music. As I saw it, Big Dance was about making dance accessible to all ages and races - like the original Bullies Ballerinas’ concept.

I decided to connect the different groups by making them do each other’s cultural dances. Salsa dancers had never known, for example, what Turkish dancers did. I myself didn’t have a clue as to what Slovakian dancing entailed. Irish dancers learnt African. Flamenco dancers learned Street dance.

I feel it is important that this much-publicized event was choreographed by a black female when so many high profile dance jobs go to white males.

From the feedback I’ve received, having me in that position inspired young black people to feel that they could aspire to such heights. We need more role models.

Right now I’m creating a 20-minute piece for State of Emergency, promoting established black female choreographers. This has come just after I completed Big Dance. It’s as if my career has just started again.

My next project is Dads & Lads Move. It’s for men and sons, or uncles, cousins, doesn't matter what male relatives - to come together and move. To learn to communicate through movement and deal with issues that arise. I’m careful not to call it ‘dance’ though - it could put some guys right off!

PJ: I trained for four years to practice homeopathy and am now practicing at the C.H.A.I.M. Centre in London.

In the beginning, it seemed like a total departure from what I’d always done - from the arts to the sciences. But then I realized that actually I'd come full circle: in many ways practicing homeopathy is comparable to dance.

The choreographer and homeopath have a lot in common. A choreographer searches for different ways to create, using the bodies available. A homeopath when looking at illness focuses on that which is unique about the individual and finds various ways of healing: it’s also a creative process.

Bullies Ballerinas’ ethos was always about tapping into the individual and choosing how best to take them on a journey. Maybe there’s something of the healer in choreographers and something of the creative artist in homeopaths.

I now deliver talks and seminars to performing artists, suggesting basic ways they can look after themselves, prevent injury and keep their minds in a healthier place. Jeanefer and I still come together artistically. We support each other as objective advisors when working on different projects - I still dabble every now and then. Dance is in the blood after all.

Looking back, I liked the later years of Bullies, when it became more about Jean and me, the dynamic duo! The times at the South Bank for example, when we could really just depend on each other and have a laugh.

JJC: Yes, I remember Alistair Spalding inviting us to present Ballroom Blitz at the Royal Festival Hall, which was fantastic, and then within a week of that job the British Council offered us the Southern Africa tour. Other highlights include attending the Arts Council Taped awards where our Barefeet & Crazy Legs film was shown; and having a five-piece band on tour with us. And how can I ever forget the moment in Big Dance when 800 dancers performed live in Trafalgar Square. What a buzz.

Final Thoughts

JJC: It sounds naff but…. Dance is such a spiritually uplifting experience. I care how people feel about themselves.
Many think dance is only for those who look a certain way or are from a particular background. But it’s within you. I want to encourage young, black dancers to find their place in the community - and not necessarily be labelled as black. We are in such a diverse county, there is so much out there that wants to be allowed to express itself, so many voices that are unheard. To feel inner beauty when you dance - I want everyone to experience it like I have.

PJ: Dance - when you get it, is just the most amazing experience imaginable. When you get the opportunity, when it’s all about just dancing and you forget about everything else - it is the most awe-inspiring sensation! And when you’re choreographing, there is such a powerful exchange from you to the dancers. You give the spark; you give them your moves, share your ideas and watch a complete transformation. Now that’s medicine.

Jeanefer Jean-Charles has choreographed for the British Ski Ballet team, tutored the national ice-skating team, and choreographed for Disney film ‘Parent Trap’, the Young Vic, Theatre Royal Stratford, and Theatre Centre among many others. A qualified schoolteacher, she has led education projects for the Royal Academy of Music, Die Tanzetage International Summer School in Frankfurt, WAC Performing Arts & Media College, Middlesex University and the Royal Ballet School. Last year she worked as a mentor for East London Dance’s Cultural Shift, platform for disabled choreographers, and is leader of their Artist Forum. With those credentials, who else but Jeanefer would pull off Britain’s largest live dance event, ‘Big Dance’ in Trafalgar Square, July 2006

Pearl Jordan has performed at the London Palladium (The Royal Variety Show and Stairway to the Stars), The Old Vic (Carmen Jones), Simon Callow’s ‘My Fair Lady’ and made countless TV and pop video appearances. She has received numerous choreographic commissions over the years including for Black Theatre Co-Operative, Musical Morsels C4 TV and most recently the ‘Just-A-Minute’ event at Wembley Arena. She has taught at establishments as diverse as Central School for Speech and Drama, WAC Performing Arts & Media College, Swindon Dance, The British Council, East London dance, Ballet Rambert and The London Philharmonic Orchestra. After taking a break from dance to raise her children, she trained as a homeopath, specializing in the treatment of performing artists, and set up practice in 2005 at the C.H.A.I.M. Centre in North-West London.

Pearl Jordan B.A Hons LCPH MARH
www.chaimcentre.com

Jeanefer Jean-Charles
Choreographer, Teacher, Dance Manager
www.jeaneferjean-charles.com

(This article is a piece written by Maire Clerkin following an interview with Pearl and Jeanefer)