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Award-winning choreographer Jamaal Burkmar talks on his latest touring production How to Build a Universe by Extended Play and The Place
How To Build a Universe is a spontaneous spectacle of dance, improvisation, and elemental joy featuring a guest dancer in each tour location.
What inspired the concept of How to Build a Universe?
I was working with Phoenix Dance Theatre towards the end of 2020 in the odd little period where we were moving out of lockdown and in and out of tiers. I initially was tasked with helping the company create new work and help with the reworking of some previous pieces before lockdown. It was pretty apparent as soon as we all got in the studio though, that they and I all needed a chance to refind ourselves in the studio. Very slowly and without much notice, this improvisation process started to form in front of my eyes. During one of the weeks that we were exploring this process, the Rehearsal Director at the time Joanne Bernard, had to bring her son into rehearsals as he couldn’t be at school. From Monday to Friday, her son moved from completely uninterested to completely invested and ended up dancing around the studio with the dancers.
As soon as I decided I wanted to turn this process into a piece of work, I knew it had to have this element of participation as part of it.
You collaborated with Dutch composer Jameszoo. Could you delve into how the partnership contributed to enriching the visual and emotional dimensions of the show, especially in light of your past collaboration on Donuts?
I’ve been very fortunate with Jameszoo, we haven’t actually met yet except for a zoom call, I just happen to really really adore their music and I think it would make sense to aim for a collaboration in the future.
I think the choreography I make tends to require more than one watch, there isn’t a tonne of unison in it, and it feels very 3 dimensional, even when watching it through a screen on Instagram. And I think Jameszoo’s music is the same and adds more of that to the work. You can’t hear it all in one go, which means you can’t digest it all at once either, I think I've always loved all forms of media that does that.
Extended Play seems to embrace digital culture in dance. How does digital culture influence your choreographic style, and how have you used non-traditional platforms like Instagram to share your work?
It’s just a different stage to be honest. It’s a different way to think about composition and a different way to think about choreography. It looks like I've given it a lot of focus, but truth be told, I've only ever been to post little glimmers from the studio that feel like they’ll do well on that little black box in our pockets. I think I’m interested this year to start curating more digital specific content and see how we could continue this growth.
What can audiences expect from the show, and what message to you want to tell?
I don’t really have one. I know what it means to me. I think I just wanted to make something I thought was good. I’m happy if other people want to tell me what it means.
The show is touring internationally, what are you most looking forward to?
It’s hard not to be excited about taking the show to Paris in a few months. But the participatory aspect of the show keeps every performance incredibly fresh and new, which is also incredibly exciting.
How To Build a Universe tours across the UK and internationally from 19th Jan – November 2024.
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