Rosie Kay has had an award winning career in dance and choreography. She is the director of her own company K2CO and is in the forefront of the campaign Freedom in the Arts, which she founded with Denise Fahmy, after the experience of being cancelled because of her gender-critical views.
We have interviewed Rosie in the past, here, when she and Denise Fahmy talked about their experiences of cancellation, and how their fight back turned them into foremost campaigners for freedom of expression in the arts!
In this episode though, we wanted to learn about why she became a dancer and choreographer and how she approaches the creation of new works. We specifically focus on two films that she has made of two of her creations. Adult Female Dancer is a solo performance which she created during COVID and 5 Soldiers: The Body is the Frontline which she premiered in 2010 after a long period of training and embedding herself in a military unit.
We ask Rosie to start by explaining contemporary dance as a dance form, which she did eloquently, mentioning dancers that inspired her own development.
Rosie then talks about the creation of each film in detail. We were curious about her process — how something that started off as an improvisation developed into a more or less fixed piece of work that she performed a number of time, how she chose the music and the significance of gesture, humour and pacing.
Adult Female Dancer reflects her life in dance, why she kept returning to dance despite injury, despite needing sometimes to take a break from it. She talks about her maturation as a dancer, leaving behind the need to be lathe and agile and accepting how she adapted to the way her body changed and what she wanted to express about her life, her bottomless love of dance.
5 Soldiers arose out of and started to take form as a result of a serious injury that nearly disabled her. It was during the Iraq War (2003) and while she was coming out of anesthetic she had a dream that she was a severely injured soldier. When she eventually recovered she found her way into becoming embedded in a military unit, training for battle, and this gave her the material for the dance. It also made her realise that her commitment to dance, and willingness to take risks for it, is not so different to a soldier’s commitment: hence the work’s subtitle: The body is the frontline.
Towards the end of the episode we discuss the way an artist has to have the courage to face the challenges that the art presents — not just physical and emotional, but also refusing to give in to those who want you to stop. Freedom of expression is at the core of artistic creation, and Rosie’s commitment to using that freedom comes across really clearly as she talks about her work.
We really enjoyed this interview with Rosie. Her passion for her vocation is palpable. We hope you get as much out of it as we did.
Follow Rosie Kay on Instagram @rosiekayk2co and X @RosieKayK2CO and Substack Rosie Kay Visit Freedom in the Arts.
Malvern Theatre, Worcestershire
Saturday 7 November, 4.30pmPost-show discussion at 5.30pmhttps://malvern-theatres.co.uk/event/5-soldiers-the-body-is-the-frontline-live-qa-with-rosie-kay-and-brigadier-ed-butler-cbe-dso/
Please come, bring someone and share with anyone in military, veteran, history, documentary, dance, film or civic life.
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