Jamiel Devernay-Laurence "In Conversation" with Deborah Weiss
21st August 2023
The Chair of the London Ballet Circle, Susan Dalgetty Ezra, welcomed Jamiel Devernay-Laurence to the evening’s conversation. Following a career in Scottish Ballet, Jamiel stepped sideways to become a producer of dance-based experiences, working through his production house Jamiel Laurence Creation. Susan also welcomed Deborah Weiss, dance writer and former dancer, who would lead the conversation.
Deborah said she was excited to be able to talk with Jamiel about his current work and career. He was clearly now quite an entrepreneur, so what was his background? She started by asking Jamiel about the way he got into ballet. He replied that basically he had been taught by his mother; she was a dance teacher and he had probably been in her studio in east London from just a few days old. Ballet was not the only dance form taught at the studio; there was jazz and tap, and a lot of dressing up in various costumes!
Jamiel went on to a private boys’ school where the usual aspiration was to head towards professions such as accountancy. He enjoyed the life and the range of sports on offer but at about the age of twelve decided that what he really wanted was to pursue the activities which he did at the weekend at his mother’s studio. Accordingly he moved on to Tring Park School for the Performing Arts, a school which offered dance in all its forms but also provided a sound academic curriculum – an essential criterion. His father died when Jamiel was only sixteen and he believed that learning to dance had helped him survive that trauma. However, attendance at Tring enabled him to realise that it could also provide him with a job.
He went on to the Central School of Ballet after seeking advice from Bruce Sansom, then Director of the School. After a few months in the first year he was moved up a year and came under the influence of Paul Lewis, an aspirational teacher who helped him to shape a more disciplined approach to dance. At the same time Jamiel was also learning about the potential offered by computer technologies, an area of expertise which was to prove pivotal to his future projects.
While at the Central School, Jamiel took part in several productions, for instance he had been a cygnet in Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake. Unbeknown to him, Ashley Page, Artistic Director of Scottish Ballet, had been watching one of the shows. Some months later he was asked to go to Glasgow where he took class with Scottish Ballet – a company of which he had not previously been aware. Ashley had not observed the class, but then called him in to his office and offered him a job! Obviously, said Jamiel, Ashley had already seen in him some artistic spark, something which he could develop.
Deborah asked about Jamiel’s aspirations at the time of joining a professional company. He responded that at that time he really had no idea! Straight away he threw himself into the job with abandon and competitive energy, and indeed it was only after working with the older and more established members of the company for some time that he began to realise that a career in dance is more of a marathon than a competition.
In Scottish Ballet, as at Central School and in most smaller companies, dancers took part in everything and in due course he was able to undertake some choreography. Christopher Hampson, the newly appointed Director of Scottish Ballet, encouraged choreography by company members, setting a ‘challenge’ every month, and insisting that if an individual felt they had something to say through dance then they should find like-minded dancers who would make it happen.
Within the company of Scottish Ballet, Jamiel took on the organisation of a number of galas and other outside events. Such events might involve presenting dance in small and very restricted spaces and he got accustomed to working under difficult conditions. He also started to explore the possibilities of mobile capture technologies, filming dance performances on his phone. In this way he was able to take sole responsibility for the production, being director and editor as well as choreographer. These video sequences acquired a significance of their own and he was commissioned to produce more by the BBC and other organisations.
It was the range of activities in which Jamiel was becoming engaged that gave rise to some increased tension with company management, although he emphasised that these were not serious disagreements. Nevertheless, it probably helped to set him on a somewhat different career path.
And then came Covid, lockdown, and the enforced closure of class, rehearsal and shows. Jamiel himself suffered a bad attack of the virus; he found it difficult to breathe, he ‘thought he was going to die’ but he did not want to go into hospital. His slow recovery involved many changes to his routine, including an introduction to yoga, all of which eventually enabled him to return to dance.
The pandemic was a difficult period for all concerned. While company members might be furloughed and thus still receiving money there were many freelance dancers who had no such support, having to survive by taking jobs such as working for Amazon. It was while driving to work that the idea of the Fund Freelance Dance Initiative suddenly came to him. This, Jamiel figured, could be a crowd-funded project to give work to a small number of dancers and teachers, and perhaps musicians as well.
In order to pursue this he would need to explore the economy as well as the ecology of ballet, for instance to attract investors, secure appropriate venues, and agree pay rates. He would need to speak out and take a position on various issues, not normally part of a dancer’s career. He came to realise that such a project – trying to be an entrepreneur – was not really compatible with membership of a ballet company and accordingly in 2021 took his leave from Scottish Ballet, for which he had danced happily for thirteen years.
Having struck out on his own Jamiel became involved in many different projects, often wishing he had fostered more personal connections while still a member of the company. Several projects involved cinematic techniques, such as producing a music video. However, forming in his mind was a radical new idea. He believed that he could create a new and different force in dance, one that would not necessarily mount big new ballets but could offer the best of dance in smaller ‘packages’. Shows that would hopefully be less intimidating to audiences who might never consider visiting the Royal Opera House but would feel more at ease in the gently welcoming club atmosphere of a small theatre. And not just ballet, but a wider menu of dance and music. Perhaps a sort of ‘dance club’, akin to a jazz club?
Success in such a venture would involve collaboration and co-operation. He needed artists willing to take part. This was not something with which the Arts Council would want any involvement and thus he needed investors prepared to risk their own money. Above all he needed to attract audiences in sufficient numbers to make the project viable. The first criterion was relatively straightforward. He found artists at all levels of the profession very ready and willing to take part in a new and exciting venture; to be able to show what they could do and engage with their audience in a rather different way. The idea of Ballet Nights was born.
In October 2021, just months after leaving Scottish Ballet, and working with his close friend Henry Dowden, Jamiel had just seven weeks to put together the first Ballet Nights show. Artist friends, freelance ‘unknowns’ and major stars together agreed to take part. The Lanterns Studio Theatre, where Ballet Nights was staged and which is part of his family’s business, is a unique and very intimate space. The front row of the audience sits within a few feet of the performers so that the bodily functions which always accompany energetic physical activity – sweat, deep breathing, etc – are clearly on display. At the same time the performing space itself is relatively large so that audience members must move their heads from side to side in order to view the whole of the action – somewhat akin to watching tennis….
The concept of compèring the show (by Jamiel himself) came about because in the first instance he could not afford to produce a printed programme. He decided to make the best of a bad job, hoping that introducing the artists and roles individually could complement the ambience of the entertainment. He believes the role of the compère has in fact added significantly to the attraction of Ballet Nights, enabling audience members to feel more involved with the various roles being portrayed on stage.
Deborah agreed, saying that she thought it helped to break down the barrier between artist and audience; to cut through the almost reverential attitude many audience members had towards dancers. Explaining what was about to happen and who would be doing it made the audience almost part of the performance itself. The experience is very different from watching a show taking place on the other side of the proscenium arch.
The schedule for Ballet Nights 2023 includes six performances, two each in September, October and November. The programme to be offered each month would be different and would include long established dancers such as Steven McRae, Melissa Hamilton and Ryoichi Hirano from the Royal Ballet, together with lesser-known artists such as Felicity Chadwick. Viktor Erik Emanuel would play Chopin and Liszt in a celebration of classical piano. Jamiel said that a further schedule of shows was being arranged for Spring 2024 and he hoped it might develop into a regular event.
Communication, insisted Jamiel, was all-important. Artists wanted desperately to communicate with their audiences. Those who watched the shows wanted to feel ‘closer’ to the performers. Jamiel himself wants to know from anyone and everyone what they think of his shows. What do you want to see? Are the Ballet Nights’ programmes attractive enough to make you a regular subscriber? Are the domestic arrangements at the Lantern Studio Theatre satisfactory? Jamiel invites everyone to question and critique his shows. It is all important; he knows he has a lot to learn and it is the only way to improve the product.
The current economic climate did not make it easy to ‘sell’ ballet to the general public. At the present time dancers were not well-known figures on TV as, perhaps, Wayne Sleep and Darcey Bussell had been in their day. Jamiel feels that he has a mission to bridge the gap; to make ballet and dance generally more accessible to the theatre going – and not-yet theatre going – public. Is classical ballet too elitist? Are you a bit afraid of contemporary dance? Would you like to feel physically closer to your heroes and heroines on the stage? Would you like a ‘meet and greet’ after the show? Try it all in small doses at a Ballet Night!
Deborah wondered how easy it was to draw up a balanced programme. In response Jamiel replied that there were already thirty press passes issued for the opening night which showed the level of interest in the venture. And he admitted that he was learning all the time. He might not have got the balance right yet but he would learn. Over time he had approached many artists about taking part in one of his shows; so far none had refused. And he was enormously grateful for the support given him by the major companies, for instance the use of studio space and costumes facilitated by Kevin O’Hare, Artistic Director of the Royal Ballet.
Jamiel would like to think that the Ballet Nights concept might go global, to Australia or New York, for instance. In that respect he would not confine his networking to dancers in this country. A listener to the conversation raised the prospect of venues rather closer to hand – for instance the north of England, or Scotland. Jamiel responded that so far there had been relatively little response outside of the south-east. He would love to produce more shows but did not want to impose a programme on an area and would only pursue ideas where artists from that area were clamouring to take part. He would not want to simply export ‘Ballet Nights London’.
At one point during the evening one of Jamiel’s short films had been shown. Featuring Aitor Arrieta and Henry Dowden, both English National Ballet dancers, it was called To the sea. The two young men were shown running and jumping on the expansive sands of a deserted beach, culminating in their running into the sea. The film had been made towards the end of lockdown, when they were all feeling the need to be more active.
Shot at the end of September, Jamiel said it had been pretty cold at the start although towards the end of filming the sun came out, which had been good. Although he had responsibility for the production, he acknowledged the enormous practical and organisational help provided by fellow choreographer and filmmaker, Constant Vigier. Deborah expressed delight at the piece, commenting that it captured so effectively feelings of both freedom and abandonment.
In concluding the evening, Susan, as Chair of the London Ballet Circle, said that it was so fascinating to listen to a professional talking with such tremendous enthusiasm about their job; to get to learn about their passion and creativity. She thanked both Jamiel and Deborah most sincerely for taking part in such a terrific conversation.
Written by Trevor Rothwell, and approved by Jamiel Devernay-Laurence and Deborah Weiss.
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