In what turned out to be an interesting take on the Alice in Wonderland story, 22-year-old Niels Plotard fell down the rabbit hole of the dance world after seeing his younger sister dance on stage in a white rabbit costume.
“It was after I saw my sister on stage that I told my parents that that was want I wanted to do. I suppose you could say that it was love at first sight.”
Despite the fact that Niels was very young, his parents, who both come from creative backgrounds themselves, encouraged him to follow the path he felt that he connected best with, as long as he was sure of what he wanted: “Although I did athletics when I was 10, it was dance which I always returned to, because that was the thing I felt really connected to.”
But what is it about dance which makes him feel this way? “I have always loved the idea of using my body as a creative tool, because you don’t have to use something external in order to express yourself. The idea of using the self to create has always been something which has greatly appealed to me. People always find it amusing when I tell them that my mother took dance classes when she was pregnant with me.”
Having been in Malta for almost two years, Niels feels that the ŻfinMalta dance ensemble has enriched his life in a variety of ways: “I love the very particular work process that we have at ŻfinMalta, because here, we work as a family. When we are on stage, we share with the audience what we have shared as a company.
The idea of using the self to create has always been something which has greatly appealed to me
“We are lucky to work in this way because, while many companies treat their dancers like robots, in that they are simply required to learn steps and then show them off, our artistic director Mavin Khoo looks for emotion and a sharing of feelings. He does not only want us to dance for the sake of dancing, but he wants to show contemporary dance as film with proper emotions.”
It was in the early beginnings of ŻfinMalta’s newest offering, Home, that Niels decided that he was ready to take a slightly different direction within the company itself.
“Before we started creating Home, I felt this great need to do something, apart from dancing and learning choreography. Of course, I didn’t want to do anything that took me away from dancing, but I did feel like I wanted to try a teaching role. The main reason behind my decision is the fact that I wanted to understand the teacher/choreographer role better and I felt that the best way to achieve this would be for me to take on that job.
“Throughout my time at Żfin-Malta, I have always taken the photos and videos for the company and, after a long chat with Mavin, we decided that I would take on the role of resident creative artist. This new position will help me to keep nurturing my knowledge of dance by seeing the dynamics of it from a different lens.”
As resident creative artist, Nielsnot only takes care of visual media, but also takes care of the auditory aspect by composing music for Home: “We started experimenting in the studio by using the computer for instrumental sound. It has been a great process of growth for me and a challenge to find the right music for the right part of the performance. It has also made me more aware of sound as a whole, and when I’m out and about, I record a lot of things.”
But isn’t he worried about losing focus on dance itself by branching out?
“Whatever new stuff I do, it is always centred around dance and my mission to get to know it at a deeper level. I genuinely believe that it can be dangerous to try too many things at once, because when you want do everything, you could end up not being able to give each thing the attention it deserves.
“Hence, everything that I do does revolve around me being a better dancer. It is only by focusing on things that we can give ourselves purpose and solidify what we want. It is this which gives us identity.”
So what do Home and dance represent?
“Home is about identity. Dance and art are so important because they give unique personality and make you creative because you are able to say what you really want to with the tools you have been given in any and every way you can.
“I like music for the same reason I like dance, because I feel like I’m giving something of myself to someone else. When one looks at a painting for five to ten minutes, they are not seeing just the painting itself, but the personality of the person himself. Paintings, dance, music, they all carry an energy, but dance is alive.”
Further emphasising the need for engagement and authenticity, Niels has a lasting message as to what Home can come to mean for the audience: “We have shared so much of ourselves in order to make our performance powerful enough, for each person to be able to take something away from the experience and use for themselves.
“Through the use of the abstract, we are hoping to give something authentic and to show people that this is who we are. When you make any piece of art it is important to be true to oneself. If the art is not authentic, the audience will not be touched. We hope that our authenticity and experimentation will give as much pleasure to the audience as it has to us.”
Home takes place on Friday and Saturday at 8pm at the Manoel Theatre, Valletta. Tickets are available online.
www.teatrumanoel.com.mt