Cas Public approaches its shows for children in the same way as its performances for adults, making its upcoming show in the Dublin Dance Festival, an examination of notions of inner and outer beauty, a fascinating prospect
FORGET ITS GRACE and elegance. Underneath every swan’s feather-deep beauty is a nasty bird with no brains or substance, according to choreographer Hélène Blackburn. “It’s the Britney Spears of the bird kingdom,” she says, in a slam-dunk put-down.
The duck, in contrast, mightn't be blessed with the same figure or fame, but he is an altogether more social character, not prone to the hissy fits and occasional bites of Britney Swan. The two will meet face-to-face at The Ugly Ducklings' Dancing Cabaretat the Ark during this year's Dublin Dance Festival. A frantic-paced dance cabaret for children aged five-plus, it features the two main characters from Swan Lakeand The Ugly Ducklingin starring roles.
"I thought it would be good for these two to meet," says Blackburn. "The ugly duckling wants to be a swan, but Odile from Swan Lakehates being a part-time swan. She just wants to be a human all the time. So the dream of one is the nightmare of the other." Lurking behind the musical and dance vignettes is a more thoughtful exploration of beauty and difference. There is no linear plot, such as a narrative of the swan and the duck meeting, just a sequence of music and dance numbers that turn the question back on the audience: is outer beauty better than inner beauty? Drawn to the writings of psychologist Bruno Bettelheim, Blackburn was intrigued at his belief that The Ugly Ducklingis, well, the ugly duckling of the fairy-story world. Bettelheim claims that while fairy tales invariably point the way to a better future, they concentrate on the process of change rather than the end state.
"The stories start where the child is at the time and suggest where he has to go – with emphasis on the process itself," he writes in The Uses of Enchantment. "So, in the fairy story, it's the hero's actions that change his life."
Not so the ugly duckling, who does nothing to deserve his makeover, but just hides away in his nest all winter. He isn’t simply vain; he doesn’t even show questionable good example in striving for outer beauty. And why would he want to be a swan in the first place? “It is an important question for children,” she says. “Our society wants beautiful children and in this image-driven world they can feel that beauty is essential. It is important for us adults to show the difference between how you look and who you are.” Blackburn, a multi-award winning choreographer, is a 25-year veteran of contemporary dance. She was awarded the Canada Council for the Arts’s Jacqueline Lemieux Prize in 1990 and the Bonnie Bird Award for North America in 1999. Cas Public, her 19-year-old company, regularly tours outside its Montréal home, but has only recently turned to children’s performances. This first came about from a fortuitous approach by a Québécois presenter in 2001.
“I was asked to create a dance as part of a theatre festival for children,” she says. “At that time my daughter was nine years old and I thought, ‘Why not?’” That first dance, If you go down to the woods today, was based on childhood fears: fear of the night, fear of growing up, fear of difference, fear for the pleasure of being afraid, imaginary fear, and warranted fear.
“My daughter had a fertile imagination and was at the age when you begin to pretend that you are grown-up and brave in front of your peers. At the same time, you have to deal with this fear and not express it.” It has been performed more than 300 times since, but rather than treating children’s shows as a side-earner or a way of gaining kudos, they are included in Cas Public’s artistic vision.
"Each audience is like a laboratory where I learn about choreography," she says. "Their reaction, both in applause and later feedback, teaches me what works and what doesn't. And children are much better at this than adults. You can't cheat with them. You have to be honest and they always have questions about truth and being real." She applies similar intellectual rigour whether creating for adults or children, and Cas Public happily straddles both worlds. This year's touring alternates between The Ugly Ducklings' Dancing Cabaretand Suites Cruelles, an adult-themed examination of pain and cruelty.
Fundamentally, Blackburn questions how society deals with difference. “I look at my daughter who is a teenager and has a really open mind, but she can still question the differences between cultures,” she says.
CURRENT AND subsequent generations will have to deal with this difference more and more as technology and increased travel brings races face-to-face. The Ugly Ducklings' Dancing Cabaretthrows these dilemmas up in the air for consideration. Like kids' movies sprinkled with the odd joke for adults, The Ugly Ducklings' Dancing Cabarethas moments for grown-ups, but Blackburn is also posing the question to them. "These days families are smaller and with fewer children there is more pressure to want them to be more perfect. I think it is normal for parents to give 'the best' to their children, but at the same time we sometimes go too far." Most importantly, she wants both to have a good dance experience.
“If adults don’t like the show then the experience for children won’t be good. That’s why we need to talk to the adult in the audience,” she says. And they are often harder to convince.
“Most of the adults have never seen contemporary dance and are probably more resistant than the children. Children are a white page, wide open. They have a natural aesthetic and they learn new things all the time. Adults have misconceptions about contemporary dance being inaccessible and really boring.”
All of the dancers’ skills are harnessed in the sometimes manic cabaret, including singing, electric guitar-playing and beatboxing. “I’ve worked with the same people for a while and I’ve discovered all kinds of hidden talents. One can play the drums, another the guitar, someone else sings well. We have created a cabaret with this kind of garage band.”
Dublin Dance Festival’s children’s programme, in association with The Ark, includes dance and drumming for children with Cindy Cummings and Siobhán Daffy, and workshops for teachers by Ciarán Gray. It is a commitment that dates back to founding artistic director Catherine Nunes’s first festivals and has continued under Laurie Uprichard’s stewardship.
The programme doesn’t always grab the headlines but Hélène Blackburn is used to that. “Nobody ever got famous by creating dance or theatre for children,” she says. Nevertheless, she sees children’s performances slipping into mainstream festivals more and more. Support is especially strong in France and Spain, but she feels that the sector can only grow if it is part of the overall dance infrastructure, rather than something separate. With Cas Public, she has proved that performances for adults and children can co-exist without either being compromised.
The Ugly Ducklings’ Dancing Cabaretis at The Ark May 9, 10 (public) and 11 (schools), and Helene Blackburn takes part in Projects Projections at the Ark on May 9. Dublin Dance Festival opens next Friday May 8 (until 23), featuring international and Irish contemporary dance shows and other events.
See dublindancefestival.ie