INTERVIEW | Marc Galvez, BalletBoyz.

I'm a huge fan of BalletBoyz work and have been since I saw their work whilst I was studying dance at university. On 14 May they'll be making their debut at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre following on from the world premiere of their new show FOURTEEN DAYS recently. This new piece of work has been created by four international choreographers as well as four completely different composers. The new work will consist of four short pieces, as well as their previously acclaimed piece FALLEN for the evening too.

I had the opportunity to catch up with one of the dancers, Marc Galvez about the exciting new work from BalletBoyz and what we can expect from an exceptional evening of dance at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre in May. 

FOURTEEN DAYS. Performed by BalletBoyz

Marc is from France and began his dance training at the age of 9.In 2006 he attended the Paris Conservatoire's contemporary course for 5 years. He stayed in Paris for 2 years working before he joined BalletBoyz in September 2013, this is his fifth season with the company. As Marc explained "it's gone really quick! I've been involved with a lot of different projects, it's been a great journey". BalletBoyz work is extremely varied and very quick paced! "It's insane because you would do a tour in the UK for let's say 2 months and then the next month you are in the North of France shooting a film. Then you come back to the UK and you are working on a project with special needs. It's such a great thing to be a part of". 

FOURTEEN DAYS is a thrilling new collection of works for BalletBoyz, they've worked alongside four fantastic choreographers; Javier De Frutos, Craig Revel Horwood, Iván Pérez and Christopher Wheeldon. Marc said it was "interesting because we usually spend between 5-6 weeks with a choreographer creating but now we only had 14 days which is a really short time for us. The choreographer came in and each process was very different but they had to get to the core of their idea very quickly. We didn't have the time to go away from it to explore it further. I think it's great. All of the works are quite short and they are very intense, there is no time to get bored or uninspired by them. It was demanding because the creation for example with Craig he had it all in his mind ready so we had to learn the steps and then to clock. With Iván, it was all about space, for a week and a half we were experiencing different things and then for the last 3 days, we decided on what the piece was going to be about which left us with 3 days to create a 12-minute piece of work. It was very intense. It shifted from all of those different creations which were very intense to feeling fulfilled to know we created a piece of work in such a short space of time!"

The four pieces are all about balance. "They all explore a different view on that" Marc explains, "for example for Javier's piece we have a seesaw on stage. The piece is about the balance on the seesaw as well as the balance between us, we experience and deal with the weight. Whereas Ivan's piece takes on a different way to see balance. It's all about balance, they take very different ways of dealing with that and I find that really interesting. They're all very short so it feels like a great flavour for each exploration. This work is very dynamic and exciting!". 

FOURTEEN DAYS. Performed by BalletBoyz

Fallen. Performed by BalletBoyz

During the evening their previously acclaimed piece FALLEN will also be performed. Revisiting a work which has already been performed provides the performers with a sense of reengagement into the piece but also with new and exciting influences. "We're not the same people we were when we performed it, we did other works in between and we moved differently. We took off from where we left it 4 years ago, we have evolved with it and seen where it takes us. I think in Balletboyz it's vital for us that when we revisit work that it's never lifeless, it's always got something new to offer us and that's why I enjoy the work that we create. We always have room to explore!"

To finish off I asked Marc to describe the pieces in a few words,

"It's about the shifts of weight and power between two people."

"The BalletBoyz trying to clog and having fun!"

"Fallen is a futuristic style piece."

Do not miss BalletBoyz perform FOURTEEN DAYS at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre on Monday 14 May 2018. You can find out more by visiting the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre website. If you'd like to find out further information about Balletboyz you can visit their website.