Amit and Bea, you are both dancers for Michael Keegan-Dolan’s MÁM, opening at Sadler’s Wells Theatre on 5th October. How would you describe MÁM?

Amit: I think of MÁM as an experiment in how to be most alive. I can only describe MÁM from the inside, because that’s how I’ve experienced it.  Performing MÁM feels like participating in an atmospheric phenomenon—a hurricane, a tsunami, a flood. I compare it to a weather event because MÁM feels like something that happens to me as much as I happen to it. The work of the musicians with us (the dancers) activates something—you could call it energy, spirit, ancestrality, or just liveness. 

Bea: MÁM to me is a rite of passage. There are perhaps different stories happening at the same time. The music is one of them, Cormac plays the concertina bringing the tradition of his people and Ireland, he then is met by s t a r g a z e creating a conversation between tradition and modernity. The other one is Ellie, who witnesses everything that is unfolding around her. sometimes I think that perhaps everything that happens is her invocation, her dream or nightmare. And then there is the story of the dancers, that create a gathering of scenes that can be read in multiple ways. Jumping from the intimacy of an embrace to the rescue of a drowning man to then a fight in a pub. To me, maybe we (the dancers) are portraying the story of Ellie’s ancestors, maybe we are just memories, or maybe we are the representation of the adult world.

What’s the process been like, learning and performing the choreography, as well as working with Michael?

Amit: The creation process for MÁM was full of deep joy and generative challenge. There was something innate in me that recognised what we were doing together as a form of truth. In working with Michael, I have learnt so much about how to be in good relation; how to make things from a place of kindness and respect. 

Bea: I was not part of the creation process of MÁM, I joined the cast just after the pandemic because some of the dancers were not able to make it. Basically, I learned the choreography through a video recording of the show first, then I joined the rest of the cast for a couple of weeks in Madrid to perform at Teatros del Canal. I remember that we had to be wearing facemasks in the studio and we changed some of the kissing scenes for hugs instead. My time in Madrid learning the show was amazing. I had the best time with Michael and the team and everyone was super supportive and relaxed. Since then, I have learned other roles in the show, it’s always an exciting process to get to understand a little bit better the origin of a section or how the movements were created. There are many reasons why I love working with Michael, one of them is because he cares and is passionate about what he does.

Going back to the beginning of your careers, how did you both become interested in dance and what was the journey like pursuing it professionally?

Amit: I grew up in Hawai’i, and I fell in love with hula—the indigenous Hawaiian artform—as soon as I was sentient. The issue of professionalisation—of having to make a living—only came up later, after a very deep love had already been developed. I knew I was going to spend my life dancing years before I realised it was possible to be paid for it. As I have started working professionally, I am learning that the skills that will sustain me within this precarious and inconstant line of work are: resourcefulness, an ability to juggle multiple things at once, communicating as honestly and directly as possible, and attempting to lead with love and commitment. 

Bea: I became interested in dance really late. I was in my first year at Uni in Barcelona, not enjoying studying Business and Management. So, I decided to join a dance school part-time to do Musical Theatre. It was then, when I was watching a contemporary dance routine, that I decided that I wanted to do that. The following year I quit Uni and joined the school to train and be a dancer. I trained every day from 9 am till 6 pm, I also started teaching pretty soon, so most of the days I was finishing at 8 pm. 
I think that my curiosity in movement and the joy and freedom I found in dance was one of the things that kept me going, and also, the way that you connect with others through dance. I feel very lucky to have found beautiful people and friends throughout my career.

Many of our readers are young and interested in the creative sectors, so what advice do you have for aspiring dancers hoping to work in the industry?

Amit: There are many, many ways to work in dance! Try to figure out how you’d like to work, and then find those that are doing that, and get close to them.

Bea: I would say that there is no rush and that enjoying the journey is important. Every experience and every person you meet can make you grow as a person and as an artist, and that never ends. I also think that understanding how you want to be a dancer and contribute or what you like can also be helpful in order to create.

Why should people be interested in dance, and why should someone go to see MÁM specifically?

Amit: I think watching dancing is an opportunity to see people at their most alive, and therefore to feel your own capacity for living anew. I can think of no better work than MÁM to give you this form of experience.

Bea: Dance communicates things that are not possible to explain in words. we don’t know why we dance but we have been for thousands and thousands of years. Dance offers a way to connect and empathise with each other. I think it provides hope for the future and can give us an insight into who we are and who we want to be. MÁM can do exactly that, it is an amalgam of different scenes that can relate to each of us because it taps into universal social aspects related to life, such as death, celebration and love. These are stories that surround us and are threaded in our traditions and societies. I think the show can bring you joy, it can make you sad or fearsome, it can make you feel brave. It can ignite in each of us hope and the spirit for action and therefore spirit for change.

Bea C. Bidault is originally from Barcelona and based in London, works as a dance performer, teacher and choreographer.

Amit Noy is a performer and dance maker living in Aotearoa, New Zealand, who grew up in Oahu, Hawai’i and Aotearoa to Latine and Israeli parents.

The Dance, a film made by acclaimed director Pat Collins, follows the rehearsals of MÁM in the remote Irish county of West Kerry. It is a fiercely true and beautiful account of a magical work process, which had its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival in 2021, and competed for the acclaimed Grierson Award for best documentary. Sadler’s Wells has made The Dance accessible on their Digital Stage until Friday 3 November 2023. Check it out here.