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Ballet Goes Ballistic
Encore exclusive interview with Tattooed Ballerinas choreographer Hattie Mae Williams
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What do Hell’s Angels, Angelina Jolie, and ballet have in common? If “tattoos” wasn’t the first thing that came to mind, don’t worry! Choreographer Hattie Mae Williams’ performers aren’t actually tattooed. We sat down with the choreographer herself to find out the truth behind her company, Tattooed Ballerinas.
In a medium with as many iterations and reinterpretations as ballet, how did you come up with such a unique entry in a tried-and-true art form?
The Tattooed Ballerinas is a Modern based company. Using the title as a play on words the company members are trained in ballet yet focus on a Modern approach to movement. Ballet is a very big part of most dancers technical training and with ever-changing interpretations on how dancers go about executing the art form, I was most interested in the physicality and larger movement signatures ballet has to offer. My approach is very post modern in the delivery of taking a concentration and focusing more on the grounded aspects of dance and body-friendly approach to movement with including Modern techniques and movement styles that included Hip Hop and my own personal movement signatures that express flow, gestures, waves and rebound. Ballet can be very rigid and proper in its presentation and I wanted to challenge audience’s expectations in word associations such as the name The Tattooed Ballerinas and show different body types along with taking performances to a not so predictable venue such as parks, churches, supermarkets, laundry mats and yes, tattoo parlors.
What were the challenges in finding performers who could master what needed to be accomplished in the new take on ballet?
Well this is more so a new take on Modern in finding the balance between a dancers technical training and the dancers freedom to express themselves through other types of movement signatures. Some of the challenges have been getting the dancers to let go in some sense of all the great training from their past. I in no way wish for my dancers to forget their base, more so to use it as a tool in order to abandon our stereotypical way of moving and come up with a new sense of empowerment that gets us to move larger, get the emotional context across and connect with others.
What are the primary themes of the show, and in what ways did you figure out how they would be realized on-stage?
The show “Doppelganger” is exploring themes such as identity within ones self and between relationships with others, along with tapping into the darker side or more insecure side of ones personality. In “Keep It Clean”, a piece where footage was taken in NYC laundry mats, I choose to express self identity and how we project the self that we want to expose in every day life through this shield of clothing. The images that we chose to wear can connect us with others as far as “image” goes, yet when we disrobe, our true self is exposed with a paradox that can either further connect us or further separate us. The theme is also expressed through duets that focus on our inner attraction to people who remind us of ourselves either physically or emotionally.
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Do you see yourself working with similar themes/performances in the future and what are your upcoming plans for the stage?
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Self-realization and common themes that people can relate to such as love, death, satire and art in everyday places are usually a constant theme within my work and will mostly likely always play a role within future projects. Upcoming plans are to translate dance to film and perform more site specific works, bringing dance to uncommon places where everyday people are exposed to art and challenged to be in the present and affected by their surroundings. Look out for a Tattooed Ballerina.
The Tattooed Ballerinas perform from May 20–22 at 8 PM at the Joyce Theater in Soho, (155 Mercer St.). For more information and tickets, please visit www.joyce.org or thetattooedballerinas.com.