My name is Fiona Jane Ellingsen and I interviewed Alex Beeton in the Narvik Library 21st May 2019. The interview is part of the project History of Dance in Narvik.
Background
Alex started dance at ten and like many children all over the world, showed a natural ability to move. He studied under Therese Kerr, a very famous teacher at Body Works Dance Centre in Cambridge. Alex danced professionally with well-known artists, reaching the finals of “The Young Dancer of the Year” – in 1999 at the Peacock theatre in London. At only 16, he accepted a scholarship to study at London Studio Centre. Normally students don’t commence their studies at the center before turning 18. Alex graduated at 19. The next three years he worked as a professional dancer. A congenital back disorder made partner lifts difficult so reluctantly Alex had to shift career at the age of 22. In 2010, he visited Tromsø. When Alex met Sally Parkinson from Tromsø kulturskole, she offered him a full time dance teacher position where he worked for three and-a-half years, before accepting a dance teacher position in Narvik kulturskole from January 2019.
Alex Asa Beeton, born 9th April 1986, Newmarket near Cambridge, England
Vision for dance in Narvik
Alex hopes to teach Narvik students that learning dance is more that than the actual technical execution of steps and choreography. When students need to struggle to meet the challenge of mastering dance, they acquire an enduring mental strength, which will serve them for the rest of their lives. Because, he says, “Life is more than just a kick-ball-change followed by a pirouette.” The mental resilience gained by never giving up, not blaming others by your own actions and progressing no matter how slow or small each step is, will, he said, “Hold them in good heights for whatever life they choose.”
It is vital for young dancers to learn a wide range of styles. It is not enough to study classical ballet because this often results in an innate stiffness in their dance expression. Students need to learn how to move in different ways, execute different dance styles, and dance to a wide variety of musical genre. Only through this, will students reach their full potential and have the opportunity to become accomplished dancers. He compared a wide dance repertoire with learning music, “Just as music has its ups and downs, it’s high and low notes; so does dance – it is not just one level. Dance is soft in some parts and strong in others.” What Alex means is that students must understand that movement has different qualities. He gave the example of when, “you watch a classically trained dancer in a jazz or contemporary class; they still look like a classical ballet dancer.”
Alex has introduced dance to a large number of young children in his visits to local schools in Narvik and nearby communities. His observations are that still uninhibited, young children “happily fail” trying to learn something that they find difficult. With age however, children become self-conscious, and tend to give up because they are frightened of failure. Not able to progress through dance, leads to physical stagnation and a loss of creativity. If children are offered a broad dance education, this will improve the general standard of dance education in Narvik.
Pupils from the following schools; Bjerkvik, Beisfjord, Montessori schools in Rombak and in Narvik, Skistua, Ankenes, Ballangen and Kjøpsvik marked “Work It Out” – The Day of Industrial Culture 2019 – a European project which is locally run by Museum Nord in Narvik. Alex Beeton, visited local schools to rehearse a choreography based on industrial workers’ repetitive movements, in the genre modern dance. The museum’s director, Jon Framnes, said, ” I have to say, it was pretty hefty and cool!”
Fremover 27. April 2019, Photo: Jan Westby
Plans for Dance instruction in Narvik kulturskole, Next school year August 2019 – June 2020
One of the main difficulties with teaching dance in Narvik kulturskole is the lack of a satisfactory dance training facility. Alex shares the same studio with the school’s classical ballet teacher, Marina Tarasova. The studio does not permit collaborative works or the instruction in different dance styles simultaneously. For example, dance students are unable to take musical theatre classes, which is something Alex hopes to offer from the next school year.
In addition, the senior jazz and hip-hop students are unable to train more than one-and-a-half hours each week (one class) which hinders their mastery of these dance styles. He hopes to solve this by offering longer combined classes twice a week covering technique and a range of styles. His hope is to improve the standard of dance by offering choreography classes, which foster students’ creativity. He continues, “Most people go into creative studies because they are in fact, creative people. They need to move and to think through movement.” Alex compares the lack of creativity in children today, to when a writer suffers writer’s block. “Children learn to draw inspiration from pretty much anything around them – because movement is everywhere – they learn to move like a monkey, or crocodile and that kind of thing.” As children mature, they study not so much how to move, but what the essential characteristics of the movement consist of. Alex used the example of the way a rat moves. “Rats are inquisitive, lead from their noses, make quick turns, investigate things and are suspicious.” He asks children to draw inspiration from the characteristics of animal movements to discover how they can be translated into dance.
What is your recommendation to local politicians in Narvik?
- Dance education needs a
training studio that is not shared with another activity. - Having only one studio, despite
its satisfactory size, makes it impossible to work simultaneously, or in
collaboration with other dance teachers/classes. - The studio should be in the center
of Narvik meaning that students and teachers do not have to take the bus or be driven
by parents to and from training. A centrally placed locality would also give
proximity to Folkets Hus and the administration of Narvik kulturskole. - One of the most important
messages he has to Narvik politicians is that dance is not only a fun pastime
but an essential life skill which impacts all parts of a person’s life. Alex
calls this an “umbrella” function in society. As mentioned earlier, dance
fosters mental endurance. Watching your reflection in the studio mirror gives a
unique visual image of progress from failure to success. This success through
struggle, is life changing and will when children become future doctors, future
car mechanics, and future engineers; make them resilient to set backs. - Creative people are vital in
the future prosperity of the human race. He says, “Dance enhances creativity.
In order for the world to get better, we need smart creative people, who are
able to think outside the box. Unfortunately, I see many smart people who lack
creativity.” He also pointed out that
this includes other creative studies like drama and art.
What can Narvik community to assist the school in fostering dance education?
Present here is Bror Martin Hanssen (Miljøpartiet de Grønne)
BMH: I don’t think you will have to wait thirty or fifty years, perhaps only ten.
FJE: How are we going to prepare future dancers in Narvik when the training center in Ankenes is substandard? And the teachers are struggling financially in the kulturskole to stage even the most simplest ballet productions?
BMH: I am sad to say that I also voted for a 20% cut in the kulturskole budget (The Terra Securities scandal was a scandal that became public in November 2007). How does dance education make people more creative?
AB: Dance takes people out of their shell. Dancers learn how to cope with failure and how to cope with standing on a stage in front of a theatre full of strangers. In any dance school, there are students of all abilities. Alex continued, “Students who lack talent are in fact on a stage, striving to reach their full potential. It is those dancers that I am most proud of, because they have developed a thick skin, self-confidence and disregard what others think. To pursue a goal regardless of what others think will be a capability these students will use in other areas in their lives.”
Alex points out the theory of mind–body duality.
FJE: What is the council going to do about the training locality? How can the working conditions for teachers be improved so as to prevent physical burnout? How can the council assist Alex’s vision?
BMH: It always comes down to the lack of money. And the problem with a substandard training studio is something that politicians are not aware of. One suggestion for a new dance studio is either LKABs Steinhuset or Parken ungdomskole.
AB: The lack of finances is understandable. However, it always seems to be that the poorest funded subjects are the creative ones. It is exactly these subjects that need funding. It is these students who will be the source of creative people in the future. Young people who are not the smartest need opportunity as well and must be given the chance to develop their own speciality. Dance offers creativity and discipline. Dance students gain a very good balance between these two qualities. They learn not to burn the candle at both ends.
FJE: Quality education costs money. So why should dance education always be in the situation for doing something for nothing?
AB: Hope that politicians are open minded enough to realize that even though they themselves do not understand the importance of studying dance, that they still vote to fund it.
FJE: What are politicians going to do about the future of their kulturskole?
AB: As Winston Churchill said, ‘Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.’
Oral History Interview Agreement
In this agreement, the interviewee assigns copyright to Fiona Jane Ellingsen. The interview will become part of the archive of the History of Dance in Narvik and will be on completion donated to Narvik Library and Ofoten Museum, for future research. I wish to thank Alex Beeton for contributing to this history project.
This is an agreement between the INTERVIEWEE and FIONA JANE ELLINGSEN
INTERVIEWEE
| Name: Alex Asa Beeton |
I have been asked to contribute to the History of Dance in Narvik. Fiona Jane Ellingsen has informed me that this interview will given to Narvik Library and Ofoten Museum on the book’s completion and made accessible for future research. I understand that it can be used in the book “History of Dance in Narvik”, in public publications, websites, exhibitions, education, broadcasts and transmissions unless I place restrictions below. I give permission to cite my name when writing about my viewpoint.
Restrictions: None
Name: Alex Asa Beeton AND Fiona Jane Ellingsen
Date/Place: Narvik 27/08-2019
Samtykke til publisering er gitt.
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