“Complacency will kill the opportunity to make it in this industry.”
Daniel Jaber started ballet when he was aged four, when he attended dance classes with his sister. He recounts seeing In The Middle, Somewhat Elevated, a work by William Forsythe, as a child and it was in this moment that he knew he wanted to become a professional dancer. At 15, Daniel started studying at Queensland University of Technology, obsessed with movement and dance:
“Movement gave me a greater sense of freedom and expression.”
Daniel recounts Australian Dance Theatre (ADT) work Bird Brain and being blown away by the performance of Tanja Liedtke. He loved the work of ADT’s artistic director Garry Stewart due to his ballistic choreography and “savage use of classicism”. In 2003, Daniel started working full time for ADT. He ended up dancing Liedtke part:
“I still consider that one of my life’s blessings.”
Daniel has danced throughout Australia, Asia, US, Europe and the UK. He has worked with Phillip Adams BalletLab, Joachim Schloemer, Frances d’Ath, Philip Fabre, Clint Lutes, Alison Currie, Gabrielle Nankivell and Ross Ganf.
In 2014, Daniel was appointed the Artistic Director of Leigh Warren and Dancers (LWD). A position he only held for a year, before leaving to pursuing more lucrative opportunities overseas. Since then, he has been working extensively in LA, working on the hit television show Dance Moms as Ballet Master and Choreographer. He also created a work called StarDancer for the largest water screen in the world, in Dubai.
Daniel is also devoted to teaching the next generation of dancers. He runs classes and workshops at different studios, including Transit Dance in Melbourne. His aim is to give young dancers the confidence and skills to pursue a careers in dance. His advice to young dancers being:
“Complacency will kill the opportunity to make it in this industry.”
Find out more:
Nought for ADT
Push & Pull, Dance Moms
Follow on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and check out www.danieljaber.com/
If you have enjoyed this discussion share it with a friend. Stay tuned for another stimulating episode, hitting the web in two weeks. Check out previous interviews from Deborah Jowett, Gideon Obarzanek, Rafael Bonachela, Stephanie Lake, Lucy Guerin & Anouk van Dijk. You can now find Delving into Dance on Facebook, as well as Twitter, Itunes and Stitcher
Photo credit: Paul Malek
THIS INTERVIEW HAS NOW BEEN TRANSCRIBED WITH FUNDS FROM GENEROUS CONTRIBUTIONS FROM LISTENERS. IT CAN BE ACCESSED HERE.
‘We value everyone equally, but you know, of course each person has a role to play in the team that's been created, but no one is, you know, less valuable than another.’
‘My daughter Billie, she was in rehearsal today. My son Archie grew up the first two or three years of his life, like, on tour with me when I was with Bangarra Dance Theatre and just being in the artistic environment and being surrounded by people is such a beautiful gift, I think, that I can give to them as well.’
‘When I'm making dance and when I think about choreography or art, I often relate my early childhood experiences to the things that I make now as well.’
‘I guess for a lot of people, ballet is still very much an evolving, developing language. I think people think it was probably stuck in a time and hasn't progressed. But modern ballet is very challenging and arresting and it's finding new ways of working with an old structure.’
‘In my hibernation my creativity turned to writing. I spent hours happily at my computer with my writing, which sometimes feels like choreography. The results of these writing hours are some rough chapters recounting special experiences of my life, and in particular, my life here at Mirramu.’
‘So I've been refusing the temptation to put work on online to put work on platforms where they eliminate that very core function of connecting people’
Edna Reinhardt, a passionate creative dance and yoga educator with decades of experience in the field.
I used to say for a long time that I thought the dance was the Prozac of the art forms. […] there is an aesthetic that dominates our work, often complex or ugly or difficult issues are glossed over because people are pointing their feet and look very lovely.
I'm really looking forward to finding more lightness and more joy and looking forward to exploring some of my ideas.
I think now I am really sort of hungry to do more things that are really outside of my preconceived box of what I can do or what kind of dancer, I identify as or think of myself as.
“What I love about the dance world is that it has the possibility of bringing together so many different cultures, so many different people, beliefs, ways of thinking, ways of being in a space … we always find a common ground and a way to exist and support one another and to create something really beautiful”
"[Dance] It gave me an outlet and a way to express myself, and to be in a space where I could see myself represented."
“Dance, it has a tribal background, everyone does dance, initially, as kids, and we will do it socially. So I think there's a very powerful message there that can be utilised by choreographers when they're creating their works.”
“Dance can provide a space for people to have a kinesthetic response to something and to be given a place to meet their body in watching another body move.”