It’s Friday afternoon and there’s a casting for a new show at Leeds Playhouse. Dancers are asked to do the usual light choreography and improvisation tasks, but unlike most auditions there are regular breaks for nappy changes and breastfeeding.
Contemporary dance company balletLORENT has encouraged parents and their children – aged between three weeks and four years old – to try out for its new multi-generational production of Rapunzel, to take place across two dates in April. The programme is looking to recruit three paid professional dancers to perform alongside their tots.
For Meg Forgan, a York mother of two who attended the casting with her three-week-old son, Malakai, the project marks a vital step forward in the performance industry.
“A lot of people just give up dance as soon as they have a kid because there’s not the support,” she said. “It’s like you’ve reached your sell-by date in a way, but that shouldn’t be the case.”
Forgan, who is 25, has been dancing for 12 years and initially worried that having children would affect her ability to perform professionally.
“Obviously I’m quite a young mum so I want to carry on with my career. Yes, this might be a bit of a pit stop, but if I can still do things like this while I have young kids, that’s great,” she said. “It feels important to be seen not just as a mum, but still as a dancer and a performer too.”
“Historically, the dance rehearsal room has not been very inclusive,” said Geoff Hopson, who co-led Friday’s session alongside fellow dancer Gavin Coward. “Traditionally once they’ve had babies, mum dancers have been pushed out a little bit.”
He sees the programme as a way for new parents to re-embrace their skills and share them with their child. “This is where we’re able to make a change,” he said. “But above all, it’s just beautiful when they come on stage. You can’t get cuter than that.”
The programme also enables parents to find a community of like-minded people in the area and provides space for children to interact with others in and beyond their own age group.
“Sometimes I feel so isolated, not necessarily being a mother, but being a dancing mother,” said Zoe Katsilerou, who attended the workshop with her three- month-old daughter, Ioli. “A lot of people don’t realise how difficult it is for the body, not just giving birth but carrying a baby all day, every day.”
As a new mother, Katsilerou feels she is no longer able to tour professionally so she described the prospect of a short but fulfilling dance commitment with her child as “amazing”.
“It’s really nice just being in a space where people get it, whatever happens. One baby vomited, for example, so we just went over and helped. It was incredible. And Ioli is going to have such a good sleep now!”
The show is a new, family-friendly retelling of the classic fairytale by Carol Ann Duffy, with themes of fertility and feminism. The successful parents and children will feature in two scenes of the show; while choreography will be taught in rehearsals, parents are also encouraged to follow their child’s lead on stage.
balletLORENT was set up by dancer and choreographer Liv Lorent in 1993. The company began casting parents and toddlers in 2012.
Rapunzel runs at Leeds Playhouse on 5 and 6 April.
