Stina Quagebeur: in her own words

Joining Mats Ek’s The Rite of Spring and William Forsythe’s Blake Works I is the joyful and jazzy Take Five Blues by ENB Associate Choreographer, Stina Quagebeur.

On dance

“My parent used to take me to a lot of performances back in Brussels, Belgium: Béjart, Mats Ek came over with Cullberg Ballet… I saw some out there stuff when I was really small. It wasn’t just classical ballet, it was both contemporary and classical. I think it made me realise that I can bring an idea to the stage.”
In Conversation with Stina Quagebeur

“I think students in ballet schools need to see all kinds of dance. Not just ballet performances— they need to see the breadth of choreography out there. It will enable them to dare to try out more of their own ideas.”
Dance Data Project

On her early experiences choreographing

“I would make up ballets in my head. Sometimes I wish I still had that imagination! When you’re little you’ve just got this endless amount of imagination and fantasy.”
In Conversation with Stina Quagebeur

“I would always come back from watching a performance and start choreographing a little solo in the style of Mats Ek, for example. I’d incorporate the flexed feet and copy their styles when I was young. I was just fascinated by thinking about what I could say with dance.”
In Conversation with Stina Quagebeur

“By the time I was 18 I had choreographed at least one work every year from the age of 11 in my training. Your skills grow, so when you have an opportunity in a company as a young dancer, you have already built some confidence… I think these opportunities at a young age are vital. When we are young we are less scared to fail, and we are more daring to try out ideas.”
Dance Data Project

On her creative process

“I’m trying to find the gap between the contemporary world which I’ve not come from but I admire a lot and that classical background that I’m from. I’m still exploring how far that can go.”
In Conversation with Stina Quagebeur

“I like the challenge of saying something with the movement… Making the audience feel something is what I’m really drawn to. Making them go on a journey.”
In Conversation with Stina Quagebeur

“It helps me to really get the story in my mind and to feel it. To analyse the characters and know what relationships they have with each other, the psychological thoughts behind it. Then when you get into the studio, it’s about creating the language for that character – the research then becomes about the movement. The more knowledge I have, the more confident I am.”
In Conversation with Stina Quagebeur

“For me, the environment in the studio is so important. The way we all interact with each other, the respect that we all have between each other. It’s so vital to get the best out of the dancers and to make them feel comfortable and like they can flourish.”
In Conversation with Stina Quagebeur

On her inspirations

“When Tamara Rojo joined English National Ballet… we had the triple bill with Russel Maliphant and Akram Khan and that was eye-opening for me. I’d never worked with contemporary choreographers like that and the process of their creations is very different. They always have this Research and Development time and to be involved in that just changed my work completely… I learned a lot of techniques that really pushed my own work.”
In Conversation with Stina Quagebeur

“Parade by Crystal Pite danced by NDT is the best dance work I have seen. It begins with clowns and circus performers coming out of a small tent until suddenly the stage is filled with artists. It looks like total chaos but it’s not: you start realising that they are all morphing into something ordered… You can’t predict what’s next and I admire that about her work.”
Interview with Stina Quagebeur

“I think theatre director Emma Rice is fantastic. I love what she did at the Globe in London, and how a lot of her work reimagines not just plays, but theatre itself. She’s grabbed new audiences with how she has adapted the classics. Her shows begin as soon as you enter the building and they don’t end until you leave. She uses everything available to her and she immerses you in her world.”
Interview with Stina Quagebeur

On creating Take Five Blues

“Creating a piece after the first lockdown in September 2020 was really special. It made me realise that it’s about enjoying the process in the studio and having fun. That’s why we do it. The expectation then is about creating a safe space where we can push ourselves and explore.”
Data Dance Project

“It’s just going to be a celebration. We just want to have fun. Explode on stage with energy.”
In Conversation with Stina Quagebeur

“It has a real personality. Each dancer has their character. There’s no big pas de deux number. It is still very much a very playful thing.” Seeing Dance

Book tickets now for EK / FORSYTHE / QUAGEBEUR at Sadler’s Wells, London from 9 to 12 November 2022.

Watch Take Five Blues from home with Ballet on Demand.