Thomas Bradley took time out of rehearsals to answer my questions on life as a professional dancer. He's currently performing in Interplay.
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| Thomas Bradley Photo By Peter Greig |
You’ve worked with Rafael Bonachela in the
premiere of 2 One Another amongst
other works. Do you have similar approaches to choreography and direction?
That’s a tough question. This is my first professional job
with Sydney Dance Company so I feel like my palette is not that grand at the moment. I
definitely feel like Raf’s process and creation has really informed the way I
think about movement. [His style is about] the pure beauty of movement, without
extra layers. That’s really informed the aesthetic of my own creations and
choreography.
Rehearsals, performance and recovery all require
a lot of time, energy and travel. Do you pursue passions outside of dance and
is this difficult?
Yeah, I’m a busy little head! I’m
absolutely hopeless at being in the moment. I think that’s something I’ve
struggled with for a long time! I want to have my fingers in every pie.
Especially with Sydney Dance, it’s outrageous how busy we are! It’s wonderful
too. I’m much better with time management skills when I’m very busy. On
holiday, I don’t do anything.
3. What sticks in your memory as a moment when
you’ve felt really inspired and moved by dance?
Two moments. One moment was when I was
performing in my first year at New Zealand School of Dance. It was mid
performance, such a surreal experience, and I was in a show with two beautiful
choreographers. There were 10 male dancers and there was a moment when I was
doing a solo and I had some kind of epiphany – I just went to the next level
while doing something crazy like a grand plie.
As far as watching, and realising, there
was this performance of Buto that I had a film of...that really resonated. Buto
is a form of oriental theatre, very slow moving and it looks like they’re not
going anywhere, but it’s very much a theatrically based movement idea and it’s
a thought process as much as anything.
4. The physical demands on dancers are great – how
do you recover and prevent injuries from overuse?
Injuries are inevitable and we’re lucky at SDC that we have
physios at work every day. We’re really well looked after. If we have class at
9.30 until 6.30pm, you have to be doing your own conditioning and maintenance
after hours, otherwise you won’t be able to move the next day. It’s a lifestyle
choice rather than a career.
5. How often do you update New Vogue Male (Tom's Tumblr Page)? There’s
some incredible imagery – have you considered a career in editing and film or
photography?
They’re all things I have a passion for. I’m really lucky to
have so many things I’m passionate about. I definitely feel like the path that
I’m on, these others passions will inform this creative monster that I’ve
become. I want to be able to choreograph, direct, stage, design, costume and
compose.
6. Also, you describe yourself as “anxious and
temperamental” which I totally empathise with. How have you come to embrace
these things?
It’s funny we’re having this conversation today! We just had
a matinee school show [SDC performs and
holds workshops with school students] and I found myself in a really anxious
world. It’s such a frightening thing because it makes you question what you’re
doing. I know that I’ve embraced it. More people than not deal with that in the
arts especially. You’re putting your own work out there and whether you feel
like it or not, you have to go out there and perform. In that respect, this is
a relationship and even with the person that you love the most, they’ll make
you angry and they’ll make you hurt. But you don’t just throw it away and leave
it.
