About this podcast
Why Dance Matters is a series of conversations with extraordinary people from the world of dance and beyond. It traces the impact of dance on their lives and asks why dance matters to them – and why it might matter to us all. The RAD inspires the world to dance, and we hope these insightful personal conversations – hosted by David Jays, editor of Dance Gazette, the RAD magazine – will delight and even surprise you. Find out more on our website > https://www.royalacademyofdance.org/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 106 episodes
- Irma Becker: dance is for everyone · 31 min · Season 12 Episode 4People often say ‘dance is for everyone’, but few people walk the walk like Irma Becker. In Miami, she leads the Inspire Theatre Project at Area Stage Conservatory. Inspire is an…
- Sonia Brown: Silver Swans (plus a hen night) · 41 min · Season 12 Episode 3Sonia Brown is an award-winning RAD teacher in Berkshire, UK. The RAD’s Silver Swans programme, aimed at people aged 55 and over, struck a chord with her. Her mother was Sonia’s…
- Jack Murphy: Bridgerton’s dancing master · 47 min · Season 12 Episode 2Jack Murphy is the acclaimed choreographer and movement director of Bridgerton. Initially an actor, he became a movement director (training in part at the RAD), helping actors…
- Christopher Wheeldon: ballet meets Broadway · 49 min · Season 12 Episode 1Christopher Wheeldon is a very special guest for the 100th episode of Why Dance Matters. He’s a ballet great – creator of marvels like After the Rain and Tryst, and full length…
- Amanda Teo: ballet meets world · 40 min · Season 11 Episode 22The RAD has an impressive global reach – in over 80 countries across the world, thousands of teachers are progressing even more thousands of students the curves and lines that…
- Alicia Graf Mack: holding history in her hand · 48 min · Season 11 Episode 21Alicia Graf Mack is only the fourth ever director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. It’s a company with a huge significance for dance history – and especially for Black…
- Serena McCall: style and steam · 46 min · Season 11 Episode 20The wonderful Scottish dancer Serena McCall is currently appearing in Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man. It’s a tale of torrid sex and violence, set in a small US town. Serena herself…
- Alexandra Beller: what does the body know? · 39 min · Season 11 Episode 19The human body is a walking repository of human experience, its joys and terrors, surprises and exhilarations. Someone who knows how to tap into that embodied experience is…
- Lil Buck: from Memphis to the world stage · 45 min · Season 11 Episode 18No one moves like Charles “Lil Buck” Riley. The dancer, renowned for Memphis jookin’, has a breathtakingly fluid style which has led to collaborations in ballet, music, fashion…
- Isabelle Brouwers: sharing the dance · 45 min · Season 11 Episode 17Isabelle Brouwers is an eloquent advocate for ballet and the way it can speak to young people, audiences and wider communities. She retired from English National Ballet earlier…
- Nathan James: taptastic! · 38 min · Season 11 Episode 16As the RAD releases its new Musical Theatre syllabus, Dr Nathan James (the RAD’s Deputy Artistic Director – Education) describes what makes it distinctive. From falling under the…
- Dena Kaplan: good-girl dancer to euphoric DJ · 44 min · Season 11 Episode 15In a candid interview, the Australian-based dancer, actor and musician Dena Kaplan describes the unexpected places dance may take you. Dena was born in South Africa and moved to…
- Sir Peter Wright: a century of dance · 25 min · Season 11 Episode 14Sir Peter Wright is living proof that doing what you love will sustain you. The ballet producer and artistic director turns 100 in November, but has been involved in recent…
- Pawlet Brookes: the art of serendipity · 38 min · Season 11 Episode 13Serendipity is what happens when the universe smiles on you: a happy chance, a creative coincidence. It is also the name of the remarkable Serendipity Institute for Black Arts…
- Jordan James Bridge: defying the gatekeepers · 46 min · Season 11 Episode 12Jordan James Bridge is a sharp mover and thinker and an ambitious talent. Having danced for Company Wayne McGregor, his own choreography has made a splash on screen and in the…
- Sonia Sabri: the power of dance · 46 min · Season 11 Episode 11Our guest today is the choreographer Sonia Sabri – dance changed her life, and now she uses it to change others. Sonia grew up in Wolverhampton, UK, in a traditional Indian…
- Dr. Mark Broomfield: changing the world, one dance at a time · 40 min · Season 11 Episode 10Dr. Mark Broomfield is a dance scholar and artist, and the author of Black Queer Dance: Gay Men and the Politics of Passing for Almost Straight. Born in London, he has spent much…
- Elizabeth Honer: what does leadership look like? · 40 min · Season 11 Episode 9We meet Elizabeth Honer – the RAD’s first female chief executive in its 106 year history – marking her first year in post. Elizabeth’s career in public service has included…
- Christopher Scott: making Wicked dance · 48 min · Season 11 Episode 8Our first guest of 2026 is the choreographer of the Wicked movies: the defying gravity force field that is Christopher Scott. In two phenomenal films, based on the hit stage…
- Jamiel Devernay-Laurence: ballet entrepreneur · 44 min · Season 11 Episode 7Jamiel Devernay-Laurence has a dance brain, but also a business brain. Founder, artistic director and enthusiastic compere of the ever-growing series of Ballet Nights events, he…
