Michael Keegan-Dolan
After the success of Giselle in bite05 last year, Michael Keegan-Dolan's Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre return to the
Barbican next week (20 June - 8 July).
The Flowerbed is a love story based loosely on Romeo and Juliet. Expect love, illicit sex, drugs, gardening - and a real lawn.
Keegan Dolan has worked in theatre, opera and film - and since 1997 has written,
directed, choreographed and co-produced five productions for his Irish-based company.
He answers a few questions for us..
When did your interest in dance first start?
My interest in dance started when I was about 6 or 7, my mother used to bring
me and my older brothers and sisters to see the Christmas Pantomime every year
and I was bewitched by the magic of theatre although I did not take my first dance
class until I was seventeen.
Did you train in dance - and where?
I trained at the Central School of Ballet from 1989-1991 and I have been training
ever since to reverse that process!
Can you remember the first dance company you saw?
The first Dance Company I saw was Irish National Ballet in 1988.
What was the inspiration for your company name?
The inspiration for the company name came from a book I was reading at the time
the company was founded in 1997. It was a book on mythical creatures entitled
Fabulous Beasts!
Who or what are your main influences?
I work to have no influences and I focus on the creative process that drives
the initial idea through to completion. I don't look outwardly for inspiration.
What's your favourite book? CD? Film?
I don't read books much. I like the music of Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan and I
like the movies of Lars Von Trier and Kitano Takeshi.
What is your usual starting point for a new work?
The starting point is always a story that I would like to tell or an image or
collection of images that provoke the idea of a story that I would like to tell.
In a nutshell, what can audiences expect from The Flowerbed?
In a nutshell, The Flowerbed??? Impossible to answer.
If your life's work hadn't become dance, what might it have been?
If it had not have been dance it would have been dogs. I like German Shepherds
and perhaps now I would be a vet.
What's happening next for you & Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre?
Next, we tour a little with The Flowerbed. Then we bring The Bull to BITE and then we start work on our new creation, Oedipus Rex!
