Spotlight On... Josh Chester from Ebonessence Youth Dance
Young choreographer Josh Chester first got involved in dance around five years ago, with the help of Michelle, who runs Ebonessence Youth Dance. "[Michelle] started training me... she told me I should train in other styles, so I went to study dance at Lewisham College studying Contemporary, Ballet and Jazz." Josh also works freelance in filming/video editing, graphic and web design, as well as making music for other dance groups.In the last 3 years Josh has also worked extensively in several mediums on Hoxton Hall's Hipnotic project, exploring the history of Hip Hop. In 2008 he collaborated with Angika to create a new work fusing Street dance and Bharatanatyam. Following this he achieved the Gold Arts Award, for which he coordinated a group of young people from different organisations to present an event showcasing their work at the Shoreditch Festival.
For the Festival, Josh created his first piece, iD, a fusion of Street and Contemporary dance looking at the different issues young people face in todays' society. This led to an opportunity to work with Studio Youth. His piece, Overdose explored peoples' experimentations with drugs, looking at both the good and the bad effects it can have on people.
"This was the first time I had done anything outside of Ebonessence and I learnt a lot from it, in terms of choreography, teaching and really pushing myself and the people around me... especially the people around me. I hope next year to work on another project where I can really push my work to the next level!"
1. Most played song on your iPod?
I got 3 ipods sooo... Agent K - Ladies First, Dwele - Hold On, Michael Jackson - I Cant Help It
2. Favourite place in the world?
Bedroom! Thats where I do most of my work
3. Favourite food?
Pizza... Or Mac n Cheese, mmmmmm!
4. Most treasured possession?
Collection of Macintosh computers.
5. Essential clothing item?
Comfortable dancing shoes! Skate shoes are really good, like Vans or DCs, Air force ones are good too.
6. Dance style you'd most like to try for the first time?
Tap dance! I believe so much can be done with it, the way you can create your own rhythms and really just dance how you feel, it would be awesome to fuse it with other styles.
7. Favourite choreographer?
In Street dance at the moment I'd say Kenny Wormald and Nick Bass, their styles really compliment each other in their choreography. In Contemporary I really like Christopher Bruce and Akram Khan.
8. Best thing about choreographing?
Seeing your vision when its finished and the journey getting there, because sometimes not everything works out how you want and you have to compromise, but sometimes that leads to better things.
9. Top tip for aspiring young dancers wanted to get into choreography?
Learning as many styles as you can is good, it helps with your technicality, your range of movement and dynamics. The more you know, the more you can create!
10. I dance because.../Dance is...
Awesome! I love it!
Josh works and performs with Ebonessence Youth Dance Group, which runs open classes for Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced dancers. They are currently working on several summer projects. Josh will also be working on some other projects including a 6-hour long piece based on Madea in East India (on the DLR) which is really unique.
www.ebonessence.co.uk
www.london-studio-centre.co.uk/studioyouth
