Keep dancing: Chanel DaSilva on taking risks, dealing with grief and tackling Trump
DaSilva's dance style has been described as 'technique meets humanity', in the sense that she draws on the precision and virtuosity of classical and modern dance, but brings in a freedom and naturalism. The piece she has made here for the company Ballet Black, called A Shadow Work, is in part about dealing with grief over the death of her mother when DaSilva was 19. At the time, trying to get through her college education, she couldn't cope with it. 'So I packed up that grief, put it in a little box, and pushed it down deep. And it stayed there for about 10 years until I was finally brave enough to reckon with it.' In hindsight, 'I should have mourned,' she says. 'But we're not judging.'
DaSilva trained at the 'Fame' performing arts school LaGuardia High: 'I was very focused and very clear on what I wanted for my career.' She then went to Juilliard, which is nearby. 'All I did was cross the street, and my entire idea of what dance is and can be just exploded.'
Going to therapy in her late 20s unlocked a lot for DaSilva, and A Shadow Work is inspired by the idea of the shadow self in psychology (as well as actual shadows). 'I was fascinated by a video I saw of a little kid seeing their shadow for the first time, horrified at two years old by something following them. And there's a parallel with the moment in therapy where you see the shadow and you're like, this is too much for me to deal with, I want to retreat. But then one day you actually just surrender to the idea that it's there. It's a part of you.'
DaSilva's piece shares a double bill called Shadows with a new work by Ballet Black director Cassa Pancho, based on Oyinkan Braithwaite's bestselling book My Sister, the Serial Killer – far from your usual kind of ballet story. That's something DaSilva welcomes. 'Otherwise our art form is going to become so niche and so dated that it won't move forward, it won't evolve and it will die, right?'
DaSilva has taken some artistic risks of her own, agreeing with Nina Simone that it's an artist's duty to reflect the times. In 2018 she made Public/Private, performed by one male dancer with an ensemble of female dancers, using the audio recording of Donald Trump's infamous 'grab them by the pussy' boast. 'I was enraged about all of the spewing that was coming from Donald Trump, and I was hearing [that clip] everywhere, every day, I was almost getting numb to it, you know? And I thought, why can't I put it on stage, to put a mirror in front of us to say: this is who we've elected.'
DaSilva has written about her own experience of sexual abuse by a private dance teacher when she was a teenager – not an isolated incident in the industry. Now that she is in a position of leadership herself, training young diverse dancers with her non-profit organisation MOVE|NYC| and running a women's mentoring project, she was moved to speak out. 'This open secret is around and if this ever happened to one of my students it would break my heart. So I need to talk about it. What are we doing to protect our young people?'
She's an activist, or 'artivist' she would say. Just her presence is an inspiration – it's rare to see black female choreographers at this level in ballet. 'It's not a secret that black women kind of sit at the bottom,' she says. 'I haven't forgotten what it took to get out of east New York, Brooklyn, so that's what drives me. As I climb the ladder, I'm pulling up women with me.'
DaSilva's Trump piece was made during his first term as president. Now we're in the era of Trump 2.0 – can she bear it? 'I continue to be hopeful that we will just try our best to put humanity first and not let greed get in the way,' she says. 'I'm trying to have an optimistic point of view so I don't get so cynical my brain just gives up on it all.' DaSilva is intent on making the arts world more equitable, 'to put a little pebble into the pond and hope for some ripples of change' as she puts it. 'Artists really are the catalyst.'
Ballet Black: Shadows is at Hackney Empire, London, 13-15 March. Then touring
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Metro
4 hours ago
- Metro
I have to warn you after watching 'heart-stabbing' Netflix film My Oxford Year
Netflix has just released a new film that has fan up in arms about its ending, questioning its classification as a rom-com – and I'm afraid to say, is also just a bit crap. Fans have swarmed social media to reveal they are 'speechless', 'devastated' and generally crying their eyes out over the movie, while others have taken it to task for being 'so boring' and leaving them 'feeling nothing' for any other characters. And I wholeheartedly agree. Not only does My Oxford Year take a very long time to introduce any stakes, but before we get there it's a painful watch for British fans not particularly interested in the film's tourist porn shots of the titular city and university. And while they do at least cast English actors in English parts (Corey Mylchreest, Dougray Scott, Catherine McCormack), some of the schmaltz could not more obviously point to American involvement – we just don't mix well with unnecessarily twinkling and dramatic music underscoring even the most mundane of teaching scenes. Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro's TV Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we'll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you. The 'rom-com', loosely based on the book by American author Julia Whelan, who attended Oxford herself, concerns ambitious working-class New Yorker Anna (Sofia Carson), who is attending the University of Oxford to study Victorian poetry as a postgraduate. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video While there she falls for charming local Jamie (Queen Charlotte's Mylchreest), who also happens to be teaching her classes, and the pair begin a very tedious, chemistry-free flirtationship before a secret he's been hiding threatens their burgeoning romance. (Also warning you that, despite Bridgerton raising our expectations in this department, there are no steamy sex scenes to be found here, and even their tiringly clichéd kiss in the rain gave me nothing.) *Spoilers ahead for My Oxford Year* This is where My Oxford Year takes a sharp left into cancerbait territory, revealing that Jamie is doomed to succumb to an unspecified form of the disease, just like his late brother, despite looking and acting like the healthiest, liveliest rake in the room – plus, y'know, Mylchreest. Obviously, they are reminding us that not everyone fatally ill looks or acts that way (and nor should they have to), but it's a clumsily made point when the film decides to give Mylchreest his first topless scene while receiving chemotherapy. And then they belatedly whack out the greyish face make-up for one scene later on. My Year at Oxford's ending reveals that Jamie does indeed die after catching a critical case of pneumonia, sharing the news surprisingly subtly as Anna lies in bed with Jamie, narrating the stops of the grand European tour they intended to go on. While the montage initially shows the couple happily together exploring Amsterdam, Venice, Paris and the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion in Greece, the camera then swings around to reveal Anna on her own taking the trip instead – and fine, yes, okay, I got a little burning behind the eyes at this, but it is not a high bar to pass for a film to manipulate me intro crying. It proved even more emotionally effective for others though. 'Did I finish the movie or did the movie finish me?' asked fan Agnes on X over My Oxford Year's traumatic conclusion. 'Thought I was signing up for a chill romantic movie with a few clichés. Instead, My Oxford Year wrecked me emotionally, stabbed me in the heart and walked away like nothing happened. That ending?? RUDE. Yeah. I'm not okay. Not even a little bit,' ranted user @_httpSea_, echoing a lot of the shocked reaction to the film. 'My Oxford Year is the biggest Trojan horse ever seen. I thought I was watching a silly romcom and I just got depressed with the ending of it,' tweeted @JENNIEDEMIE. 'Why did nobody warn me that it ended like that and why am I bawling over a movie I thought would be a cute and silly rom com,' complained Lily-Rose, while Mel shared: 'Netflix really thought the book My Oxford Year wasn't sad enough, so they proceed to change the ending to send us in therapy.' Critics have not been kind to My Oxford Year, with it sitting at a dismal 29% on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes at the time of publication. Collider criticised it for having the 'plot and character development out of a Wattpad novel written by a 15-year-old One Direction fan', while The New York Times called it 'a limp attempt at being this generation's About Time'. 'An uninspired yet competently assembled trifle,' mused The Guardian's two-star review, with critic Benjamin Lee saying the cancer twist will be 'met with a sigh of disappointment' for being so hackneyed. Other viewers agreed, with one saying it was 'pretty pointless' and another that it was 'worse than mediocre'. Noga E described it as 'a painful failure' in comparison to the book while Nina B complained: 'There's no spark, no soul – just two hours of hollow stares and fake chemistry.' 'It's as if A Walk to Remember and Me Before You had a very, very odd cousin that no one wants to hang out with,' added Teresita G. I knew what I was in for when the film mentioned how much it rains in the UK after barely a minute, and Carson began her narration as Anna by quoting poet Henry David Thoreau. Literature references are always the sign of an overly earnest film as you'd never catch a normal human going around quoting poetry, including out loud and at somebody (which also happens later in the film) to make a comparison, even if you were studying it at university (and I did). More Trending That sort of thing is far too intense and emotional, control yourself… which I guess may prove the film's point about British people being repressed and not wanting to talk about their feelings, which is what drives a wedge between Jamie and his father, played by Scott. So I'll give it that, I guess. My Oxford Year is streaming now on Netflix. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Netflix fans declare 'weekend is sorted' as addictive TV series drops 6 new episodes MORE: 17,000,000 Netflix users risk £1,000 fine for watching WWE SummerSlam MORE: 'I'm a TV critic – I'm convinced Netflix's August thriller will blow me away'
Daily Mirror
6 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
JD Vance's secret love for 90s boy bands uncovered in Trump team Spotify bombshell
An anonymous website named 'the Panama Playlists' claims to have identified and scraped Spotify data from high profile figures in Donald Trump administration US Vice President JD Vance listens to the Backstreet Boys and Justin Bieber while making dinner, it has been claimed. An anonymous website named 'the Panama Playlists' claims to have identified and scraped Spotify data from high profile figures in Donald Trump administration, revealing their favourite tunes. The VP's 'Making Dinner' playlist includes I Want It That Way by the Backstreet Boys and and One Time by Justin Bieber. And it's not just American teen stars of the 90s and 00s that get Vance going - another of his playlists includes What Makes You Beautiful by millenial British popsters One Direction. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has a playlist entitled 'baby shower', which includes A Bar Song by Shaboozey. And Attorney General Pam Bondi's playlist includes Nelly's Hot in Herre and Foreigner's Cold As Ice. Black Eyed Peas' I Gotta Feeling and Usher's Yeah! also made appearances on Bondi's list. The site quietly went live on Wednesday - and is named after the Panama Papers, an online dump of documents that exposed the banking practices of the super rich. The unknown person who runs the site said they had access to 'playlists, live listening feed, everything. I know what songs they played, when, and how many times.' They added: 'Heard of the Panama Papers? That exposed offshore bank accounts. This is about onshore vibes.' Get Donald Trump updates straight to your WhatsApp! As the world attempts to keep up with Trump's antics, the Mirror has launched its very own US Politics WhatsApp community where you'll get all the latest news from across the pond. We'll send you the latest breaking updates and exclusives all directly to your phone. Users must download or already have WhatsApp on their phones to join in. All you have to do to join is click on this link, select 'Join Chat' and you're in! We may also send you stories from other titles across the Reach group. We will also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose Exit group. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. According to the New York Post, the sleuth behind the site said: 'I gained confidence in each person by looking at lots of signals. 'An example is Pam Bondi. Her longtime partner is John Wakefield, and her profile has an old playlist called 'john' and an old shared playlist with a user named 'John Wakefield,' so that gives me a lot of confidence it is her account.' They also said Leavitt had had a baby a month after her 'baby shower' playlist had been made.
The Independent
19 hours ago
- The Independent
Not just Big Bird: Things to know about the Center for Public Broadcasting and its funding cuts
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which helps pay for PBS, NPR, 1,500 local radio and television stations as well as programs like 'Sesame Street' and 'Finding Your Roots,' said Friday that it would close after the U.S. government withdrew funding. The organization told employees that most staff positions will end with the fiscal year on Sept. 30. A small transition team will stay until January to finish any remaining work. The private, nonprofit corporation was founded in 1968 shortly after Congress authorized its formation. It now ends nearly six decades of fueling the production of renowned educational programming, cultural content and emergency alerts about natural disasters. Here's what to know: Losing funding President Donald Trump signed a bill on July 24 canceling about $1.1 billion that had been approved for public broadcasting. The White House says the public media system is politically biased and an unnecessary expense, and conservatives have particularly directed their ire at NPR and PBS. Lawmakers with large rural constituencies voiced concern about what the cuts could mean for some local public stations in their state. They warned some stations will have to close. The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday reinforced the policy change by excluding funding for the corporation for the first time in more than 50 years as part of a broader spending bill. How it began Congress passed legislation creating the body in 1967, several years after then-Federal Communications Commission Chairman Newton Minow described commercial television a 'vast wasteland' and called for programming in the public interest. The corporation doesn't produce programming and it doesn't own, operate or control any public broadcasting stations. The corporation, PBS, NPR are independent of each other as are local public television and radio stations. Rural stations hit hard Roughly 70% of the corporation's money went directly to 330 PBS and 246 NPR stations across the country. The cuts are expected to weigh most heavily on smaller public media outlets away from big cities, and it's likely some won't survive. NPR's president estimated as many as 80 NPR stations may close in the next year. Mississippi Public Broadcasting has already decided to eliminate a streaming channel that airs children's programming like 'Caillou' and 'Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood' 24 hours a day. Maine's public media system is looking at a hit of $2.5 million, or about 12% of its budget, for the next fiscal year. The state's rural residents rely heavily on public media for weather updates and disaster alerts. In Kodiak, Alaska, KMXT estimated the cuts would slice 22% from its budget. Public radio stations in the sprawling, heavily rural state often provide not just news but alerts about natural disasters like tsunamis, landslides and volcanic eruptions. From Big Bird to war documentaries The first episode of 'Sesame Street' aired in 1969. Child viewers, adults and guest stars alike were instantly hooked. Over the decades, characters from Big Bird to Cookie Monster and Elmo have become household favorites Entertainer Carol Burnett appeared on that inaugural episode. She told The Associated Press she was a big fan. "I would have done anything they wanted me to do,' she said. 'I loved being exposed to all that goodness and humor.' Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. started 'Finding Your Roots' in 2006 under the title 'African American Lives.' He invited prominent Black celebrities and traced their family trees into slavery. When the paper trail ran out, they would use DNA to see which ethnic group they were from in Africa. Challenged by a viewer to open the show to non-Black celebrities, Gates agreed and the series was renamed 'Faces of America,' which had to be changed again after the name was taken. The show is PBS's most-watched program on linear TV and the most-streamed non-drama program. Season 10 reached nearly 18 million people across linear and digital platforms and also received its first Emmy nomination. Grant money from the nonprofit has also funded lesser-known food, history, music and other shows created by stations across the country. Documentarian Ken Burns, celebrated for creating the documentaries 'The Civil War,' 'Baseball' and 'The Vietnam War', told PBS NewsHour said the corporation accounted for about 20% of his films' budgets. He said he would make it up but projects receiving 50% to 75% of their funding from the organization won't. Influence of shows Children's programing in the 1960s was made up of shows like 'Captain Kangaroo,' ''Romper Room' and the violent skirmishes between 'Tom & Jerry.' "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood' mostly taught social skills. 'Sesame Street' was designed by education professionals and child psychologists to help low-income and minority students aged 2-5 overcome some of the deficiencies they had when entering school. Social scientists had long noted white and higher income kids were often better prepared. One of the most widely cited studies about the impact of 'Sesame Street' compared households that got the show with those who didn't. It found that the children exposed to 'Sesame Street' were 14% more likely to be enrolled in the correct grade level for their age at middle and high school. Over the years, 'Finding Your Roots' showed Natalie Morales discovering she's related to one of the legendary pirates of the Caribbean and former 'Saturday Night Live' star Andy Samberg finding his biological grandmother and grandfather. It revealed that drag queen RuPaul and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker are cousins, as are actors Meryl Streep and Eva Longoria. 'The two subliminal messages of 'Finding Your Roots,' which are needed more urgently today than ever, is that what has made America great is that we're a nation of immigrants,' Gates told the AP. 'And secondly, at the level of the genome, despite our apparent physical differences, we're 99.99% the same.'
