ToThePointe Meets Brandon Lawrence

When I first sit down to interview Brandon Lawrence, Soloist with Birmingham Royal Ballet, he dives straight in talking about dance, his childhood and his passion for BRB. My initial questions are rapidly being answered on their own, such is Brandon's way of being open and chatty. Yes he's warm and charismatic but he's also very intelligent, often trailing off to discuss dance styles and choreographers who he admires. He tells me that you've got to have the heart to be a dancer but he clearly also has the brains which will take him far and elevate the lead roles which he has yet to dance. We sat down in London’s Sadler’s Wells before he stepped on stage in BRB’s touring Shakespeare-inspired triple bill, to discuss his progress as a dancer, his inspirations and what he loves about dancing.

The story is a familiar one. It’s a story about a young boy, growing up in very ‘normal’ and unglamorous surroundings, with pent up energy and restless feet, ending up at White Lodge. No he’s not Billy Elliot and he’s also not Carlos Acosta. Brandon Lawrence may have something in common with these fairytale-like stories of the boy who danced his way to stardom, but he has no interest in wallowing about his roots or where he’s from. For Brandon, it’s all about what’s around the corner and the next dream role he can dance. It’s refreshing. Too often we are taken back to the ‘poor’ background of these talented stars, focusing on where they have come from rather than where they are going. Brandon is from Bradford, a normal, working-class background, single mother, one sister, talented and creative with a need to dance. He doesn’t use this to create any sort of clever PR backstory; he doesn’t need to, the talent does the talking. When I sheepishly tell him that all I know about Bradford is that it’s the home town of former One Direction star, Zayn Malik, he quips that it’s actually also the home of David Hockney, the Brontes and, he stoops to my level, Gareth Gates. In a few years, we’ll be adding Lawrence’s name to the list too but for now he smiles as he tells me warm stories about his strict mother who warned him that the dancing dream would end if his academic studies started to suffer or about his family surprising him on opening nights. They support him a lot and he is incredibly grounded thanks to them. He knew, however, that although Bradford would always be home, he didn’t have too much in common with his childhood friends from the area. “It was when I went to White Lodge that I started making friends, because of course we had a lot in common, and were all aiming for pretty much the same thing. It was always healthy competition, but we were all friends.”

He tells me that he started going to ballet classes because his mum needed to get him out of the house as he was dancing all over the place. “I did Saturday classes and then I went to the Yorkshire Ballet Summer School, run by Marguerite Porter, who used to be a dancer with the Royal Ballet, and with whom I'm still very good friends now. She's almost like a second mother to me! It was after my first summer there when I was 14 that she asked me if I would like to take more classes. Then I got a call from her at the end of the summer saying that she had arranged an audition for me at the Royal Ballet School.” This bit is perhaps a bit Billy Elliot, as Brandon travelled down to London on the train with his mum, auditioning to join one of the world’s greatest ballet schools. Once offered a place at the school, Brandon said that the biggest change wasn’t dancing every day, but being somewhere completely different from his surroundings in Bradford. “I mean, there I was, going to school in an old hunting lodge, in the middle of a huge park, surrounded by deer and rabbits! I mean, come on...that was about as far-removed from Bradford as you can get, and I never would have believed it possible!” His face lights up when he thinks back to this time in his life and I guess it would, as that move is what kicked things off. He tells me how at home he felt at White Lodge and how he was never homesick, instead enjoying daily life where dance was balanced with normal academic studies. When he reached the Upper School, where meals are no longer prepared for you, he proudly tells me that he cooked, cleaned and catered to himself and even helped others to do the same. There is no diva eye-rolling as he recounts these anecdotes of ironing or cooking, instead he is proud that he can take care of himself without any help. I think he grew up quickly at White Lodge and liked that he didn’t need to rely on anyone else, something which would stand him in good stead when joining a touring company.

So how did he join Birmingham Royal Ballet? “I took part in the Young British Dancer of the Year competition in my third and final year at school. I had taken part a few times before, but this time David Bintley was in the audience. He later told us that he was creating Cinderella and was looking for some ladies but that he would be coming back to take another look at the boys.” It’s here that I start to see the business side of this process and the harsher reality of negotiations and discussions that need to take place before dancers join companies. You must need a thick skin as you are opening yourself up for such harsh rejection at such a young age. “In those days, Gailene Stock (Director of the Royal Ballet School) used to get us to make lists of which companies we'd like to join. Because there were so many directors coming to look, it was her strategy, having these lists, to negotiate with the directors. At the end of the day, it is a business.” I get the impression that Brandon has always been aware that the sugar-coated fairytale façade of the ballet world has a very tough business-like structure keeping it together. “Birmingham Royal Ballet were top of my list and one day during a contemporary class Gailene walked in and asked if she could pull me out of class. I thought to myself ‘but I haven’t done anything!’ Anyway, I went into the office and David was sitting there. He started talking and told me that he had seen me dance at various events, and liked my dancing. He didn't need to see any more, and would like me to join the company at the beginning of the following season.” Although he broke his foot and was ‘rehabbing’ during his first season with the company, the opportunities kept flying in for Brandon. He was part of a group of eight dancers specifically chosen by choreographer Jessica Lang to star in a new work, he was cast at the end of his first year with the company by Bintley himself to dance the lead in his new ballet ‘Faster’ and danced the part of Lysander in Ashton’s ‘The Dream’. Not bad for a guy who joins with an injury. He spent three years as an Artist, finally breaking out to First Artist where he danced the Beast in Bintley’s reimagining of Beauty and the Beast, a role, he says that was challenging for him. “It’s a David ballet, which means it’s challenging. He makes great narrative works because his story telling is very clear. He is very intelligent, and this translates into his ballets.” I ask him what it’s like to have your Director doubling up as the company’s main choreographer. “It's great. He has watched so many of us grow. Take Iain Mackay, one of our Principal dancers. He was hired, like me, as an Artist, and now he is at the top of his profession and married with two children...so David has really watched him progress!”

So what kind of dancer is Brandon Lawrence? I often think it must be very different being a male dancer at the moment. In previous years their main duty was to assist the ballerinas, supporting them and partnering them to make them look amazing, getting one solo in a pas de deux to show the audience that they are more that just a coat stand in tights. But in more recent years, thanks to choreographers like MacMillan, Ashton and even Matthew Bourne, the male dancer stands (or dances) on his own two feet. He does more than a classical solo, he can be a virtuoso, impress the audience, delve into the psychology of certain roles. I find it surprising that whilst this is the direction a lot of male dancers are taking, Brandon’s favourite aspect of ballet is partnering and sharing the stage with his ballerina. Is this just another example of his gracious and caring persona or is this really what Brandon enjoys doing on stage? “Partnerships are incredibly important to me. My favourite part in all of ballet is the pas de deux. That is my favourite thing to dance. I think because there is an art to it. You have to look like you aren't doing too much. I always think of it as the performance is happening at the front (the ballerina), and you are the machine making it work. I've enjoyed it since school, and since joining the company I've had the chance to partner in many different things.” I’m quite shocked that a male dancer with so much potential to be a great star really revels in pas de deux and finds this the greatest joy to dance. I love this. It’s so humbling and makes me think of Brandon as a team player, wanting to be part of a company rather than show off in solo work. He’s not shy either and he doesn’t want to hide behind his ballerina, but instead he wants to support her and show virtuoso talent next to her rather than rival her. I’m sure all the girls want him as the Siegfried to their Odette; however, it seems that it’s Delia Mathews, BRB First Soloist, who has begun to foster a great partnership with him. “Last year I did Swan Lake with Delia. She had already done it before and I knew it was her favourite role to dance. It made it somehow very magical. I remember seeing the casting going up and just having a 'gulp' moment, but I was so happy. It was very hard though. Siegfried is a role that all male dancers aspire to dance at some point in their careers.” Brandon has nothing but praise for Mathews and it sounds like he is learning a lot from partnering her. “With the partnering, I am always much happier. Maybe I am weaker on my own, I don't know, but in the Black Swan pas de deux, there is that great music and I dance with the ballerina, partner her, throw her around. When she leaves me alone on stage that’s when I'm like '[gulp], oh no, it's my solo!' I told Delia once that as soon as she runs off stage I spend the rest of the time looking for her, and she told me the same thing! So when we are back onstage together, we are very happy again!” I love this idea that they both are searching for each other during solo work on stage as what they really love is dancing together. It mirrors the real love story in the narrative of the ballet and I’m sure their respect for each other as dancers and their shared passion to dance with each other is what made their performances in this ballet hot gossip amongst audiences across the country. After all, Swan Lake is where I first started hearing the name Brandon Lawrence and was told repeatedly how I needed to catch him as Siegfried as soon as possible. I tell Brandon how he seems so laid-back and approaches ballet more as an artist with subtlety and beauty. Whilst some male dancers may think that the aim of the game is to jump as high as possible and turn as fast as possible, Brandon’s way is more moving and just tells the story. He sort of shrugs this off and simply says that partnering is ‘about the connection between me and the ballerina, and it’s where the artistry shows more.” I completely agree with him; the artistry really is shown in how you can partner and not necessarily in how high you can jump. For Brandon, technique is most effectively shown in its subtleties and he has no time for bravado.

So which dancers inspire the man with great potential? “Well, when I was growing up, it was Carlos Acosta. Also, Roberto Bolle. He is like a ballet god.” I tell him that I’ve always thought Bolle was more like a moving statue to which Brandon agrees, saying ‘he looks like he was carved out!’ We share a giggle over Bolle’s fine form where Brandon then turns to some more serious inspirations. “I get a lot of inspiration from BRB’s dancers. I look up to Iain Mackay a lot. I love dancing with him because he always gives 100%, and it's great to see that. His work ethic inspires me and I really look up to him. I am also a big fan of female dancers and still look at them for inspiration, and I’m a particularly big fan of Roberta Marquez. I absolutely adore her. When I was at school I used to watch her in everything. You know when someone has that something special? She has that special thing for me.” I start to day dream of Brandon partnering Marquez in Fille and start to remember that she has now retired and that will never happen. “We don't have too long to do these things as our careers are short, and you want to get as much out of it as you can.” It always seems a struggle for dancers to retire and I think we always feel a little bereft when they do, constantly wondering what they might be up to or why they ever had to retire when they were looking in such great shape. I start to think of Marquez again and can’t believe she’s the latest we must lose. “Take Sylvie Guillem. I mean how many times did she try to retire?! And look at the great Leanne Benjamin; she was around until she was about 49. She is another one I always admired. She always spoke her mind, but then backed up what she said through her dancing. Her dancing was always so well thought-out. She was never flippant. It makes such a difference. There's a difference between having your heart in it or not. You can always tell, there's no hiding behind it.” I love that Brandon doesn’t just name the usual inspirational names. Yes he mentions Acosta, but there’s no starry-eyed speech about Nureyev, Baryshnikov or Polunin. Instead, he’s inspired by a number of female dancers, and also looks to choreographers for advice and guidance. He tells me about his admiration for Sir Peter Wright, the one and only, whose Nutcracker, Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty are all part of BRB’s repertoire. “We are very lucky to have him still come up and coach us. He really moves with the times. Some people mistakenly think that the older mentors and coaches are stuck in the past, but that's not true. Peter recognises that dance is shifting, and I respect that. For example, look at me, I'm not what you'd call a 'normal specimen' of a ballet dancer. I look more like a runner or something! But he still likes to use me in his ballets! He is such a wonderful influence, with all of his experience.” Brandon was actually asked to write a short quote for Wright’s autobiography which he said was an honour. “I just thought 'oh my gosh, not many people would be asked to do this!'. But I have always got on very well with him, and have always listened to what he has to say. I really respect him, he is someone who is so knowledgeable about British ballet.” It is good to see that this young dancer has made a great impression on such an important name in the ballet world. But Brandon isn’t a namedropper nor particularly fazed by the effect he seems to have on people. He’s just a nice normal guy who happens to have star quality.

I wonder whether the laid-back persona is ever troubled by stage fright or anxiety. Now a Soloist, and dancing more and more lead roles, is there a chance he could throw it all away due to nerves? “I don't really suffer much from nerves but I am very self-critical. There are lots of critics around. Some dancers read reviews on themselves, some don't, but I can guarantee that no-one is more critical of a dancer than the dancers themselves. We know if we've been good, or bad, or if we've got away it but some dancers get destroyed by what people say about them.” I wonder whether he ever lets critics get to him but he looks at me, wide eyed, batting it off to tell me that “what people think about you is rarely anything to do with you.” He’s so right, and it’s a saying I often think to myself too.

I like that although Brandon takes what he does seriously, he is still able to take it all with a pinch of salt and have a good laugh whilst doing so. He’s a clever guy and fully aware of the nature of the ballet world. I ask him whether he can leave it all behind once the day is finished and he tells me that he’s getting better at this, and loves to escape through movies and concerts. I tell him that this is still very cultural and I ask whether he ever needs to just come home and do something mindless and this is when he tells me about his passion for baking and his love of the Great British Bake Off, a love that we both share. We begin a detailed conversation about the show moving to Channel 4, how horrified we are, we share whispers of who we’ve heard will replace Mel and Sue and he tells me that he loves Kirsty Alsopp, to which I almost end the interview and walk out. I’m sorry but Phil Spencer deserves a better partner at his side. Putting this to one side, I wonder whether there’s a budding choreographer inside him or a passion for teaching. What will he do once it’s all coming to an end? “I'd like to be a ballet master or repetiteur in a company, working directly with dancers, and seeing them through their careers. I’m studying Cechetti styles of dance and hope to do the full diploma, and maybe a teaching qualification one day. But at the moment I am really focused on BRB and trying to push as hard as I can in the roles I've been given.” He’s not one to look too far into the future because he’s loving what he’s doing right now and he’s doing a great job at it. I ask him about dream roles and rather than sticking with the usual suspects, he tells me he would love to explore more of Balanchine’s works and that dancing in Ashton’s ‘Symphonic Variations’ would be a dream. “I'd probably crumble halfway through! I just love that ballet; the choreography, the production, the music. It also looks like it could have been created last year, and it will never date. Again, there is quite a lot of Cecchetti in there, like the ports de bras, so that's interesting for me.”

What I like about Brandon Lawrence is how down to earth he is. I ask him what he's going to do before his show this evening and he shrugs saying he'll probably just have a cup of tea. As our interview drew to a close I think I came to realise the crux of his character: Brandon Lawrence is destined for stardom and he doesn't seem to know it yet; where he could be difficult and demanding, he is naturally kind and endearing. He's going to go on to do great things but he'll always be our boy from Bradford.

*Photos of Brandon Lawrence and Delia Mathews in Birmingham Royal Ballet's 'Swan Lake' copyright Birmingham Royal Ballet

**With thanks to Brandon Lawrence, Kate Howells and Simonetta Dixon