Get groovin’ to the music of James Brown
Best friends Nahum McLean and Darius Drooh first met around 13 years ago, as many lifelong friends do, at school. This wasn’t the kind of school where maths, English and science grades decide students’ futures – it was The Ailey School, one of the most revered dance institutions in the world, so named after the legendary dancer and choreographer behind Revelations, the most-watched modern dance piece ever, writes Melina Block.
While training at the New York school, Manchester-born Nahum and San Fransisco-native Darius would also choreograph works together. But it wasn’t until after, while Darius was touring Lion King for about four years, that the duo started choreographing what would become the basis for their upcoming show, The Brown Suite.
Originally called the James Brown Ballet, The Brown Suite features a collection of songs by the Godfather of Soul alongside work by Sam Cooke and Etta James. “The music is just so infectious,” Nahum, whose audition for a boarding school for ballet he attended in his youth was to a James Brown Song (“which is kind of like a nice little full circle moment,”) tells me. “We’ve been working on this for just over a year now and I still just find myself having a good time, like, wait a minute, we have to work you know!”
The dance which laid the foundations for this new show was called Death of a Bachelor, created about three years ago after the pair received funding from north London dance theatre The Place, allowing them to create a six minute piece. They performed an extended version of Death of a Bachelor at The Place’s Resolution Festival, then later as part of Fundamentally Dance’s flagship shows, Ballet Nights, going from averaging 300-seat theatres to performing in front of around 1000 people.
“Fundamentally Dance is a big ballet platform, so getting to perform there – because we are, more so, sort of jazz and contemporary, so imagine you’re going out there and you’re thinking, well, we’re not ballet, will we be received? But it turned out, we were a hit that night!” Darius laughs, dialling into our group video call from his home back in the US.“It was from there that the relationship with Fundamentally Dance kind of grew,” Nahum explains.
Fundamentally Dance is an independent dance production company platforming world-class dancers, curating line-ups for audiences around the globe. There have already been over 25 performances of Ballet Nights across the UK, Europe and Australia.
“This opportunity for us is really unheard of,” Darius says, appearing to still be somewhat in disbelief. “Now you’re telling me we’re having this UK tour, I mean, it’s unheard of.”
“There’s so many elements of movement and space that we wanna use, that we’ve always wanted to use, that we can never really do without the full length time and the breadth of the work,” Nahum says, expressing his excitement at the chance they have been given. “Our vocabulary kind of expands, within jazz, within contemporary, within ballet and modern dance, as well as all of the groove and the funk that carries the show.”
Right now, the boys are preparing for their national tour, which opens in south London at Richmond Theatre. The rehearsal process has, as of late, been unconventional. With Darius back in his childhood home, the friends are having to choreograph via video calls across the Atlantic. It hasn’t hampered them, though. “Nahum is also my best friend, and sometimes when we get in the studio together, like I said, we are just dancing,” Darius admits, triggering a laugh from his creative partner. “I think the challenge actually ended up being the blessing in this project,” the pair both agree.
There is also sentimental value in working across oceans. “I’m choreographing in my living room and I’m seeing pictures of me when I was a kid, and just being in that space and just remembering, this is where it all happened, this is where I heard James Brown play, in my living room,” Darius reflects, recalling memories of his grandparents and the rest of his family sharing stories. “My mum has even seen James Brown live! […] Grown men were passing out, crying for him and she was there to see that!”
I ask if they hope to elicit the same response from their show, which neither denies.As well as the potential for fainting and hysterics, I ask what they think people will take from coming to see The Brown Suite. “I think they’ll feel the human spirit,” Darius replies. “This music just gets into your soul, we’re building this world of different characters, and the music and the storytelling.”
Nahum expands further, outlining his hopes to engage a generation that he fears doesn’t get out as much as they should. “I think it represents not just the human spirit but also, kind of, social spaces and how we come together as people. “There’s a lot of disconnect in the world nowadays, the way in which our lives go. “[…] That’s what the show is about; The Brown Suite is the name of the show and it’s the name of the suite of the music but it’s also a destination in the show, an amazing club that you would go to in the Seventies. “What I want people to take away is that they should be going out more, socialising more, speaking to people more, and just being more social.”
The Brown Suite kicks off a 12 venues tour across UK cities with the London premiere in Richmond Theatre on Wednesday 30 September. It will be in Richmond between Wednesday 30 September and Saturday 3 October.
Booking and full tour details: https://www.thebrownsuite.com/
