'It's important for Shai to make something again.' Ka Yan Tang and Shailesh Bahoran on Illusionary Rockaz Company in times of Corona

Illusionary Rockaz Company was due to release a new work by Shailesh Bahoran this spring. A new production for the first time in two years, after a time in which the Utrecht-based choreographer was constantly winning awards. And then Corona broke out. For Shai, reason to take a break: 'For Shakti, the performance that is coming up now, rehearsals have yet to start. [No rehearsals were allowed until 1 July for safety reasons, ed.]'

'When we had to adapt the plan on the one-and-a-half metres, we first described that now it is also about discovering a way to make such a performance in times of Corona. After all, there are all demands now, which are not linked to your artistic vision. We do get to connect with each other again, thankfully.'

Dance is allowed as a 'contact profession', I understood?

'Yes. For me, that was a relief because it was the biggest blockage. I myself, that first period of the lockdown, consciously chose not to do things. I found it too difficult to work with those restrictions anyway. That goes so against your artistic will.'

So what are you not doing?

'I have been in a lot of zoom meetings with colleagues, talking about what is possible. Many parties have started working online. Those started sharing registrations or doing guerilla projects. We did not go along with that. That vibe was not there with us. Now we know a little better what we're dealing with and it's time we got moving again ourselves.'

Why didn't you want to go online?

It has now become the main form in which everyone expresses themselves. I felt like yet another person who then started making an online video. Or an online challenge, or a registration. We all know that a registration can so hardly make tangible what the real experience of a performance is, apart from the visual.'

What will your dance look like in the one-half-meter society?

'The event form of hip-hop related dance styles like breaking, popping and locking, will change. What I make of it in theatre, there is no audience participation in that, like on the streets. There, there is a separation between audience and performance. We do have to deal with less energy in the space. That is bound to have an effect. A full hall is very different from now with 20 or 30, or 100 people.'

Ka Yan Tang is IRC's business leader. She ensured that the organisation stayed afloat, and now also - from 2021 - receives structural subsidy from the Municipality of Utrecht. This will allow them to rent their own space next year on Berlin Square, the cultural hub on the border between the old city and the new; Leidsche Rijn. As the business leader of a young start-up, what was it like for her to have to cancel the programme?

'We do not yet have a structural subsidy, so we pay for most of the work we do ourselves, or rather, we do it for free. Especially in this period, you notice that an awful lot is asked of us. We also think it's super important to make something, just because we think it's important for the cultural field, but also for ourselves.'

'It is important for Shai to make something again. Our first production was two years ago. Since then, he has toured, coached dancers, and made performances with other companies, such as Aïda for Festival Classique. But he also just needs to start making something to reawaken that creative brain a bit. That's why it's important to keep busy.'
'So we do survive, but a lot is asked of us from the structurally subsidised organisations, while there is no awareness of how a project-based organisation works. We do it for nothing. We get zero euros. Every meeting we participate in, we are not paid for that, but the other participants are. We do it because we believe in our future, but there is no euro in return. That is a point. So I am not going to give myself up to take notes: let someone who is salaried do that.'