Timothy Brown was a dancer with the Queensland Ballet from 2001-8 and is now a member of Expressions Dance Company in Brisbane. He is also a choreographer, and has created 10 ballets. This year is choreographing a new work for Expressions's 'The Dancemakers' season.
Where were you born?
Melbourne.
What was your family like?
My mother is a founding dance teacher in high school education and my father is a chiropractor and naturopath. I am the eldest of three siblings. Reuben, 24, is a trained tenor and is currently acting and directing. Estelle is nine, studies ballet and recently composed a short requiem on piano for the funeral of her pet guinea pig.
What is your earliest memory of dancing?
A lot of improvisational outbursts at any given time.
What was your first public performance?
I danced a contemporary ballet in Year 7 called Smarties by Jonathan Taylor. We literally represented a chocolate smartie in our brightly coloured unitards. I remember experiencing bright stage lighting for the first time and losing all sense of direction for most of the performance.
Where did you train?
The Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School and the Australian Ballet School.
What is the best venue you have ever performed in?
While on tour with Queensland Ballet I performed in the most beautiful theatre called Parktheatre Augsburg in Germany. It was built in the late 1800s and looks like a jewellery box made mostly of glass and gold iron. It has a 6.3 metre-wide stage, so we had to condense the work quite a bit!
What was the first work you created?
While at the ABS, I created a work called Little Tell Tales for the AICD choreographic competition in 2000. When it was announced that it had won, I remember my dancers jumping up and down with excitement in the wings.
When choreographing, from where do you find your inspiration?
For choreographic ideas I often find inspiration from nature and the environment. There is an astonishing complexity in the texture, colour and design of these elements. I also draw inspiration from my close friends and family. I am a huge musical theatre fan, so if you see anything remotely Fosse you will know why!
What comes first – the steps or the music?
In my latest work the steps and the music are being created simultaneously. I created almost half of the work in silence before introducing the music to the dancers. However, in most other cases the music will be mapped out first.
How do you find your music?
I like to work in collaboration with musicians, DJs and sound designers. For “The Dancemakers” I’m working with musician Danny Rhodes on composition and arrangements of existing music. I absolutely love having this musical partnership to create something unique for each work.
What is the hardest thing about choreographing?
There is a large responsibility to your audience and the collaborative artists involved when choreographing. At times it’s hard to trust your own intuition and creative voice. But then hopefully you wake up and think “I’m bang on!”
Who are your favourite choreographers?
Kylian’s “Black and White” ballets have always had a great impact on me. In recent times I have enjoyed the work of Francis Rings. I instantly connected to the athletic, dramatic and technical beauty of Natalie Weir’s work from a young age. Weir has a secret ability to produce movement of certain familiarly and truthfulness that often comes from a place of both joy and suffering.
How would you characterise your own work?
Restless, ever changing, reflective of personal growth and inquisitive of the world I live in.
What do you always take with you to a performance?
Enough money for a glass of wine before the show. . . . oh, and tickets! Do I need my passport?
Do you have any superstitions?
To be superstitious is to be fearful. Fate will hand you bad things regardless of what you do, but then it is up to you to put yourself on a better path as a consequence.
What is the most unusual project you have taken part in?
As a student, I was chosen to be in a chorus of men on stage with Sylvie Guillem in Bejart’s Bolero. I was very excited to see her performance. Unfortunately, we had to keep our focus down the entire time and the only performance I got to see was the bending of my knees!
What word would you use to describe your feet?
I am about to perform a new work bare foot with Expressions Dance Company in Korea, so at this stage I would describe them as ripped up and taped up – nice!
