15 juli 2020 | Nieuws
Theatre makers, actors, visual artists, and dancers are much affected by government measures to keep the corona virus under control. What is the impact of these measures on the young (former) nominees and winners of the Piket Art Prizes? Part 27: Boston Gallacher.
Please note that Boston Gallacher see themself as a non-binary person. A non-binary person is someone who does not feel at home with the exclusively male or female gender identities. For this reason Boston would prefer to be referred to as ‘they/their’ instead of ‘he/him’.
Boston was a 2018 nominee in the Dance category, but this year their name is on the list of nominees again. “It was really a surprise. I thought it was a mistake and that it was impossible to be nominated twice,” Boston says. The dancer is really curious about the jury’s motives to nominate them again. In Boston’s own view they have really ‘evolved as a person”’since 2018.
Boston has been part of Netherlands Dance Theater 1 (NDT 1) since 2019. “Having a permanent contract, I’m in a luxury position.” NDT 1 was on tour in Canada when the corona crisis struck. “We just had to go home. Many dancers were wondering whether they would be paid now that they couldn’t perform, so there was some panic. But we were all reassured via Zoom-meetings.” Boston took ballet and pilates classes online. “Rehearsing was a different matter, because a living room is not a studio. Sometimes it was quite a challenge.” Besides NDT classes the dancers could also follow online streams of other companies. “There was an immense feeling of solidarity in the world of dance.” Boston’s creativity flourished during the corona period. They made several dance films, such as Outside-In. In addition, there were NDT 1 performances via livestream. Boston was just as nervous as they would have been before a ‘real’ performance. “I do miss the audience and the applause, but we had 40,000 viewers. Normally we would have to do some forty shows to reach that.”
At the NDT rehearsals have started again. Endlessly Free, with work by the acclaimed choreographers Medhi Walerski and Crystal Pite, will have its premiere on 17 September. This means five or six days of rehearsals per week. “That took some getting used to,” Boston admits. “There are less of us on stage because of the corona rules.” Under normal circumstances the programme for the next season would have been all fixed, but now things are being reconsidered again. “It’s exciting not to know what’s going to happen,” Boston says.
Lately Boston has been thinking a lot about the future. Eventually, they would like to found a LGBTQIA dance company. “We would explore themes that are relevant to us and make our own work. The company would also be able to contribute to more diversity in the world of dance.” Boston is also working on a video project that will appear online this summer.
Photo top: Hessel Waalewijn
