It’s a rarity in the world of ballet, Joseph Powell-Main dances either on his crutches or in a wheelchair, and in a few days he will perform the ballet The Sleepwalker (the Somnambulist), at the Greenwich Dance Festival in England. The realization of what he has been fighting for for almost a decade: to convince that we can dance differently, that everything is a question of creativity and desire.
Joseph Powell-Main is 24 years old and was born with two working legs. When he was four, he asked to do ballet. Exercise fascinates him and he excels, to the point of joining the school of the Royal Ballet in London, the most prestigious ballet corps in the United Kingdom. It connects the representations, in particular Nutcracker and then comes an injury. Then another, and more. His body can’t take it anymore.
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As part of the festival Sleepwalker will be performed – an inclusive and emotionally charged duet, directed by @ACampbell_1 and choreographed by Kristen McNally.
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At fourteen, he had surgery on his left leg, but he did not have time to recover: Joe Powell-Main was the victim of a car accident, violent, terrible, which robbed him of his motor skills and his status as a ‘pupil of the Royal Ballet.’I was fifteenhe explains on a daily basis The Guardian, I thought dancing was no longer an option for me…it was totally over. And then over time, I said to myself, why not? Why not find a way to do things differently?
His mother first found a modern dance company specially dedicated to people in wheelchairs, then he recontacted his former comrades from the Royal Ballet, mounting several small performances, especially after the Paralympic Games in Tokyo when the English athletes returned.
In this fall, he goes further since he will dance in a wheelchair with lsabel Lubach of the Royal Ballet. Both tell how much this imperative makes the performance evolve, how much the chair opens up figures, gestures, possible dynamics, depending on whether Joseph Powell-Main makes it spin, pound, slide while guiding his partner. “What I hope, he saidis about challenging perceptions, starting conversations, and inspiring opportunities for other dancers, dancers of different abilities.”