Scottish Dance Theatre

Talented dancers from around the world are a key catalyst in the rich repertoire of Scotland's national contemporary dance company.

Scottish Dance Theatre (SDT), part of Dundee Rep Theatre, has nine full-time contemporary dancers and recruits a further two apprentices every year.

They perform work by SDT's Artistic Director, Janet Smith - one of the most respected and established dance producers in Britain today - as well as by internationally celebrated and emerging choreographers.

The theatre aims to create dance that is moving, thought provoking and has resonance in people’s lives, and tours throughout the UK and internationally, with recent performances in Germany, Cyprus and Greece.

SDT's dancers currently include Rocco Vermijs from the Netherlands, Jori Kerremans from Belgium and Solene Weinachter from France.

Sally Owen, SDT's assistant director and former principal dancer with Ballet Rambert, explains that dance has always crossed boundaries and that dancers will often travel great distances to work.

We've always had dancers from other countries," she explains. "Dance is unlike theatre in that it isn't a text based thing, so traditionally dancers cross the divide of countries and companies. They don't feel restrained by borders or cultural issues in the way that actors might feel because of the language difference."

Sally acknowledges that skilled dancers can be particularly hard to find in Scotland, because many of them go elsewhere to continue their training.

"Although we're starting to see the beginnings of professional training provision across Scotland, a lot of dancers leave Scotland after a certain point in their training," she explains. "They either go to London or somewhere in Europe for their last year's professional training. Because there isn't the pressure to go back to where they came from, they often don't."

Rocco Vermijs, 28, studied at the Rotterdam Dance Academy and Rudra-Béjart, one of the most famous professional dance schools in the world. He danced in Switzerland, Spain and the Netherlands before joining SDT in 2007.

He says: "It's a great company to develop yourself and to work with different choreographers."

Solene Weinachter, 24, began her dance training in Lyon and joined SDT full-time in 2008 after a one-year apprenticeship at the company to complete a postgraduate diploma with the London Contemporary Dance School.

"I think it's the richness of it that I enjoy most - the endless source of diamonds you find every day," she says. "It can be the way somebody is doing something; what a teacher is going to say; a choreographer coming here with inspiring ideas. There's always something to keep you captivated."

SDT is also currently working with two Australian dancers who are both wheelchair users. Caroline Bowditch was first involved with SDT on a special project involving both able bodied and disabled dancers and is now leading a two year 'Dance Agent for Change' initiative - designed to change people's perceptions of how they define a dancer. Mark Brew is working on a training placement for another dance project.

The theatre has also worked with dancers from Korea and China. Sally Owen feels this cutural mix is a vital ingredient in the creative 'soup' that produces world class dance.

"Bringing other cultures together is really important," she says. “In the end it doesn't really matter where you come from, because it's about the right group of people.

"I think the different cultural backgrounds just bring a whole new way of looking at things, or approaching things, and is creatively quite interesting. It works."

Related Links

• Rocco Vermijs
• Solene Weinachter