Plain speaking; a conversation with Choreographer Jamaal Burkmar

by Anna Cabré-Verdiell Bosch

Emergent choreographer Jamaal Burkmar talks without reservations. No pleasing answers to fit into mainstream opinions; no bullshit. His speech is raw and fresh, like a reviving slap of fresh air. Talking with him is a break from bland politeness; he is slightly impertinent and incredibly honest.

‘I don’t always want to be ‘on’ as an artist; when I’m working I’m working, then the minute there’s a break I love being an idiot’

Films, series, TV shows… the audiovisual media is a big source of inspiration for you. How do you apply this influence into your work?

I find it really hard to articulate the thing I’m looking for; film is just the best way for me to do it. Occasionally I do it with other things but mostly I talk about film, especially when it comes to the story. I think it’s because there are some parts of films and TV shows that are so recognisable that you click with it. In Ocean, the first piece I did, all we talked about was Dragon Ball Z and how that style of cartoon shows speed.

In your processes the choice of music dictates the creation of the movement. Why does sound comes first?

Me and my dad always watched the football but from the age of eleven or twelve getting a TV package was really expensive, so we mostly just listened to it on the radio. He then taught me this technique to imagine, as you are sat in the car, that the game is being played from left to right, so when they describe the game you can see it in the window running along in front of you. I did that for years, so now when I hear sound I don’t even need a window, I just start seeing it. A song is kind of the clearest form cause there’s rhythm, pitch and so many colours to music and so I do that same thing instantaneously.

You are currently creating a piece for Möbius Dance which uses several tracks. How do you select and put the different songs together?

It takes a long time. For this specific project, the second I got off the phone with Gianluca Vincentini, the artistic director, I put a playlist together with a hundred songs; then from there I would just cut, cut and cut. This piece with Möbius is something quite relentless. I found these tracks that all go up and then down, which feels to me like a story where you have to go through a series of challenges that get harder each time. The story itself is not a narrative, it’s still abstract but it comes from the energy of the score.

The word relentless brings many associations to mind. Which connections came to you when exploring the idea for the piece?

Visually, the first thing that I thought of was something to do with the weather, like people going white water rafting where they just keep going down and down. There are bits of pause, but even when you are relaxed your heart is pumping and you know there’s more coming; it’s that feeling of always knowing that there is something else coming. But actually it all started from talking to my sister Mahalia about her in the music industry. As things are constantly coming at her, she is incessantly having to roll these punches because it matters to her; it is almost the same as white water rafting, you go because of the challenge of doing it, but then when you are there you think ‘what the fuck have I done to myself’. However, you still want to see it through to the end.

How do you work with the dancers?

My friend works with clay, he is a sculptor. I asked him ‘how do you do it?’ and he said ‘I just put my hands on it and then see where the hands go; then it turns into something.’ I honestly think it’s the same, the dancers give me something and then I just start, metaphorically speaking, putting my hands on it; then I see where it goes.

As a choreographer, what do you find challenging?

I worked at Subway for five months, which was really challenging. Making a sandwich every thirty seconds for someone, that was hell. In the studio there are always challenges, but the ones outside the studio I find harder. I struggle with being a choreographer as such; what I mean is that I see other choreographers online and in the real world and it’s just ‘a way they are’, in the same way that footballers are ‘a way they are’ or politicians talk and act ‘a way they are’. I don’t feel like an outsider at all, but I feel like I’m playing a different game; we are all on the same pitch but everyone is playing rugby and I’m playing football. If I meet a dancer and I say ‘yeah, I’m a choreographer’, then I think that I need to show that I’m a choreographer and I just can’t. I don’t always want to be ‘on’ as an artist; when I’m working I’m working, then the minute there’s a break I want to be Subway Jamaal. I love being stupid, being an idiot.

Why is art necessary?

There are so many questions there: Is art necessary? Why is it necessary? Which art is necessary? I do think art is necessary but sometimes I think that the wrong people are deciding which art is necessary. If I just stick with why is it necessary? Well, because everything else is so hard, right? Just from talking to my friends who work in banking or in restaurants I know how bland that world is. As much as they might not get their head around what I do or why I would want to struggle through it, I’m happy to be a part of something that they don’t even know makes  them sort of get through every day.

Who is someone that you admire?

I admire my sister Mahalia; she is a singer and has been doing it since she was so young. She is just an incredible talent. Also, I really admire my brother Zane who is an actor and rapper. I think I’m sat right in between them; she is so innate and really hit her talent running, whereas my brother is really going through the weeds to find himself. I seem to be right in between, so it’s kind of a nice little balance.

Could you share a little learning or piece of advice which has had a determinant impact in your career?

I went to see a singer and at the end of her set, which she was making because she wasn’t signed to a record deal, she told a really great story. She just said ‘they have their world and I just had to make my own world’. That was a big-huge lesson for me. It’s almost like they are having a party and I want to be in that party, but the lesson was to understand that I can just have my own party. It took me a really long time to realise my own power. The minute I took away the weight of needing this dance establishment to support me in, more has come. I’m not walking into rooms and trying to appease people; I’m actually walking in saying ‘this is what I want to do’ and try to get them to want to come to my party.

Jamaal has created work for Verve, New Adventures and ACE Dance and Music amongst others. He is currently working on a piece called Time Moves Slow with Möbius Dance which will premiere on the 21^st of March at Kala Sangam in Bradford. After, he will jump into a Dance Fellowship with Phoenix Dance Theatre supported by Leeds Dance Partnership.

Jamaal Burkmar is genuinely outspoken; an artist who’s not scared of giving himself a go and trying it out his own way. Witty and sincere, talking to him was a break from boring correctness, a treat for ones soul.