Identity.Ideas.Industry

Article ALICE TCHERNOOKOVA // Direction SHOKIRIE CLARKE // BTS EMILY COOPER

There is something incredibly soothing in the air the minute you walk into the room of identity. ideas. industry (iii).

Perhaps it’s the smell of the incense… Perhaps it’s the rays of sunshine gently beaming through the windows on this glorious Spring morning. Or perhaps, it is the calming energy of programme founder Shannelle Fergus – better known as Tali in the dance community.

There are 18 dancers in the studio. Each of them is sitting quietly in a corner of the room on large velvety pillows, which further add to the overall softness of the room. Here, the day starts with a fifteen-minute individual reading session of self-care and mindfulness books provided by Tali, to the sound of a relaxing tune. Quite a contrast to the usual cardio warm-up and stretch that typically kick off a dance intensive…

As creatives and artists, many of us are so used to being in high-intensity, stressful environments where we need to be on the ball and switched on at all times. Having access to safe havens of peace and quiet where we can connect with like-minded individuals and take the time to sit back, relax, take stock of where we’re at and listen to our inner selves, is a true gift and a privilege.

Tali’s iii programme provides just that. We caught up with her to learn more about what birthed the idea, and what legacy she hopes to leave behind.

Hi Tali, thanks for letting us through iii’s doors today. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about who you are, your journey, and where you’re headed?

“Hi, I’m Tali. My government name is Shannelle Fergus, but that’s not been a thing in this industry for about 20 years. I am a choreographer, and the agency manager for ZooNation: The Kate Prince Company. I am also a performer, though I would say that’s dwindling now. I am also the founder, producer, and sole facilitator of iii.

I have performed for the last 20 years in crews, hip-hop theatre shows, and commercially to a lesser extent. I’ve been an agent for 12 years, and I’ve run iii since 2017. As to where I am going, that’s a good question.... I think my legacy lies with iii. I will continue to be an agent, but I’m moving more into talent management of specific individuals. Hopefully I will also be choreographing larger scale projects – I’m slowly getting there.”

What inspired you to create iii, and what do you want to achieve with it?

“I took part in a professional development programme run by Breakin’ Convention called ‘Back to the Lab’ at a time when my experience as a dancer was only crews and choreo classes. It was my first time working on improvisation in a space, and it just blew my little world apart. I very quickly started introducing some of the exercises into my weekly open class, which I held at Studio 68 at the time. It felt really important to introduce those mind-expanding ideas to the choreo community.

Being a performer, choreographer, teacher and agent all at the same time gives me a truly unique perspective. I felt like there was value in offering perspective and room for growth in all those areas. The programme started off as a five-hour session at Creation Box in South London. Eventually, it became a one-day, and then a two-day intensive. Nowadays, it runs over five days.

iii is movement-based, but it’s also a portal for much more. I see students take away from it personal development and a real bolstering of themselves to be out in the Wild West of the dance scene. It’s important to know that we can infiltrate the generic stereotypical industry spaces. 250 people have roamed through these doors, which feels really purposeful and special for me.”

Can you tell us more about each of the three parts of the programme?

“Identity is around us as individuals – about harnessing and owning our unique qualities. In order to get out of your comfort zone, you first need to know what it feels like. You need to know your habits to be able to flip them. In an industry that requires you to leave those qualities at the door a lot of the time, it’s important to know that there’s a place to harness them and get explicit permission to be as authentically “you” as you can. A calm and patient approach to movement is what I champion, and what I’m often asked to bring to projects.”

“Ideas is about making things. Mostly, it’s about making efficiently. We tend to tie the value of a creative process to how torturous and stressful it is. I believe in getting things done, and getting them done quickly. Judging and editing as we go can slow down the process. Let’s make first, and then we can judge. With art being so subjective, you can make in silence and place any manner of bits of music to a piece, and it will become something else for every pair of eyes. If we can extract these creative processes and couple them with efficiency, it just makes for a richer experience and more material to play with.”

“Industry is about creativity as a business. With my experience as an agent, I’ve got a unique perspective on how dancers tend to apply themselves to their craft as a business. Given the work I used to do with Equity, I also have an added emotional investment in the way dancers are treated. That is incumbent on production companies, labels etc., but it also incumbent on us knowing the logistics and facts surrounding our job. This comes back to the bolstering of people and letting them know they have the right to ask questions, decline work, say what they want and think they deserve. The goal is also to help people clarify what they want to do, and speak out these ideas and dreams around others. Hearing other people’s ideas and connecting the dots between them is a beautiful experience.”

What do you pride yourself with when it comes to iii, and how does it differ from other movement-based intensives?

“As far as I know, it’s rare for there to be a sole facilitator. The programme creator/organiser tends to curate a line-up of teachers and choreographers coming in. I am particularly proud of iii being one of the few intensives where the person leading it is also the only facilitator. It feels important to me to have full control over what’s spoken and fed into the space. I’m also very proud of my confidence in my skill – specifically in the fact that I can say so little and set so much in motion. It would be really easy to sit on the outskirts and feel like I always need to do more, but a big part of this programme is giving people the agency to make it what they need it to be. There’s high value in allowing that to happen. Another thing that’s unique about it is that there’s no application process. It’s not linked to a style of any kind or to a specific ability level. That really enriches what happens in the space, with so many people coming from so many different experiences.”

What energy are you trying to create in the room?

“Programme participants aren’t curated at all. The first 20 people to apply get in. But somehow, it’s always the right people – there’s never been an anomaly where someone didn’t belong in this space, or their energy didn’t quite align with it. The whole programme is conceptualised, produced and delivered by me, and throwing application forms and submission videos into the mix just didn’t feel right.

It’s really about making room for everyone to bring in whatever they want to bring in, and enabling them to show up. This space isn’t about ‘shake it off because we’ve got dancing to do’. I’m really interested in the human aspect of it all. If participants can leave on Friday afternoon with a greater sense of confidence to be themselves outside of this room, knowing that they’ve got 20 other people rooting for them, that’s really all I’m interested in. The dance aspect is secondary.”

Would you say that there are enough spaces in the industry nowadays that cater to dancers’minds, as opposed to movement only?

“It feels like there’s more and more. Ricky Jinks does similar work with Company Jinks. Rachel Kay does similar work with the Flight Mode method. There’s ample stuff going on, but dancers can be an entitled bunch. If we can bring those things a little closer to them and if that means more people get to access it, then that’s great. Overall I think there’s enough of us around to make an impact now, which is great.”

What legacy do you hope to leave behind – both through iii, and generally?

“With this programme I hope I’m helping to cultivate individuals that feel safe in the industry and who aren’t outspoken for the sake of it, but because they have something at the tip of their tongue that they need to express – whether it’s in praise of a space or to call something out. I hope that I’m cultivating a spirit of unique movement and of productive people in a practical sense, who get things done and make the ideas they have become real, and who place value on themselves for themselves before anybody else. With iii, my legacy is in the people.

More generally, I hope to be someone that has worked for good and been committed to kindness and truth.

I am a choreo kid at heart: I learned all of my foundations that way and have experience in all sorts of styles via choreography, but I hope I can stand as an example of what is possible beyond that label. The commercial industry is as far away from free movement as you can get. I’m glad I experienced that too, but the little ecosystem I’ve created is a testament to the richness of the dance culture and how much you can do outside of the commercial space. If that inspires some choreo kids, of which there are so many more than there were when I started 20 years ago, then I think I’ve done well. But I’ve done well regardless – she’s shining and thriving.”