We speak to the multi-talented Benjamin Wright – dancer, choreographer, director, and bgroup founder – about his life, career and about bringing his show The Diminishing Present to Brighton’s Nightingale Theatre.

ThreeWeeks: What made you want to become a dancer, and when did you decide you’d like to take a choreographer/director role?

Benjamin Wright: I started dancing considerably late at 19 years old. Almost by accident I met a ballet teacher, Eve Leveaux, who had danced with the Ballet Rambert in the 1950s and she offered to teach me for free if I gave her my time. We worked diligently every day for one year and I then got a place at the Ballet Rambert school. It was a kind of Billy Elliot scenario. That was in 1989. I left vocational training after two years and joined Matthew Bourne’s then chamber ensemble Adventures in Motion Pictures, and miraculously I have been working in dance ever since (I went on to create the role of the Prince in Bourne’s Swan Lake). I have always been interested in choreography, but it is only over the last few years that I have been earning my living primarily from this perspective. bgroup is very much in an embryonic stage of development but I am so excited to finally have the idea of a “home” from which to be creative. I still perform but less and less.

TW: You’ve worked on opera, pop videos, and short films, amongst other things. Of all the things you’ve done in your career, do you have a favourite?

BW: Choreographically I see my life as being basically split into two camps. There’s my own work for bgroup, commissions, etc, and then there is my work when I function as a member of a creative team. At the moment I am choreographing two operas for Opera North and prepping a large film project with Arts Alliance. Over the last few years I have begun to work more and more in opera and theatre. All my work is important to me, and all experiences find ways of influencing each other; it’s the crossovers that make it a compelling lifestyle. My favourite thing is being in dialogue and discussion with the people I work with; my dancers, the directors and designers I collaborate with. Life is so rich when you are solving things creatively with others. I love that.

TW: Tell us about your work in education and the community. Do you find it rewarding?

BW: I see teaching as a vital aspect of any artist’s life. I have been involved with working with non dancers, Youth Dance and undergrads all through my career. There is nothing more rewarding than when you see the penny drop in the mind of someone who is trying to grasp what you are explaining or demonstrating. To be at root level, working with people with little or no dance experience can help to reinforce the strengths and qualities of working in dance, and the work with students is such a fertile place to explore new ideas. Like all aspects of my work, my experiences in a mentoring or tutorial role massively affect my professional practice.

TW: What made you bring The Diminishing Present to the Brighton Festival? Do you intend to take it to other festivals?

BW: I moved to Brighton two years ago, and the move has been nothing but positive. It seemed natural that I wanted to get some sort of performance in my home town. bgroup will be touring this particular programme in the autumn 2008 and spring 2009. The Diminishing Present is a series of three works, all of which are made for a large space. However, whilst working at the Nightingale Theatre I wondered what it would be like to show it in a small setting; the dolls’ house version you might say. Audience members will be inside the pieces themselves due to the intimate quality of the venue. I thought that that was worth presenting as an idea.

TW: What are the themes of The Diminishing Present?

BW: Dance is a time based art-form, and I have aimed to enthuse all three pieces with a sense of erosion; they are fragmentary and although not explicit in their meaning should hopefully leave the viewer feeling something. Being so close to the dancers will be an exciting visceral affair I hope.

TW: Will it be easy to perform within the relatively small dimensions of The Nightingale?

BW: As I mentioned above it will be a challenge, but I like a challenge. It will be very different from “sitting back” in a conventional way. I am interested to know how the works translate at this close proximity. We will no doubt be using the wall to steady ourselves; I suppose in many ways it makes the shows at The Nightingale more ‘site specific’.

TW: What would you say to sell your show?

BW: It’s a rare opportunity to be so up close and personal to performers of this calibre. Sharing the space with the action will mean that the audience will be essentially “inside” the pieces. That must be perspective worth experiencing. The evening will be an intimate affair and there are only 25 places a night so book now to avoid disappointment.

The Diminishing Present, Nightingale Theatre, 24-26 May, 7:30pm (9:00pm), £12.00 (£10.00), fpp 25

For more information about bgroup visit www.bgroup.org.uk