It’s a fact. I love to dance. I don’t do it for the strong upper-body, toned legs and muscly arms, I dance because to me it is not just a form of exercise but a form of art – oh yeah, and btw I love art too! I’ve always loved dancing, it’s always been in me but only recently have I wanted to make it my future. One person, who stands out as having encouraged and helped me pursue this career path, is my teacher, Mari-Louise Basson. She is a very current and modern professional dancer who deals with real, life problems through her dancing and quite often these are issues that I can relate to. Mari-Louise makes you work hard but I believe in her and her knowledge of how I can reach my goal in the dancing world.
Ok so, let’s start with the basics, what’s your name and where do you come from?
Hi! I’m Mari-Louise Basson and I was born in 1983 in Pretoria, South Africa.
Right, and who would you say are your biggest idols in choreography and Dance?
My biggest choreographic idols are Mats Ek, Redha and Pina Bauch, and I would have to say my most inspiring dancer is Anna Laguna.
What is your biggest inspiration in general for your work?
My biggest inspiration in general is definitely human emotions. I like to work with the human body that really stretches it to its limits just as emotions can stretch a person. I deal with every emotion I feel.
How long have you been in the dance industry and when did you decide
you wanted to be a dancer?
I entered the professional dance world at 18 after extensive training at a
leading art school in Pretoria. Having watched my older sister doing her
ballet classes I became hooked and the rest is history.
Did you ever think you would make it to professional standard?
It was a long, hard road of sacrifice, intense work and at times
it felt like I was trying to achieve the impossible but with
persistence (perhaps pure stupidity:-)I never gave up and
finally reached 'the dream'.
What is it like to be a dancer at your level?
It always feels amazing to accomplish what one sets
out to do but the work just increases and the
pressure is always on to be better/work harder
and achieve more and often the saying 'you're
only as good as your last performance’ can
really keep you on your toes'
(pardon the pun).
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