Injured Burchell bounces back

A broken leg has not stopped former Dunedin dancer James Burchell from following his dance dreams.

Burchell will appear in the upcoming Ballet Collective Aotearoa performance of Subtle Dances in Wanaka barely giving a thought to the 7.5cm of metal in his ankle.

Yet when he snapped his fibula after a wrong landing during rehearsal and was waiting for treatment, the thought of never being able to dance again crossed his mind.

Thankfully, it was not something he had to seriously contemplate as after three months’ rehabilitation he made it back on stage to dance with peers in the graduate work at the New Zealand School of Dance.

It was during his rehabilitation that he became involved with the Ballet Collective Aotearoa to help him keep fit and moving. Founder Turid Revfeim was "instrumental" in his rehabilitation.

As a result, he has been involved in the projects at the collective including Subtle Dances. He will dance the pas de deux in Helix for the first time with Gabriella Hawke, a new graduate who is also fresh off a knee surgery, totally opposite the original dancer of the piece in Abigail Boyle.

"I’m really excited to see where we go with it. For her it's going to be sort of flipping that around and, you know, looking forward and sort of the element of risk as both of us will be testing the waters of this one. Sort of creating an idea for the future out of inherently a piece that was rooted in the past."

It will be a challenge for Burchell as it requires a different movement quality than he has focused on in the past.

"It’s not your standard ballet part so it’s good to try."

He has danced the two other pieces in the trio before but will not be performing in The Last Time We Spoke by Sarah Knox in Wanaka which he describes as a "cardio nightmare".

Loughlan Prior’s Subtle Dances is a piece he really enjoys dancing in.

"It’s wonderful — it’s just a bit of a sleazy night out, really. Just imagine the scruffiest bar you can think of, it’s dark, it’s night and everyone’s out for a good time. They’re there to show themselves off."

A very gender-fluid piece, the dancers change partners frequently throughout the piece blurring the lines between sexuality and gender.

"It's really good fun. I really like that piece. Every time it's just a joy."

Overall, the pieces have pushed him out of his comfort zone.

"I’m quite a reserved, more of a withdrawn person so it’s exciting to be about to see what happens when I put myself out there. I love the whole programme."

Burchell comes from a musical family — his father is Dunedin City organist and choir director David Burchell — so he grew up playing the French horn, performing in the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra while at high school.

But when he was 17 he had to make the decision between dance and music.

"I thought if I don't try it now, I won't, I'll never get to try it. So I got into the school of dance and this is me, I guess."

The French horn still has its place in his bedroom and it comes out occasionally for a play with his flatmate, also a French horn player.

"Just a bit of musical catharsis, really."