Boys Don’t Dance is a poignant dance theatre show by award-winning queer and disabled choreographer Marc Brew, reflecting on his journey as a boy who defied society’s expectations to embrace his love for dance. The performance unfolds through a tapestry of memories, shedding light on the loneliness of being the only boy in a rural Australian town who dared to dance.  

Performed by a talented cast of wheelchair and non-wheelchair dancers, combining movement with BMX, storytelling, lighting and an uplifting 80s soundtrack – alongside visual projections and animation to create an immersive audience experience.

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If you wouldn’t mind giving us an introduction to yourself, the creatives involved in the show, and the show itself.

My name is Marc Brew, I am a disabled choreographer and Artistic Director of Marc Brew Company. I was very excited to bring an amazingly talented group of creatives together to make this work:

Ross Malloy – Performer 
Piotr Iwanicki – Performer 
Jay Whitehead – Trainee/ Understudy Performer 
Hayley Earlam / Jade Adamson – Rehearsal Director 
Azariah Felton – Composer 
Rachel O’Neill – Set & Costume Design 
Jamie Wardrop– AV Design 
Drew Taylor–Wilson – Dramaturg 
Nia Wood – Production Manager & Lighting Design                                                             
Ruari Gordon – Stage & Technical Hand       
Petre Dobre – Creative Translation 
Yvonne Strain – BSL Collaborator 

I grew up in a poor and rural area of Australia surrounded by sheep, cows, and country folk who loved football. All I wanted to do was dance but I was told ‘boys don’t dance.’ Throughout my life, society has told me that I cannot dance – whether that was during my upbringing as a boy from a working-class household, or after I acquired my disability. I’ve worked to prove people wrong by championing and celebrating differences.

Boys Don’t Dance is a poignant dance theatre show about my journey as a boy who defied society’s expectations to embrace his love for dance. The performance unfolds through a tapestry of memories, shedding light on the loneliness of being the only boy in a rural Australian town who dared to dance. 

Performed by a talented cast of wheelchair and non-wheelchair dancers, combining movement with BMX, storytelling, lighting and an uplifting 80s soundtrack – alongside visual projections and animation to create an immersive audience experience. 

Each performance is relaxed and includes creative captioning and audio description, with creative translation of signed performances. 

What first sparked the idea for this piece, and how did you shape it into something that speaks directly to young audiences without alienating?

The work draws on my lived experience growing up in a rural village in Australia and being told I couldn’t dance because I was a boy. Then after acquiring a disability I was told once again I couldn’t dance because I was disabled. In devising the work, I drew on specific memories and moments that happened in my life that I wanted to unpack and show in this work. This work challenges stereotypes and people’s perceptions of who can dance and hopefully shows audiences that people can make their own path and follow their dreams.

Through the support of Imaginate we were fortunate to have school groups who were a part of the process in research and development. These were invaluable moments where we could try things out and show scenes to gauge audiences’ responses. It was great to see the immediate responses of the kids to the work and it was clear to us what we needed to do to ensure young audiences were engaged in the work from beginning to end.

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What creative choices became essential in bringing your world to life?

From the outset it was essential that the soundtrack was influenced by me growing up in the 80’s. It has an eclectic mix of 80’s music, neon lights, animation and nostalgia that adults can also relate to. Through the visuals, set design, costumes and music it was important that I could recreate these moments in my life for young audiences to connect and relate to.

I always knew I wanted a crow to act as narrator to the young boy and older boy showing visuals of the country in which I grew up, the outback as well as having a BMX bike as I used to imagine I was a BMX Bandit. Also, a big influence was TV and movies of the period such as Footloose, Dirty Dancing, Fame, Flashdance, they were my inspiration to be a dancer.

Young People can be the most honest audiences. What reactions or moments of engagement have you already had, or are hoping they’ll take away from your performance?

It’s been great to see the young audience engage in the work from beginning to end. I remember asking a school group ‘what do you feel we need more of and less of’ and one kid replied “more of everything and less of nothing” Another kid said “boys can dance and it’s ok for boys to wear girls clothes.” They get it.

What I have found with this process is that less is more, the kids understand a lot more than what you would think and this work gives them the space to make their own narrative of the work.

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Does your production, or the teams, background or creative process shape the way this story is told?

Yes, definitely and that’s what excites me about collaboration – I came with a concept of the story for the work but it grew by the influence and input from all our collaborators and performers who took this work and made it their own.

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