Joe Powell-Main is the ambassador of Empower in Motion and a professional dancer and choreographer who performs using a wheelchair. He is a former UK Para dance champion and was the first dancer to use a wheelchair and crutches to perform with the Royal Ballet.
The evening will bring together both disabled and non-disabled performers, some of whom will be dancing together to celebrate inclusivity. All proceeds will go towards Children Today’s work providing specialised equipment, support, and care to families across the UK.
Empower in Motion – A Ballet Inclusive, featuring Joe Powell-Main is at Sadler’s Wells on February 7th, 2024.
You’re performing in Empower in Motion, a fundraising gala at Sadler’s Wells, what can you tell us about the night?
The gala event is a huge celebration of inclusive dance. The performance will showcase work from some of the leading classical ballet dancers and companies paired with some of the leading dance companies who are really pushing forward and paving the way for further inclusion. I think it is a strong statement having dancers both with and without disabilities and accessible needs being placed in the same programme, really pushing forward the message that all dancers are equal even if they perform and move in entirely different ways. I think the performances in the programme are going to show the power dance has for everyone.
The gala will be true testament to the message of the charity, hopefully inspiring the next generation to achieve their dreams.
Living with a disability or a long-term health condition can mean that there are many barriers in life, but I hope and believe that this event is going to show that there are solutions to breaking down those barriers.
Most of all I want the evening to inspire anyone to believe that their dreams are possible.
It’s raising funds for Children Today, tell us a little about the charity and what it means to you?
Children Today is a brilliant charity providing equipment and opportunities for young people living with disabilities. They do great work by helping young people to live their live and have such joy doing so.
Not being able to go out and do things and create memories from experiences can be an incredibly isolating experience, especially when you see other young people being able to have these experiences without the challenges that you may personally experience.
I can understand the barriers faced by living with a disability. I acquired my disability at the age of fourteen. For fourteen years I had been able to dance, walk run and go anywhere without a second thought. I found the fact that I had think in greater detail about how I would go about executing some of the simple daily activities incredibly challenging.
Children Today are supporting many different young people which means that hopefully these individuals are not going to miss out and feel isolated, as they will be able to create memories and enjoy experiences as everyone should be able to, and that to me is amazing!
You’re a dancer and choreographer, how did you get into the industry and what kind of challenges did you face?
I started dancing at the age of four in Mid-Wales, with my sister Holly. I began first doing modern and tap and then progressing to ballet. My parents thought it would be something that I would enjoy as apparently even as baby every time music came on, I used to move along to it.
The first ballet I ever saw was English National Ballet’s Swan Lake and having seen Billy Elliott the Musical, I was fascinated with dance and theatre and knew that I wanted to be on the stage and to add to that I knew I wanted to go to the Royal Ballet School just like Billy Elliott.
I decided that I wanted to pursue ballet as it was my favourite dance style. I made sure that I worked hard and did some auditions which ended up with me doing some further training on the Royal Ballet School Junior associate programme for three years and one year on the pre-vocational programme with Elmhurst School for Dance. During this time, I had the opportunity of performing with Birmingham Royal Ballet in The Nutcracker and Sylvia. I loved being around all the dancers and being part of the performance and getting to watch the all the dancers perform all the different roles within the production. It got me excited that this could hopefully one day be my future.
I also had the opportunity of performing in The Nutcracker with English Youth Ballet in the leading roles of Fritz and The Nutcracker Doll. It was an amazing experience performing featured roles in a ballet production and it made me realise that I would love to become a principal dancer in a ballet company.
After further auditions (one whilst I was on tour in BRB Sylvia which meant they let me miss a few performances), I gained a place at the Royal Ballet Lower School in White Lodge Richmond Park. During my time there some of my highlights were being involved in the Ninette De Valois choreographic competitions, performing for HRH Princess Alexandra and performing with The Royal Ballet in The Nutcracker and Peter and the Wolf.
Unfortunately, during my fourth year of training I grew significantly, and due to that I began to encounter a long period of knee injuries. At the age of fourteen I ended up with surgery on my left knee and then following complications and then being involved in a serious car accident I acquired my disability, and this meant that I had to leave The Royal Ballet School. It was rather a sad and abrupt end to my time at the school and I thought I would never dance again.
Fast forward about three years later and after some challenging years, with the help of my incredibly supportive family I found my way back to dance just in a completely new and unexpected way. I then began studying first through a performing arts course in college and then a dance degree at the Arden School of Theatre.
I also fulfilled a huge ambition of mine to perform with my sister Holly and we did this in Ballroom and Latin competitions through Para Dance UK. We were the UK National Para Dance Champions in the Freestyle Category for three consecutive years between 2017 and 2019. It was an amazing experience working with my sister Holly (who is a ballet teacher) as she understands both me as person and performer which makes it such an easy experience working together. She still advises me now and helps mentor me whenever I need it which I am so grateful for.
Since graduating I have worked with companies such as Ballet Cymru, performed as a guest Artist and collaborated with the Royal Ballet on a few projects and choreographed a piece and performed it at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester as part of the One Young World 2022 Opening Summit.
There have been challenges along the way. There have been the physical barriers, which have included not being able to fit my wheelchair on that stage as the wings were too small and even instances where I have had to crawl up a few steps to get on stage, whilst my wheelchair was lifted onto the stage because there wasn’t a lift or a ramp. I have also had to deal with some physical challenges as my disability fluctuates, what I like to call a dynamic disability. I have had to really listen to my body and work hand in hand with my disability, as there have been a couple of occasions where I didn’t listen to my body as much as I should, and this resulted in injuries and a relapse in my physical condition.
I have had to take more of a strict approach with how much work I do on crutches versus performing choreography in my wheelchair. I have had to limit myself to only perform short sequences of movement on crutches and focus more on movement based in my wheelchair. The positive aspect of this challenge is that it has allowed to really delve into exploring new possibilities of movement using my wheelchair and I have also been able to retain the possibilities of performing movement on crutches, but in a healthier way.
One of the most difficult things I have faced, is the attitudinal barriers from some. I have encountered a small minority of people who tried to tell me that I couldn’t be a wheelchair and crutch using ballet dancer and that what was quite difficult to overcome. Even people that I worked with a few years ago told me that “my wheelchair didn’t look right” or “Having me perform on stage was a health and safety issue” and “If I thought I was going to have more performance jobs/opportunities than I must be kidding myself”.
Whilst these comments were upsetting for me at the time and did really dent my confidence it also sparked a flame of determination in me to make sure that I would prove them wrong and hopefully I have done that.
Having the positive experience of working on collaborations with the Royal Ballet has also shown me that you can achieve your dreams even in the face of adversity. The collaborations with the company have pushed me try new things artistically and have helped me to regain confidence. The audience feedback from these collaborations has also been hugely positive which has been amazing!
I now realise that people are going to have opinions, some of them will be positive and others maybe not so much, but I am going to continue to work hard to advocate for both me and for further inclusion in dance. There is so much potential and possibilities for dance to continue to be more accessible and I want to do everything I can to make that happen and that I believe that will prove those select people “who told me no” wrong.
You’ll be performing The Sleepwalker alongside Hannah Rudd, and what do you particularly love about the piece?
I am really looking forward to performing The Sleepwalker again for the gala. I really enjoyed being able to work with dancers from The Royal Ballet to develop the piece. I had first crossed paths with Alexander Campbell who directed the piece when he was a dancer with Birmingham Royal Ballet, and I was young child performing in Sylvia and it was great to be able to work together in a more collaborative way. I also really enjoyed being able to work with Kristen McNally who choreographed the piece and Isabel Lubach, who originated the role in the piece. I had the most brilliant experience of working with both them and The Royal Ballet back in 2021 for the Paralympic Homecoming Ceremony. I was so excited to be able to collaborate with The Royal Ballet again and the result was this project, which I have enjoyed immensely.
The creation process was incredibly exciting for me. I was able have a strong input and it really challenged me to try new things and look at how the whole concept of partnering can be reimagined in a more inclusive form. I feel like this piece really pushes the boundaries of partner work and showcases a more equal form of partnering, where who supports who and initiates the movement becomes more interchangeable. Traditionally classical ballet has very set roles in what the male dancer usually always lifts and supports the ballerina. I love traditional classical ballet, but I also love the fact that this piece challenges some of the traditional ideals and presents a dance partnership in a new way which I just love. I think I have always worried that as a disabled dancer I wouldn’t be able to achieve some the big lifts and supports that a partnership formed of two standing dancers can achieve. But working on this piece has really inspired me to not be afraid to create and develop ideas that push boundaries and the envelope.
I have always dreamed of having the opportunity of a piece being created on me with a fantastic score and The Sleepwalker has given me something that I have always dreamed of.
It is incredibly difficult to pick out one thing that I love about this piece, so I think that I am going to have pick out a few. I think the score created by Sophie Cotton is incredibly powerful and I feel like you can almost hear drama within the piece which is amazing, and it really inspires me to hopefully perform and reach the same level as the music.
The second thing that I love about Sleepwalker is the fact that there is a whole journey for me to delve into as performer. There are points in the piece where I am a supportive presence for my partner and then a more malevolent force at others, it is interesting exploring how I can express these different qualities throughout the piece. I always feel like I am finding new ways to do this each time I perform the piece and therefore no two performances are the same and I find that exciting.
There is also one moment within the piece, that will make sense when you see it, the moment really ramps up the tension between me and my and my partner which builds up to a big crescendo in the music. All I can say is that involves rotations.
I have had the wonderful opportunity of working with some fabulous people on Sleepwalker up to this point and I am excited for this opportunity to showcase the work further.
I am excited to perform alongside Hannah Rudd at the gala. I haven’t worked with Hannah before, but I have seen some of the brilliant work she has done performing in City of a Thousand Trades with Birmingham Royal Ballet and for the insight The Royal Ballet’s production of The Limit which was also choreographed by Kristen McNally and devised by Alexander Campbell. I am looking forward to rehearsals starting soon.
I am so grateful to the team at The Royal Opera House for supporting this project and kindly giving permission for The Sleepwalker to be performed at Empower In Motion.
And why is it so important that inclusivity in dance is showcased in this way?
Dance can enrich so many different people’s lives and I think that this event is hopefully going to provide so much joy to the audience.
I also think that for the future of dance and to engage with more people, audiences need to see themselves represented onstage. By seeing a diverse cast on stage, with dancers with differing abilities onstage and united, my hope is that it will inspire others to know that dance is also for them.
Being disabled doesn’t means that your life stops, and you can still pursue your dreams even if there may be some challenges along the way. You should live life to the fullest and enjoy every single moment, whether that means you walk or roll through it.
What would you say to anyone thinking of booking to see Empower in Motion?
It is going to be a fantastic celebration celebrating the wide reach and power that dance can have to engage. The evening will show the brilliant inclusive work that the dance industry is doing and the ambition for this to continue to develop further. The best part is that not only will you be witnessing a fantastic evening of dance, but you will also be supporting a fantastic charity that enriches lives of people living with disabilities and long-term health conditions. I believe that with the support of Children Today these young people have the potential to achieve amazing things and I am sure that we will being some of these young people as the next generation of disabled leaders, creatives and performers and I think that is amazing!
