By BRUCE DENNILL
American dancer and choreographer Holly Gruver is the founder of the Bryanston, Johannesburg-based WGRUV Dance Company (that first part pronounced “double-u groove”, for the first initial of Gruver’s husband Will’s name – he is a staunch supporter and sponsor of the company – and the first part of their shared surname). She enjoyed a successful career as a dancer herself and founded the Johannesburg Arts Conservatory (JAC) in 2017. That organisation functions today as a training centre for pre-professional dancers with advanced skills.
How did you come to be in Johannesburg?
My husband’s company [energy infrastructure and consultancy outfit USP&E] wanted to open up a head office here to be closer to their African sites. On a personal level, we have four kids and Will was always travelling, so this would also allow him to be around more.
We had also done mission work in Zambia and elsewhere, so our children were familiar with Africa and were keen to move here – though that was to be on mission to begin with! I think they thought we were going to end up in Sierra Leone… We have had many challenges and dealt with many of the worst of Johannesburg’s stereotypes, but we want to stay here. The people here are more community-minded than where we’re from. They like doing life together.
How does the arts climates differ between where you’re from and where you are now?
On the audience side, there is definitely an appetite for the arts here, but maybe it’s fair to say that what is seen as excellence is different. In years past, there were different kinds of ballet companies visiting here; now that profile has changed, and it’s part of my passion to bring those artists back. There are challenges, though. It’s difficult to get the ticket sales needed and there isn’t really the event culture that ballet and dance events used to have – dressing up for a glamorous night out and all of that.
There are well-trained dancers here, and they are eager to become better. If a teacher is willing to invest in them, they’ll take hold of that, as long as it’s positive. There’s a tricky balance in communicating when a standard can improve while also encouraging a dancer – and that’s similar wherever you are in the world.
The repertoire differs abroad. Now, there is a trend that classical ballet companies must have contemporary repertoire as well in order to be relevant. Overseas, there is a lot of going outside the box and taking risks. To be fair, ballet companies abroad have more resources, funding and opportunities to put together large casts. In small companies, dancers can suffer through doing too much. And contemporary companies suffer everywhere – it’s tough to get audiences…
The stated vision of WGRUV is very different to most professional companies: there’s a focus on slow, meaningful growth and continued learning rather than being loud and visible in a way that make marketing more of a vocal point.
We’ve found that we have to be cautious and intentional about the work that we do so we can get ticket sales, but the goal is always to work with whole people whore ministered to, with their wholeness taken into account. That idea might take time and change the vision of a season, but ultimately the dance company is a product, designed to take audiences out of their busy lives.
We want to always bring hope with what we do. We may not be able to offer some or other technical aspect because we need to look after someone instead: sometimes you need to be a follower and a leader.
You’ve made humility a quality essential for your company. That’s counter, in many ways, to the channelled ego that drives many dancers and other performers to focus on their craft. What does this look like in practice?
We try to model and encourage humility, although we can’t force it. At work, that might look like taking a moment to help a person with an exercise you grasped quicker than they did. Or letting other people answer questions first, even if you always know what’s being asked for. Or concentrating on what a teacher is saying, even when you’re tired. Or not boasting, but rather collaborating in a way that lets others have or share the spotlight.
Arrogance is destructive – and mostly in the gossip that can take place in companies, which we discourage. We do teambuilding events where we show how the best leaders empower those they lead and can enjoy respectful opposition.
How does this mindset affect how you choose dancers to join the company?
An audition at WGRUV involves taking a class and having a conversation. We care about who’s here – we have to; we rehearse right behind my home here. They don’t need to be like us, of course, but they need to fit in to some degree.
I have a counselling background, which helps me to read people, I think. Sometimes dancers don’t like the values we try to uphold here – and that happens, so we have our ups and downs.
Your company is structured differently to traditional dance outfits. All your dancers are designated ‘first artists’ – what is the equivalent in ballet terms? Is their a hierarchy and if so, how does that dovetail with the humility aspect?
Originally, there was a hierarchy: senior soloists, soloists, corps de ballet and apprentices – what are sometimes called ‘aspirants’ here. But as a small company, it became a better idea to change the hierarchy to help facilitate humility, to lower the egos and level the playing field. Our choreographers choose who they want; the person person for the job they have in mind.
For now, WGRUV is a small company, which limits the scope of what you can produce or choreograph alone. Do you have a vision of a company of a particular size or is it more about the quality of the collective?
It’s more about the quality of what we have. I like to seek out what my dancers can do best. That said, collaborating to work on bigger projects is possible, including as a way to get to work with specific choreographers. The best case is collaborating with people who allow control of our dancers and what they need, as well as our ethos and what we stand for.
Do the members of the company choreograph as well?
Our dancers do choreograph, but usually within the scope of a bigger piece, including where the choreographer might ask for input.
You recently collaborated with Joburg Ballet on their new, original ballet Charlie And The Chocolate Factory. What was that experience like?
What a joy! The choreographer, Mario Gaglione, is a fantastic leader and director – very generous but with strong boundaries. There were loads of challenges working with so many people, but collaboration means coming together and not requiring one side to go all the way to the other side.
The new WGRUV production is called Trilogy Of Notes – A Symphony Of Dance. What does it involve?
It was all borne out of my love for music and movement. The collaboration here is between the dancers and live musicians – pianist Darlington Okofu and bassist Emmanuel Ojonugwa Paul. There are, as the title suggests, three parts, in which we want to reach the audience in an enjoyable way where they can see how music and dance support each other. Some of it is easy to understand – pretty literal links. The piece Permission To Fall, which we commissioned in April this year and created with choreographer Brad Beakes, highlights characters we all find in ourselves – the angry person; the mute or nervous person; and the person who seems to be a champion but who is lonely and who needs friends. And the whole story is told through a dancing circus troupe, ending with each dancer finding resolution in their partner in the piece as they emote what they think they don’t need, but which they actually do. Part of what is being said there, as the facades are peeled away, is that it’s ok to fall and be seen for who you are.
Each choreographer gives a brief of what their piece is about in the show. Sometimes people want to interpret what they see on their own, but context is good – it helps audiences to see what’s around in the dance world, here and elsewhere.
We’re touring the production around a bit – shorter runs in some different venues – as we find that can work better financially. We’re still pretty new, and it takes time to build an audience.
