'I'll dance until I'm a hundred'

Cellist Justa de Jong in conversation with Isla Clarke of Nederlands Dans Theater

Listening to Anton Bruckner's Ninth Symphony requires your full attention. Especially in a time of speed and efficiency, that is instructive: through effort, patience and challenge, you can become absorbed in something, enjoy it, develop yourself. With that starting point, Residentie Orkest-cellist Justa de Jong went into conversation with Canadian dancer Isla Clarke of Nederlands Dans Theater. 

'As a cellist, playing Bruckner's Ninth Symphony gives me a sense of timelessness,' De Jong opens the conversation. 'It took Bruckner himself a lot of time and discipline to compose it, but when you listen to it or play it, you forget about time and get totally absorbed in it. I'm curious how you experience time and discipline as a dancer.' 

'For a dancer, time is relative,' Clarke responds thoughtfully. 'Every minute is overflowing. More zoomed out, you're constantly looking forward to the next step in your career. That sometimes makes it hard to live in the here and now. You want to develop, broaden your work. So you're not so much concerned with time, but more concerned with your development.' 

And while performing, do you manage to live in the moment? 'That's the challenge. I would describe it as flow, a state of being that every artist strives for. In it, you give space to your intuition. You are no longer thinking, just experiencing what you are doing. It is far from always possible to achieve that. I think as an artist you always ask yourself what you need to get into that flow. The work is physically demanding and you have to keep going, even if you don't have inspiration or energy for a while. A lot of great things come from inspiration, but without discipline you have little use for it.' 

How old were you when you discovered that dancing requires not only talent but also hard work? 'I think I always knew that. I was so obsessed with dancing, always wanted to get better. It's often hard to feel you have talent because you have to work on so many things.' 

When I heard others play, I knew. Then I thought: I would do it differently, or better. Do you recognize that? Did you always know you wanted to dance? 'Yes indeed. I had to perform, move, express myself. I come from an artistic family and have never done anything else. Dancing has really been my salvation in difficult times. It gave me a place to escape the harsh outside world. I also see the process as life itself: it's trial and error. You try new things, are curious and develop yourself. Just because it's not always easy.'  

Did you also do auditions that were less successful than this one at Nederlands Dans Theater? 'Yes, before I started my dance training in Vancouver I did a lot of auditions, but without success. Only during that training did I get all the space for my development, learned to think differently about dance and met many like-minded people. It was one of the best periods of my life, but at the same time heavy and intense. I cried a lot, it took me completely, I surrendered to it completely. 

What was most instructive? 'To be honest, the time I spent outside the studio. You learn so much more from having fun and being reckless than from completely focusing on your career. A teacher once said you can learn everything in a dance studio; I know now that's not true. I really needed life outside the studio. When I was in a club until seven in the morning, I could be myself, free of any learning goals, expectations or techniques.' 

How long will you keep dancing? 'I'll dance until I'm a hundred, I always say. Most dancers are convinced that you can only do this for a short time; I disagree. As a young dancer, you push your body to a limit. That can be exhausting to watch. I find simplicity and nuance much more beautiful. And those come with time, with life experience.' 

Interview - Sobriquet

Join us March 19 at MasterClassics with Bruckner 9