“As a performer, a lot of my inspiration comes from a desire to experience different versions of myself, access different identities…”

- Elisabeth Mulenga

Elisabeth Mulenga is a dance artist whose work is at once unflinching, tender, and intimate, and takes inspiration from film directors to explore the human psyche. Mulenga is an alumnus of the eighth cohort of National Youth Dance Company (NYDC) and won the Choreographic Innovation Award in the final of BBC Young Dancer 2022.

How did your journey into performing arts begin?

My mother is a classical cellist and works as a cello and double bass teacher. She’s always appreciated the value of being in the arts a lot and made sure my sisters and I played an instrument. I took up violin when I was four. I spent a lot of my childhood around classical music, at orchestra rehearsals and concerts. Classical concerts always feel like a grand performance, in the way the orchestra is dressed, their body language, their expression as they play, and the often majestic movements of a conductor. I was never particularly passionate about playing in an orchestra myself, but I was mesmerised by the spectacle of it all and the command the people in orchestras have over a room.

I also had a very Christian upbringing and I believe religious practices are fundamentally creative. There’s so much performance in a church service. My dad was a pastor and I used to aspire to being able to move a room as I speak the way he did. It can be so dramatic and poignant. The singing, the dancing, the imagery, the spoken word, the literature of the bible, there’s so much art in a church service.

You're part of the 2023/24 Sadler's Wells Young Associates and will be presenting new work at an upcoming show at the Lilian Baylis Studio, Sadler’s Wells in November 2023. Can you tell us about the creative process behind this work?

I felt inspired to create this piece after a brief experience of rage towards another woman. The melancholy I felt after reflecting on why I’d had this rage interested me. I ultimately found myself feeling grief for the relationships between myself and other women that have been inhibited. I did the research and development period by myself, developing a series of images, positions and movements to be repeated. Sometimes I’d just write paragraphs giving a detailed description of the section I was imagining. Over the process, I gathered lots of references, including lots of videos of different women. I spoke to friends and read literature that articulated something about a woman that resonated. I sat around and drew bad stick figures. When the performers come into the process, I teach them the movement and have a continuous dialogue on how different moments feel, how resonant or uncomfortable it is for them and how we could react to those feelings.

What inspires your artistic work?

As a performer, a lot of my inspiration comes from a desire to experience different versions of myself, access different identities, to try and embody things that have felt out of my reach. And I enjoy it when that is witnessed. I could’ve tried to become an actor to do this, but I enjoy how the ambiguity of dance gives me more power to become someone I couldn’t necessarily convince myself I am with words. As a choreographer, I’m primarily inspired by different experiences of emotion. I’m interested in how my body and face react to emotions, and how my emotions react to my body and face. I’m so inspired by the body language and faces of people around me. I’m inspired by people who dedicate so much to giving justice to an individual’s or a community’s experience.

What kind of experience do you want the audience to have at your upcoming show?

I want them to witness intimacy between two women and I’d like the audience to feel submerged in the piece’s atmosphere. The piece is quite uncomfortable and strange and I do like to bring audiences into those feelings, however, I primarily focus on how the performers navigate the discomfort in the choreography and how they respond to being observed by an audience. I hope people can feel the tenderness in it. This piece in particular I created for the performers, for women, and for myself to find some kind of solace or catharsis. I’d love for some people in the audience to share in those feelings.

What aspect of your work poses the greatest challenge for you?

Addressing lived experiences whilst creating on other people. In my solo work, I can manage my boundaries and needs quite well, but bringing other people into often heavy and difficult personal worlds can quite easily become unsafe for both the performers and for myself. Developing boundaries, clear communication, trust and an awareness of when to stop contextualising is crucial.

How would you describe your style of choreography?        

My choreographic style is imagery-based and uses a lot of repetition. Right now, my choreography is always emotionally driven, and autobiographical to an extent but doesn’t follow a narrative. When devising movement, I pay attention to the face, hands, breath, the sounds bodies make when in contact with another surface and potential extremities. My choreography feels like a series of intimate and confronting images. For me, the beauty is in the pacing and the subtle details.

Looking at your career, what have been the most fulfilling moments thus far?

I’m in the early moments of my professional career, but I’d say one of the most fulfilling moments for me was the reception of my solo for BBC Young Dancer 2023. The solo was an outcry of sorts, addressing my difficult relationship to the Christian faith. I received a lot of messages and had a lot of conversations with people telling me they felt seen, and that it resonated deeply with them. I also received a lot of messages from Christians telling me that they were praying for me. I felt so grateful to these people for reaching out and glad that my presence on the show could have an impact. I remember feeling grateful to myself for continuing with that solo, which at the point of the final was quite mentally difficult for me to keep performing. I was grateful to have danced for myself, to Zambian music, addressing God, in a dance scene that feels quite detached from religious thought, on television.

Have any dancers or choreographers influenced your practice?

The movement language and philosophies of Martha Graham have definitely sept into my practice. The drama of it all, the contractions, and the hands which hold so much energy. Researching Pina Bausch’s work also taught me a lot about what repetition can do.

What's the best advice you've ever received?

Don’t be interesting, be interested.

Any practical tips for young people aspiring to enter the performing arts industry?

Don’t follow trends you don’t care about. Just because everyone is currently interested by something doesn’t mean you need to be, see what’s happening, respond to it if you like but stay aware of what you’re giving your time to.

Record yourself, simply to archive your journey, it doesn’t need to be for criticising yourself. I think it's helpful to have references of where you’ve come from to help guide you into knowing where you want to go, and what really matters to you. It’s important to recognise the qualities and interests you already have and be curious about what more there could be.

Beyond your professional life, could you share a bit about who Elisabeth Mulenga is outside of the 'office'?

I grew up in Birmingham and am very grateful for that. I’m the youngest of four sisters. I love to write, in every way, especially creative writing, opinion essays and journaling. I enjoy practising the skill of writing. I love the feeling of being very still and I find undercooked pastries so tasty. It’s very important to me to stay informed on political movements and to continually address them both inside and outside of the dance sector.

Do you have any notable projects coming up next year that you'd like to share with our readers?

The Young Associates main stage commission will be coming up in Autumn 2024 at Sadlers Wells East!

What do you love most about London?

I love that you can be still and just be in a lot of places in London, at least compared to other capital cities I’ve visited. I feel like it goes quite unquestioned if you aimlessly wander or sit around in London, and there’s lots of places to do so. Also, London is one of the few cities where people don’t tend to assume you’re from somewhere else as long as you can navigate public transport effectively. I find as a mixed-race person, it’s very rare to feel or be perceived as fully from anywhere. London usually allows me to feel I belong there.

Young Associates Mixed Bill is on at the Lilian Baylis Studio on 22 – 23 November 2023. Click here for tickets.

Instagram: @elisabeth.mulenga