INTERVIEW: Exploring the connections between dance and boxing
Photo: Shadowboxing in Blue continues through Saturday, Oct. 25, at Haven Boxing in Brooklyn, New York. Photo courtesy of Danse Theatre Surreality / Provided by Michelle Tabnick PR with permission.
For those on the inside, there’s always been a connection between the worlds of dance and sports. Both disciplines require determination, agility and coordinated movement, so perhaps it was a natural progression that a new dance routine would utilize the sports arena, specifically the boxing ring, as inspiration. Now, thanks to Danse Theatre Surreality, theatergoers can enjoy Shadowboxing in Blue, a new work that has been playing at Haven Boxing in Brooklyn, New York.
That’s right, this choreographic evening is set in an actual, working boxing ring.
The work, with direction by Lauren Hlubny and composition by Caitlin Cawley, Hlubny and The Musicians, incorporates not only dance, but also music and boxing into the overall fabric of the piece. The central plot follows “an individual facing inner adversaries at different life stages.” The goal of Shadowboxing in Blue, according to press notes, is to redefine the intersection of art, sports, and self-healing.
Performances of the boxing-dance mashup, which runs 80 minutes in length, continue on the next three Saturdays: Oct. 11, Oct. 18 (bilingual Spanish-English performance) and Oct. 25. There’s also an optional boxing workshop that ticket buyers can participate in.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Kyra Hauck and Hlubny, artistic directors of Danse Theatre Surreality, about this foray into the world of boxing. Hauck also serves as assistant director of Shadowboxing in Blue. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
When did the setting of a boxing ring come to you? Was that the idea from the beginning?
The boxing ring came early, before I even started training in boxing. As a choreographer who often works in theatre, I always had an interest in combat and fight choreography. I admire the creativity and cleanliness of movement, and how high the stakes are. It also didn’t hurt that a friend of mine got me a small punching bag after a particularly grueling breakup.
I wrote a poem that started this work, and in the weeks that followed, while I was figuring out what I wanted from each of the characters, the boxing ring emerged as an almost instinctual response. That was five years ago, and training in boxing, especially learning from the pros at Haven, has enriched all the tiny details of the work in ways I couldn’t even have imagined or expected. I’m always thrilled when one of the coaches mentions that the work is a ‘love letter to boxing’.
I was drawn to it as both a literal and symbolic space. It’s a place of confrontation, repetition and survival, and above all: a person-versus-self ritual. You see two fighters going toe to toe, but the entire process, from training to fighting, is a face-off against yourself to prove you’re worth fighting for. The boxing ring, like the show itself, is a space where you prove to yourself that you deserve to survive and dig deeper.
Do you find the moves of a boxer to be dance-like?
Absolutely. The rhythm, the footwork, the breath, it’s all choreography, and it’s all in the hips! Boxing has tempo, texture and form, just like dance. But what I love most is its integrity. Every movement has purpose, and like authentic movement in dance, there’s no faking endurance or focus. You keep your hands up, or you get hit.
How do you think non-boxers can connect to the emotion of the piece?
You don’t have to be a boxer to understand what it means to decide to get off the floor. Everyone in the audience is showing up to their own fight, their own struggle, whatever that looks like for them. The music, the breath and the repetition of movement all invite the audience into that experience. Everyone identifies with different details in the work, but we all have a past, a present and ideally a future to confront.
What’s the optional workshop like?
Before each performance, we offer a free boxing workshop led by professional coaches. It’s not about sparring; it’s about using boxing as a tool for grounding and emotional release. Folks can choose to participate, but there’s no pressure. You learn about throwing some basic punches, which help you connect to your own body, your own breath, ideas of proximity, and the embodiment of those ideas connects you directly to the performance.
What has the audience response to the piece been?
It’s been incredibly moving. People have described feeling both energized and seen. Some have come back multiple nights to experience it again, saying it shifts something slightly new in them each time. Others have said it helped them name emotions they’d been holding for years, like they were able to work through things that had been hard for them by witnessing the characters go through similar things. The work is open to interpretation, so I’m always excited to hear what different people connect with or see! All answers are right answers. We’re all repressing and confronting different things within the boxing rings of our subconscious. The response has confirmed that the intersection of boxing, music, performance and mental health is a conversation people are not only ready for but actively searching for.
What’s next after this show?
We are always hoping to take Shadowboxing in Blue deeper, inviting community spaces, schools and wellness centers to keep the conversation alive. We love our home in Brooklyn at Haven Boxing and have a similar partnership at a gym in Paris, France, so we’ll be touring the work there first and then around the U.S. or world. Our lights are portable. Our script has been translated into multiple renditions: Spanish, French, American Sign Language and Braille so far. Anywhere there’s a boxing ring, we can do the show. It’s all part of building a world where art, physical wellbeing and mental wellness are not separate; they’re all part of the same fight.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Shadowboxing in Blue from Danse Theatre Surreality continues at Haven Boxing in Brooklyn, New York, through Oct. 25. Click here for more information and tickets.
