Menu
Choreography Is An Automatic Response to Music For Ash Mukhrejee
Born in Kolkata, India, Ash trained in Bharata Natyam at Kalamandalam Kolkata. Promoted to principal dancer at age thirteen, he danced numerous roles with the company. He then studied classical ballet at London Studio Centre with Brenda Last.
In 2009 the Critics’ Circle commissioned Ash to create a solo for the National Dance Awards Ceremony at Sadler’s Wells. Later in the year, he was acclaimed by Dance Europe magazine as the best Indian classical dancer in Great Britain. Ash was hand picked by Michael Jackson’s team for This Is It! at O2 London. He also appeared in BBC Three’s Move like Michael Jackson.
Ash’s awards include Best Male Dancer India 1994, nominations for Outstanding Dancer Male by Critics’ Circle National Dance Award UK, London Dance Award, shortlist for Matthew Bourne NACA, DanceEast’s ChoreoLab with Jonathan Lunn, Time Out London Rising Talent & Critics’ Choice artist for Dance Europe.
Ash has recently finished working with director Shekhar Kapur and writer Craig Pearce on WILL, a ten-part series based on the life of William Shakespeare produced by Turner Network Television.
Interview With Ash…………
Let start with little bit about yourself…..
Hello, I am Ash and I am a dancer/actor and choreographer/movement director based in London.
Handpicked by Michael Jackson team O2 London…. What was the process like and how was the experience?
In 2006 I had directed a singer called Holly one-woman in her one woman show Both Sides Now for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. When the show transferred to London at the Soho Theatre, one of Michael’s dancers, a wonderful dance artist called Alif Sankey, from his iconic music video Smooth Criminal was in the audience and liked my work. She then went on to be the Associate Producer for This Is It! She put me forward as an actor for Earth Song at first, they liked my look and I was chosen. Once the team lead by director Kenny Ortega also saw my Bharatanatyam footage on YouTube, I was asked to be ready to improvise with Michael for a song where they wanted dances from different parts of the world, jamming with Michael. It was of course heart breaking when he passed away. His music had formed a substantial part of my journey as a dancer, so the months that followed was a challenge. I finally got some closure when I got to work with Michael’s choreographer and friend Lavelle Smith Jr and learn from him. We then went on to create a Bharatanatyam homage for him to Man In The Mirror, which I got to share with his brother Jermaine Jackson when he was a judge on the television show Move Like Michael Jackson for BBC 3.
What does Ash do in his free time?
I love to teach and learn so I give or take workshops, as much as I can. It gives me a lot of joy, seeing people learn and also learning from them. I love to cook. I usually experiment with recipes on Google, which seems to annoy my mom terribly because according to her I should have just called her for the recipe!
What is it like working as an actor?
I love the industry. Last year I got to work in a ten part US television series called WILL, based on the life of William Shakespeare, directed by the wonderful Mr. Shekhar Kapur. I have been an admirer of his work from his iconic movies such as Masoom, Mr. India and Elizabeth. The first day of the shoot, required me to be covered head to toe in gold leaf, and swing from the ceiling of the set, over the principal actors, ensemble cast and about three hundred supporting artists acting as a baying crowd in a massive mob fight scene. We completed that sequence after a solid block of days. It was a pretty awesome experience. When every single person on set is immersed and working hard towards a common goal, particularly in a challenging scene and everything starts coming together after a few takes or more, the buzz is indescribable.
Tell us about your childhood…… was dancing always a part of your life?
My mom trained in Hindustani classical and my dad used to play the tabla, so every other evening during their riyaz /practice or if there was a baithak/soirée they would play some songs, and I just couldn’t resist the music. That was the charming part of my childhood, up on the terrace at night, the smell of jasmines, dancing to my mom’s voice singing a thumri, while my dad played and looked on adoringly at her.
The not so lovely and possibly even a bit traumatic part was being in an all boys school called La Martiniere in Calcutta and being rather badly bullied both physically and emotionally for most of my childhood on a daily basis as I was a dancer and hence different to the other boys. But as they say, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and although I still get flashbacks from it and wished that had never happened, I am here, I am still dancing, being who I am, and living life doing what I love, so I count myself very, very lucky.
Who is your favorite choreographer in India and abroad?
I think it is a collection of choreographers that I am very inspired by. Back home, it has always been Pandit Birju Maharaj ji, even though I am not a Kathak dancer. His work has always spoken to me and filled me with joy. The legendary dancers Uday Shankar and Ram Gopal are also huge influences, as they really knew how to showcase Indian classical dance for western audiences and have paved the path for an artist like me. I also admire Saroj Khan’s and Farah Khan’s work in Bollywood, they always capture the spirit of the character or scene with their choreography, which is no mean feat. In the west, I am a huge fan of the Czech choreographer Jiří Kyliá n. After witnessing his work, I am always full of questions and yet also feel curiously satisfied at the same time. Life is a restaurant. You get exactly what you ordered. So order wisely.
What is your favorite quote?
“Don’t be so humble…you are not that great.” – Golda Meir, former prime minister of Israel. It cracks me up each time.
What time you get up in the morning?
Usually between 5am and 7am. Although I am partial to a cheeky lie in on the weekends.
Life of a choreographer?
Well, for me it’s definitely music driven. It allows me to get out of my head. I find it very therapeutic and the most well realised work usually happens when I know the music inside and out, because that’s the stage when a story can start to reveal itself. When I am not setting it on the dancers in the studio, I am usually visualising it or feeling it in my heart on the way back. It’s an immersive process that I really enjoy. And then I find that it’s good to take a small break, keep it on the back burner, do more research on the subject and then go back to it and do it all over again. That way, the piece grows, layer upon layer.
What was your first job and when did you decided you wanted to become a choreographer?
My first ever job was to play the role of a young boy by the name of Shanu, in a play that was televised on Bengali Doordarshan in Kolkata. I was eight years old. It was loosely based on Lewis Carol’s Alice in Wonderland and I played the boy version of Alice, who was a precocious and artistic little chappy who struggled with mathematics in school, was teased for being different, and so he decided to run away to The Kingdom of the Absurd. I really enjoyed playing that part, and my fee was the grand sum of fifty rupees! It was 1988, I was a little boy, so I felt very rich,
When did I decide to be a choreographer?
I always knew I was going to choreograph, it came in the same terrain as dancing for me. I don’t really recall a time where I haven’t choreographed…it was an automatic response to music for me. So I always knew I was going to do it.
Some words for you fans……
Thank you for making me want to dance. I find your love very healing.
