An Interview with Titilayo Adebayo

S: Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?

T: Okay, I’m Titilayo Adebayo. I studied dance at the University of Roehampton in London. I’m Nigerian, 24 years old. I love dance and performance in general and being creative is kind of almost all of who I am. I paint in my spare time, I like to take photos of things, I like to have engaging conversations about art, how art can change the world or create progressive change. It was tough for me as a black woman in the studio. In my first year, Trajal was the only artist that hired me and ever since then the only artists who have hired me were black. Which is strange, it’s not like I decided on that, it just turned out that way. I used to be like, “When I’m older, I’ll start talking about race and all of that,” but I decided, actually, why should I feel uncomfortable about that? Why should that be a discomfort? I think if we have more conversations about it as artists that’s why we can actually understand and cooperate more, rather than leaving it as the elephant in the room… Oh, I love my mom. [laughs]

S: What did you envision yourself to be at the age of 24?

T: [laughs] Not here. I always thought that me as a dancer, my journey will be cut short. As a black female dancer, I didn’t really have anywhere to be, anywhere but Alvin Ailey, which is the most difficult place to get into in America. I envisioned myself maybe working with an artist of some sort but not on this scale at all. Like, working internationally? I thought it would take at least another five years. Yeah, 24… I had no clue what to expect. I think it just felt like a dream. Still does. [laughs] Basically what happened with Trajal Harrell is, I just applied to audition in my first year of graduating. I had no idea who he was, I didn’t know he was the best choreographer, I didn’t know his work was so well established, I had no clue! I just went into the audition completely air-headed and honestly, I even came out of the work itself still a bit unaware of who he really was. Until my university started saying, “Hey, how about you come and give us a talk?” and people are like, “How did you work with Trajal Harrell?” And I’m like… “Um, I auditioned?” [laughs] As time progressed, I just realized, Trajal is already up there [puts her arm high up] as a choreographer, so it set me on a path which is once again very interesting at this moment in time.

by Sharon

E: Have you ever had a moment when you thought that a choreography that you’ve been working on, doesn’t matter with whom, that is basically just bullshit?

T: I luckily, haven’t myself been in that. But I understand exactly what you’re saying with the “bullshit” thing and I find it very tiresome when I’m watching something and I’m like “Okay…Why did you make this?” ‘Cause that’s the thing, a lot of artists, it does look like it’s just a job for them, like, they are just deciding, “Oh, I’m going to make this extravagant.” I think dance is something which should be accessible, at least for me. It’s a whole body seeing another body. So luckily, no, I haven’t been in pieces where I’m like, “This is bullshit.” [laughs] But, I mean, I get that, you can watch some works and be like, “This is bullshit,” and I have had some works where I watched them and I was like, “This is absolute bullshit!”

S: Did you ever think of going on a diet because of your profession and what are the expectations in terms of fitness or for a contemporary dancer?

T: I mean, it wasn’t really a choice but I realized the difference the second I lost that much weight and it depends…With postmodern dance and modern dance, there’s a little bit more leeway, but with contemporary dance, there’s quite this expectation to have at least a fit body and I guess I always decided I don’t want to let that affect me. I think, socially, politically, the way the world is, I have had my struggle with weight and stuff, but I’ve always been someone who would say, “You know what, Layo, you really need to love your body more than anyone else does. Otherwise, this whole industry can destroy you.” And there are stories, you know, it’s not a lie that people are bulimic, people are anorexic, people avoid eating, people go on gluten-free diets without even knowing what it means and I guess, me personally, I’ve always been quite a spirit who’s like “I don’t care as long as I’m happy,” and I’ve just been very fortunate. I think, once again working with Trajal, but even right before, because the rest of his dancers, their bodies are like, amazing always so right before coming to this I was like “Alright, let me just squat a bit more.” [laughs]

S: To wrap up the interview, we would like you to show us your favorite dance move.