GAYLETTER

MADBoots is a New York based dance company, founded in 2011 by Austin Diaz (right) and Jonathan Campbell (left). The boys wanted to create an all-male exclusive dance troupe that pushed the boundaries of masculine identity in performance art. Their work is dramatic, impassioned, sexual, and athletic. GAYLETTER chatted with the dancers about how MADBoots was born, their relationship on and off stage, and the company’s upcoming June performance, BEAU.

 
How would you describe MADBoots, and how is it different from other dance companies?

Jonathan: There aren’t a lot of male-centered dance companies in NYC, so that kind of makes us different. But beyond being all male, we like acknowledging both the masculine and feminine qualities of being a man, which I think aren’t always acknowledged in dance. In conventional dance companies, men have to be the macho ones, partner with the girls and lift everyone. There are so many different sides of being a male artist, and we really try to acknowledge that with a unique movement vocabulary.

Where did the name MADBoots come from?

J: We wanted something that was different and something we thought people might remember because it was sort of odd. The name is partly inspired by Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safran Foer. In the book, Oskar, the little boy and narrator of the story, says he’s in heavy boots when he’s sad. So, we thought of being in boots as a kind of a state of mind or state of being. And madness is just being crazy, so we smashed those ideas together and made a nonsensical word.

When did you each start dancing?

Austin: I started when I was 10 years old at a local studio in New Jersey. I did tap jazz, and ballet until I was 18, then I went to NYU Tisch and studied there for three years. I joined Sidra Bell Dance and met Jonathan, and we started creating work together.

J: It’s pretty similar for me. I was about nine, and my younger sister was taking ballet class. I would have to go sit at her studio after school, and one day the instructor there put tap shoes on me. I decided I hated tap, so started doing jazz, I then went to a performing arts high school, then on to Julliard, and then joined Sidra Bell.

Austin

Jonathan

Did you guys ever date? Or are you just friends?
J: Oh no, we’re not friends.
A: We’re not friends!
J: Why, does it seem like we’re just friends?

I don’t know! I didn’t want to assume or be invasive. Well, I did want to be invasive, that’s why I asked.

A: Thank you.

J: A lot of people usually can’t figure it out

A: A lot of people think we’re brothers, which I think is so bizarre.

Is it a challenge to bring your relationship into the work space?

J: Oh, yeah. Totally.
A: Sometimes we have to stand on opposite sides of the room. But through that conflict we always find a stronger idea.
J: I say black, he says white, and then we find some gray middle ground to work on.

Which one of you is the serious one, when it comes to cracking down and getting stuff done?

A: I think we both are.
J: I guess I’m more of the disciplinarian, the one that’s like “shut up.” But he’s stricter with going through the material and nitpicking and tearing it apart. We are both assholes sometimes.

Both of you have experience teaching master dance classes. How do you incorporate the themes of MADBoots into your lessons? Or is your work separate from your teaching?

J: Physically, we try to bring really athletic material to the class and challenge students physically, but not always thematically or conceptually. We try to use music, or a section from the piece we are working on, so they get a taste of what’s going on.

A: It has been challenging finding ways to introduce the ideas we use in performance in the classroom. Some thematic elements we use in MadBoots are just not appropriate to teach.

What are these inappropriate themes?

J: Some of the sexuality issues existent in the work.
A: It can also be somewhat violent sometimes, and that’s not okay to bring into a classroom. We don’t want anyone to get injured while taking a dance class. So we water it down a bit.

Out of all the places you’ve traveled, what’s been particularly special?

A: They’ve all been special.
J: Canada is really cool, because we’ve got an audience base there. But as far as memorable, it’s Italy. We flew there a few days early, so we got to sit at the resort and do absolutely nothing.

Do you have any naughty stories from that trip?

J: Someone from Bulgari presented an award to us and spoke in Italian and we had no idea what he was saying. So we looked like idiots.

That’s not very naughty.

J: I don’t know! It was fun sitting by the pool…They like to wear…not much.
A: Yeah. Everyone is in Speedos.

So did you bring tiny little bathing suits too?

A: No we did not. We didn’t know we were going to have so much time, honestly!
J: I don’t think I have the confidence to wear one of those anyway.
A: Shut up.

The dancers during the rehearsal for their world premiere of ‘ACADEMY,’ with David Norsworthy, Garth Johnson and Eli Bauer.

You had your first full evening performance last summer. What was that like?

J: It was a little scary, because we weren’t sure if anyone was going to come. There was a lot of new things happening for us, but it ended up being really great and we did an encore performance for Pride Week.

What’s next for you guys?

A:  Our next show is called BEAU, and it is a duet between Jonathan and I. It’s inspired by text on suicide and drug culture, and deals with the vibrant delusion and numbing loneliness of death.

Also upcoming, we will be be attending Springboard Danse Montreal in June as Emerging Choreographers, Teaching in Toronto in July for Ignite, a program run by TOES for dance, and performing at Socrates Sculpture Park in August. The company was granted a week long residency by Norte Maar to begin a new work.