Meet the Hatter is a spectacular family dance show from Joss Arnott Dance, in this interview Artistic Director and Choreographer Joss Arnott explains more about the show and the creative process behind it.
What drew you to reimagine the Hatter as the focus of a full-length dance production, and what does this character represent for you personally?
The Hatter has always been an interesting character for me. He’s quirky, mysterious, eccentric – there’s a lot of layers to him and this has fascinated me from a very young age. I knew I wanted to create a magical show and thought the Hatter would be the perfect fit to create a new, reimagined Wonderland for audiences to experience that was both cinematic and immersive.
I see a lot of myself in the Hatter and worked with the dancers to also show personality traits that they have so although they are playing a character, it’s very authentic for them. The character represents all of us, we can connect with him on many levels and can relate to his journey of curiosity and how he navigates Wonderland to find real meaning to create real change in his life.
How does combining dance with multimedia, animation, and original music allow you to expand the storytelling beyond traditional choreography?
The show is definitely a spectacle and has a lot of offer a range of audiences. The multimedia, lighting and original music has been crucial to creating new environments for the Hatter and how we’ve developed the show in general. The visuals and musical elements really helped us create new choreography and develop the overall character through dynamic changes and always keeping the Hatter curious so he never gives up.
There’s a real shift within the multimedia from when the Hatter is being reactive to his surroundings, to controlling them. This has resulted in all the multimedia aspects of the show having personality so even though it is a solo dance production for one dancer, you feel like you are watching many characters in front of you due to how we’ve incorporated everything.
The Hatter’s journey explores isolation and imagination—what contemporary resonances did you want audiences to feel in this story?
I feel like there’s so much power in imagination to act as a form of healthy escapism. There’s a lot of darkness in the world and I wanted us to create a show that was joyous, relevant and honest. The Hatter is very relatable and charming; he’s a showman at the end of the day and just wants to have friends to share his life with.
There are many themes and concepts within the show including;
• Curiosity and Wonder
• Magic and illusions
• Overcoming loneliness and isolation
• The Hatter’s longing for connection and journey to making friends and finding where he fits in the world
• Embracing individuality
• How being different is our superpower and exploring what this unlocks within us
• Having a positive outlook on life and realising anything is possible if we put our minds to it to exceed our own expectations and what we’re capable of.
Our Hatter is completely relatable which I felt was very important for us to portray throughout. We really care for him and the dancer’s performance is compelling – you’ll laugh, you’ll be moved and feel empathy to him in many ways throughout the show. The production also has an overall feel-good message of trusting we will always find purpose, happiness and belonging no matter what.
As Joss Arnott Dance celebrates its 15th anniversary, how does “Meet the Hatter” reflect the evolution of your creative vision?
For the past 15 years we’ve toured a lot around the UK and this includes both indoor and outdoor productions varying in scale. My choreographic language has evolved over this time but with our productions for young people and families in particular, I have really loved working more narratively and seeing how other art forms can challenge me and overall enrich the work we create.
My work has always been heavily influenced by music, which really enhances how a work develops over any creation period. I work really collaboratively with all of the creative team, both individually and collectively so it is very much a joint effort and achievement.
Over time, we have developed how we embed audiences from the very beginning of any creation and at different stages of development through our Human Centred Design process. For “Meet the Hatter” we did this through delivering a range of research and development workshops and discussions working with both children and adults in multiple schools and community group settings. This allowed us to make sure we were creating a new dance production that was relevant and connected with our intended audiences.
“Meet the Hatter” is also the most technical production we have ever produced. It’s our longest show to date (65-minutes) and the process has just been epic and through various stages of development. The whole creative team have put so much passion and love into making the show and we truly believe we have made something special that I hope will be around for a long time and be seen by a lot of people. I’ve mentioned previously, but the show really is a spectacle that highlights what dance and multimedia can be achieved together.
It’s like you’re watching a film and being transported to different spectacular environments that keep audiences guessing and wondering what they’ll see next and where the Hatter is taking them next.
I describe my work in general as very cinematic but this show has taken that to a whole new level. I’ve wanted to create a dance and multimedia show for a very long time and feel I have had the best team and support around me to make this really ambitious vision come to life.
What has it been like to collaborate with such a diverse creative team, and how have their perspectives shaped the final production?
I assembled a team who really are amazing. Everyone is at the top of their field and have just created such high-quality work that has been incredibly inspiring to work with. The process has been fantastic, we developed the majority of the storyline through an R&D period last year from that, developed all the choreography, visuals, scenes and music from there.
What’s been really exciting about this process is that everyone has had the same vision and wanted the outcome to just be the best it could possibly be which I’m extremely grateful for. It’s resulted in us creating an epic dance and multimedia show that is “Meet the Hatter” which JAD can call ours and really showcases how ambitious we are as a company.
To create a solo dance work of over an hour is challenging but it’s been the most rewarding and I think proudest achievement I’ve felt from what we’ve all achieved. Most importantly, we’ve had a lot of fun making the show!
What do you hope children and families take away from this reimagined Wonderland, and how do you balance playfulness with depth in the work?
The show is extremely playful, yet it also delves into darker moments to showcase multiple layers of the Hatter.
I’m excited to finally being able to take the show out on tour and to see how audiences react to it. I’m interested in hearing what people have to say and how it moves them but I hope it really inspires them in many ways. Audiences are at the heart of everything we do and I hope the show gives audiences that wow factor following the Hatter’s journey and to really connect with him and want to be his friend.
I would love our audiences to care for the Hatter and his journey through Wonderland where he ultimately develops the skills and knowledge to take control of his life and bring colour into his world for the very first time.
There really is something for everyone and people should come and see “Meet the Hatter” because there is so much to enjoy and fun within it. There’s exciting and athletic choreography by brilliant dancers, new storytelling, breathtaking visuals, design and animation, it’s beautifully moving and has amazing, originally composed music that is really varied and full of all the emotions!
Ultimately, it’s a feel-good show where audiences can engage and be very much part of it. My motto for the creative team from day one was “Let’s make some magic!” and I really feel like we achieved this and more so I really cannot wait for people to come and watch and for us to share this really special show with them. I’m so excited, I cannot wait!
Meet the Hatter comes to Z-arts on Saturday 14 & Sunday 15 February.