International Women's Day 2023: Celebrating Janetta Maxwell

On International Women's Day 2023 we want to celebrate the women who inspire us and who are changing the world. In this interview, we speak to dance teacher and dance artist Janetta Maxwell

Can you walk us through your career path up to now?

I trained at London School of Contemporary Dance in the 70s. My first professional job was in deepest darkest Lincolnshire and I only met two other black people in the city! That was a weird experience after living in multicultural London all my life up until then. My first job was in a small-scale schools dance company (three of us initially and eventually four), where we created and toured dance productions to rural schools – some with only eight children in them.

When that project finished I moved on to become one of the first Dance Animateurs in the country, organising community dance classes for all ages, producing community dance shows, an annual subsidised residential dance summer school and booking professional companies. Community dance and schools/education have always been at the heart of my professional practice because without them I would never have had a chance to discover dance as a career option in the first place.

I also produced my first solo show in collaboration with a local musician. Exciting times. I also performed several solos at various showcases including Cambridge.

I have also taught in Higher Education for many years, first in Lincolnshire, then Leeds. I also taught adult education dance classes for Bradford College and also in Scunthorpe. I taught some of the first BTEC Performing Arts (level 3) courses at Rotherham College of Arts and Technology (FE).

Other organisations I have worked with/for include Phoenix Dance Theatre (schools project), Axis Dance & Tutti Frutti (perfomer and teacher/trainer for nursery practitioners), Yorkshire Dance (performer and teacher for various projects with older adults – including Company of People), Leeds Beckett University, HOOT in Huddersfield (leading dance sessions linked to older adults living with dementia, and also working with an adult group focusing on mental health and wellbeing. Bradford Literature Festival (schools workshop using dance to explore literature). BREEZE (creative dance programmes) summer programmes in Leeds. I also did some work with young people at Gipton Community Centre, eventually taking the group to their first ever performance which took place at the Leeds Playhouse.

What have been the main challenges for you along the way. And how have you overcome them?

The biggest challenge for me has always been to fight against other people’s preconceptions. All through my life I have have had to put up with people (including family, school careers department, work colleagues etc.) trying to limit my ambitions ‘to help me’. Luckily I am extremely stubborn so I happily ignored them all and continued to do things my way.

When I first announced (age 11yrs) that I wanted to do ballet, I was told that I was the ‘wrong shape’, ‘too old’ etc. I ignored them, got ballet books out of the library and was self-taught until I found a local community dance organisation (Islington Dance Factory) who charged 50p a week for community ballet classes. So I joined a ballet class age 16 and went in with the 12 yr olds! I didn’t care. It was progress.

I eventually auditioned at LSCD and was told ‘wrong shape,’ etc. Sounds familiar? They turned me down initially. Again I ignored them and went back. I think they realised I would be back every year until I had my zimmer frame so I guess they gave in! Even then, the negative messages kept coming my way. I was told that I would never find work as a dancer so of course I went and got a job straight out of dance school. I was one of the few from my year that did so and I think it’s partly because I wasn’t waiting around to be ‘discovered’.

When and how did you discover RJC Dance?

I was aware of RJC Dance pretty soon after its inception but I was in Lincolnshire at the time and the company was in Leeds. I knew the individuals who had set up RJC Dance as they had been to Lincolnshire before forming the new company.

How have you been involved with RJC Dance?

I was invited to lead the Elders Zoom class after the COVID 19 lockdown ended. I had always wanted to work for RJC Dance because I wanted to work with a company that was led by people who looked like me and was working in/with the local community. Until starting the Elders class, my only experience of using Zoom was to click on a link somebody had sent me, so once I agreed to do the class I spent weeks wondering if I had made a huge mistake.

When I joined RJC Dance I had no clue how to run a Zoom session. I normally have a lot of interactivity between participants in my classes so it was weird designing what would essentially be a ‘solo’ class for each participant. I had to find other ways to facilitate the interactivity and I am constantly experimenting with this.

With support from the RJC Dance staff I learned the ropes so there has been a considerable element of CPD for me. I feel much more confident about the technical side of it all now. I am grateful for that training and the confidence I gained.

What difference has RJC Dance made to your life, or your work?

Confidence, that I can still learn new skills and rise up to new challenges – now that I am a ‘mature’ adult!

How would you describe RJC Dance in three words?

Inspirational – Exuberant – Life-affirming

Which female role models inspire you?

My main inspirations are Dr Maya Angelou – Octavia E Butler – Malorie Blackman; interesting to realise that they are all authors. That was not intentional but a happy coincidence. These women are not afraid to tackle difficult issues of race and gender and ethics and by weaving those issues into stories they enable many people to gain insight into different perspectives.

How would you describe your experience as a black woman and a mature black woman in the arts and culture sector? How would you change it?

All my life I have had to fight against family, friends, colleagues, teachers, men, women and other who try to impose various stereotypes and expectations on me.

What advice do you have for young women starting their career now?

1. Don’t be dictated to – and that includes not believing everything you see and hear, no matter what ‘authenticated’ or ‘trusted’ source you hear it from. Go and do the research. Find out for yourself.
2. Always question ‘tradition’ and ‘established wisdom’. I’m not saying ignore tradition. Sometimes tradition is relevant, but other times it’s rooted in practices that were relevant or necessary at the time when they were established, but are no longer appropriate for the current world we live in.
3. Don’t follow the crowd – figure out what it is YOU want to do with your life. Be true to yourself.

Photo credit: Sara Teresa