Mikaela Polley and Angela Towler

Mikaela Polley joined Birmingham Royal Ballet in 1990 where she was a soloist dancing in a large range of works, from the major classics to works by Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharp and Hans van Manen. In 2001 she was invited by Christopher Bruce to join the Company as a dancer.

Angela Towler graduated from London Contemporary Dance School in 1995 with a first class BA (Hons) degree. She danced with Richard Alston Dance Company until 1999 when she was invited to join Rambert.

In this interview, Angela and Mikaela recall dancing in iconic works such as ‘Ghost Dances’ (Bruce, 1981), ‘Judgement of Paris’ (Tudor, 1938/1940) and ‘Parades Gone By’ (Kemp, 1975) as well as working on new creations with a variety of choreographers. Both have fond memories of touring with the Company in the UK and internationally and working with Christopher Bruce and Mark Bruce as Artistic Directors. Mikaela made the transition to the role of rehearsal director in 2008 and Angela in 2009. Here, they give us an insight into the role – what it involves, the challenges they face and the works they have enjoyed rehearsing.

00:04:57 Christopher Bruce
00:06:50 ‘Parades Gone By’ (Kemp, 1975)
00:21:18 Rehearsal Director role
00:25:44 ‘A Linha Curva’ (Galili, 2009)
00:30:30 ‘L’Après-midi d’un faune’ (Nijinsky, 1912/1931)

Interview recorded on 25 April 2017 at Rambert, London.
Interviewer: Claire Izzard; Filmmaker: Paul Izzard

The Rambert Voices oral history project is part of Rambert at 90, a project marking the company’s 90th anniversary, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.