Max Levy

In a special effort to raise awareness about the Braswell Arts Center Virtual Benefit Gala, we are proud to present this years featured artists.

Who are you? And a bit about your training and experience?

My name is Max Levy and I’m a choreographer and dancer based in Frankfurt, Germany. I was born and raised in Japan and the USA, and completed my training at the San Francisco Ballet. I danced for several companies and most recently spent 6 seasons with the Staatsballett Nuremberg. I departed company life and started freelancing 4 and a half years ago.

What inspires you?

It’s a cheater answer, but I will say “anything.” Not that I take everything as inspiration, but that I don’t think I can label what an inspiration is, because when it inspires you, you know that it didn’t matter what sort of label you might’ve put on it before. That said, I’m currently reading The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder, I am listening to a lot of wonderful orchestral/jazz anime soundtracks, and I haven’t fallen in love for some time.

Tell us about the work you are presenting or dancing in?

A Song Without Words was an opportunity to work with a great focused team thanks to the generous Projektstipendium program from Hessische Kulturstiftung. It is an abstract dance film that follows two men and their inability to confront one another while expressing their avoidance through landscapes, movement, and music. I was really lucky to have the colleagues and connections I have, and the team was integral to making this film what it is.

Hardest part of your job?

Doing all the paperwork to pave the way for artistic work. I try to never lose sight of the reason I am in this career even if there is a lot of difficulty to wade through.

Who has been the most influential person/people in your life? or Career? and why?

There have been countless colleagues and peers who left marks and memories to remind me of my own place in the world, but to name someone specific, Jean-Yves Esquerre has been my mentor since my time in school, and continues to help me in times of need. Nowadays he is the founder and director of the European School of Ballet in Amsterdam. It may seem ironic to some people, but he is the man that opened my eyes out of classical ballet to a wider world perspective in both dance and life. There is often a strange contempt between classical ballet and contemporary dance forms, and I am glad that in my own life, I had someone who could represent both for me, and still encourages me to follow the path I believe in.

Something you like to do other than dance?

I’ve been an avid PC gamer since I was a kid. I don’t meet very many PC gamers in the dance world, but it is my mixture of hobby, fun, and vice. Otherwise, I dabble in other artforms like music and visual arts and often mix them into my dance productions in some way.

Your wildest dreams for the dance world?

My biggest dream is not within the dance world (though there are plenty of those), but that dance (and concert/performance dance) could have more value in wider society. I accept that in my generation it has perhaps simply become a niche part of a cultural sub-society (and overshadowed by more accessible commercial dance and the latest insta/snapchat/tiktok fad), but I believe if there was a wider social value (or dare I say popularity) of cultural dance work, younger dancers would come out of school with better knowledge of their professional rights, and extortive pay and predatory programs/practices would be less hidden in plain sight.