Choreographer inspiried by his rock heroes

Michael Clark is frequently described as the bad boy of British dance. His cutting-edge, visually striking works have frequently shocked, but also delighted audiences and have earned him a worldwide reputation.

Three years ago he brought I Do, his ambitious staging of Stravinsky's Le Noces to the Norfolk and Norwich Festival. That was one, along with O (based on Apollo) and Mmm... (his take on The Rite of Spring), of three Stravinsky ballets he choreographed between 2005-2007,

It proved a major hit and this year he is back with a very different work. Come, Been and Gone, which will be staged at Norwich Theatre Royal on May 10 and 11, uses music by his 1970s idols David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed - who he describes as 'the holy trinity of rock'.

'It's certainly different from Stravinsky in that it is set primarily to the music of Bowie,' he says. 'That is something I've been wanting to do for quite some time, partly because I'd wanted to use the video to Heroes.

'A piece sort of grew out of that. Also, after three years of doing Stravinsky, I'd sort of wanted do a favour to many of the people who came to that but weren't necessarily fans of Stravinsky, so it's sort of a reward. It's treat for myself too, to be honest.'

The 47-year-old choreographer admits that period of music had a huge formative effect on him when he was growing up in late-1970s Aberdeen.

'It's something I first stumbled on when I was, I suppose about 12, when I first saw Bowie on Top of the Pops,' he recalls. 'It opened my eyes to a different way of doing things. I was already dancing by then, in a very conventional way, and I saw that there was another way of dong things.

'I think in a way I thought that music was as challenging as Stravinsky was many years later. I didn't get it at first at all. I remember listening to Diamond Dogs many times before I understood it.

'But that first Top of the Pops and he put his arm around Mick Ronson - that was quite shocking to me. It was one of those moments, you know. I thought perhaps I'm not the only person out there. Physical contact between men was usually violence where I come from. It was something of an eye-opener.'

Michael began traditional Scottish dancing at the age of just four. In 1975 he left home to study at the Royal Ballet School in London, and on his final day at the school he was presented with the Ursula Moreton Choreographic Award.

In 1979 he joined Ballet Rambert, working primarily with Richard Alston, who created roles for him in Bell High, Landscape, Rainbow Ripples.

His first forays into choreography came in the early 1980s and he formed his own dance company in 1984 to some acclaim with works like Do You Me? I Did and New Puritans. However in the early 1990s his career was in crisis. Multiple injuries and his break-up with his boyfriend, US choreographer Stephen Petronio left him struggling with depression and heroin addiction.

Things came to a head in 1994 when he fled to the small Scottish town of Cairnbulg to live with his mother and effectively disappeared from the dance scene for four years.

After a battle to come off drugs, he re-emerged. The Michael Clark Company has since produced some of the UK's most exciting and cutting-edge choreography.

After Stravinsky, the impish dancer has been relishing choreographing pop music. 'It gives you a lot more freedom in a way,' he enthuses. 'You've also got the words to work with or against. We are currently working on Sweet Thing which is very descriptive, so you kind of want to go with it or sometimes against it. It is not so complicated, it sets a sound and rhythm, so it's more straightforward.'

He hopes the uses of popular music

will encourage more people to see it. 'This is the most accessible thing that I'll ever make. Having said that I love the music so I don't want to just do

anything to it. One could rely on the fact people know the songs, and that could make my job easier, but I want to do it justice.'

One tricky aspect has been how best to use the video of Bowie's Heroes. 'I wanted him to have a physical presence in the work,' he says. 'I knew it would be a challenge because if you amplify someone through projection and to have live dance with that, it is quite a challenge not to be eclipsed by the projection. The goal was to dance with him, rather than compete. That's the challenge I took on and I'm not sure whether I've achieved it.'

As far as he knows none of the musicians has so far seen the production, and he's not sure he wants them to. 'As far as I know, they haven't seen it,' he says. 'Iggy is in London soon, so he may do. But I'm quite happy that they haven't in a way. I've never gone out of my way to actually meet them. In the past I have made a point of working with people I admire a great deal. But part of me likes that distance, it maybe gives you an objectivity about it.'

He is looking forward to returning to the Norfolk and Norwich Festival, and will probably dance himself - 'I'll definitely do something'. He was enthused by his last visit in 2007. 'That was the culmination of the Stravinsky project, which was three different pieces to music by Stravinsky. That was really the beginning of a relationship with the festival. For me that was one of the best performances of the Le Noces, partly because of the space, the choir were much nearer to us, it was more intimate than the Barbican. So I'm very pleased to be involved again.'

t Michael Clark Company: Come, Been and Gone is at Norwich Theatre Royal on May 10 and 11. Tickets are �19-�6, under-25s �5. To book call 01603 766400, www.nnf10.org.uk