In conversation with EKLEIDO

“With the use of electronic music for our work and with these blend of [dance] styles our aim is to bring something current and new to the dance sector.”

 - Hannah Ekholm and Faye Stoeser

EKLEIDO. Photo by Jack Thomson.

EKLEIDO, a choreographic duo formed by Hannah Ekholm and Faye Stoeser, choreograph performances for live shows and film. They have both individually had extensive dance careers within the contemporary dance world, commercial industry and underground club/street dance scenes, often crossing paths with each other on projects including Rambert, Years & Years and within The Ballroom (Vogue) Scene.

Their work takes influences from both Faye and Hannah’s vocabularies combining contemporary dance and underground club/battle styles including New Way Voguing,  bone-breaking and threading. They are interested in multidisciplinary collaborations, currently working with musicians at the forefront of the electronic music scene.

How did EKLEIDO come together, and what inspired its formation?

In 2018 we created our first piece together, heavily influenced by New Way Vogue and in collaboration with a percussionist. After that, our focus went separate ways for a few years working as dancers for different companies, but often crossing paths in the Ballroom Scene or on commercial jobs.

In the beginning of 2023 Stanley Arts London got in contact with us asking if we had a piece to share at the COMMONS Festival. Serendipitously we were both available and aspiring to create more of our own work and even though we didn’t have a new work to share, we jumped on the opportunity and created our first piece SPLICE in three days.

Working in the studio together was the easiest collaboration ever in the sense of us having similar movement backgrounds so we could understand each other perfectly.

After the premiere of SPLICE we had a lot of great feedback, saying that our work felt cutting edge and impressive, we even booked three more shows. This gave us the confidence to keep going with the piece and as a choreographic duo, and after a year of performing the piece we decided to officially create EKLEIDO as a company.

What inspired you to create EKLEIDO?

We both have a similar set of specialised dance backgrounds in both contemporary dance and New Way Voguing, alongside various other dance styles which has led us to finding a unique movement vocabulary and developing choreographic tools which combine our experiences of both the contemporary dance world and underground dance scene. With the use of electronic music for our work and with these blend of styles our aim is to bring something current and new to the dance sector.

We had both started pursuing choreography careers individually before we created EKLEIDO but found working in a collaborative way together produced even more creative possibilities in the studio, as well as helping greatly to balance the workload of the business side of making a show including producing, marketing and all the other administration that comes with running a company.

We are proud to be two women directing the company and place value in having more women in leadership roles in the industry.

If you had to describe EKLEIDO using only three words to someone who's never heard of it, what would they be?

Collaboration, Underground and Innovation.

EKLEIDO. Photo by Sophie Giddens.

How have the artistic experiences you've encountered throughout your life shaped the performing arts you bring to life?

Both of us have performed and worked in multiple spaces, companies and venues. We have worked in contemporary companies performing in more traditional theatre spaces, we are also both part of the Ballroom Scene and are used to battling in underground club spaces as well as bigger concert venues like the O2. Commercial work has been another area in which we have both been involved in, performing or movement assisting for adverts, music videos and films. This has definitely influenced how we create our pieces, as we do not only imagine dance being performed in traditional theatre venues, but also at music festivals, galleries and clubs. We both have a love for music, with Faye’s Dad and Hannah’s partner being musicians. Musicality is therefore something we place huge value in and working with electronic music allows our work to fit into multiple venues.

We both have backgrounds in different dance worlds, Faye in commercial and street dance styles whereas Hannah was trained in classical ballet, bringing these different experiences together creates a new interesting style that we are keen to keep exploring.

Tell us a bit about your upcoming performance at Breakin’ Convention 2024 at Sadler’s Wells Theatre.

SPLICE is EKLEIDO’s inaugural piece choreographed and performed by Hannah and Faye and explores connection and architecture between two bodies as they configure themselves between restriction and possibility, solving a physical puzzle with an original score by world-renowned Electronic musician Floating Points.

Having already toured SPLICE to multiple venues, Breakin’ Convention at Sadler’s Wells is our largest scale venue so far and we are honoured to share our work at this prestigious festival. We are thrilled that we have just been awarded Arts Council England funding after our first time applying which has enabled us to upscale our production including costume design by George H Wale, lighting design by Joshie Harriette, and rehearsal directing by Oliver Chapman.

What's your creative process like when preparing for a show?

With our piece SPLICE the music was the starting point, and was really about discovering our movement language and choreographic tools. A lot of the process was finding and developing what those tools were through improvisation, creating rules, and establishing tasks.

Our new creation that will happen over summer is funded by Arts Council England and is allowing us to have more time for preparation and research, involving us talking to an expert in the field of the theme we are exploring as well as finding an emotional arc with our dramaturg.

What's the biggest challenge you face in your line of work?

One of the biggest challenges is honestly funding. Being able to have studio space and to pay ourselves, dancers and collaborators properly. We are therefore so grateful that Arts Council England believed in this project and is supporting our next step.

Another challenge is finding time, whilst still working as dancers it is tricky to find times when both of us are available. However being a duo is helpful as we are able to share the administrative work which allows us to still get applications and other important information sent off in time. We have found it challenging learning to be all the new roles included in running a company such as being the producers, marketing team, lighting designers, costume designers etc.

Can you share your top three favourite performances, and what makes them special to you?

We recently performed SPLICE at Lilian Baylis Theatre at an event called ‘Reune x Sadlers Wells’ co-produced by Emma Farnell Watson and Joshua Smit. This event felt particularly special as the whole evening was predominantly curated by artists from our generation from the producers, to the lighting designer, to the performers and it felt super empowering to be surrounded by artists of our generation really ‘going and doing it’. We also performed SPLICE at Resolution Festival at The Place last year which really set the tone for the work to come and the beginning of our journey of EKLEIDO so holds a special place in our hearts. Our other favourite performance will most certainly be Breakin’ Convention this weekend. We are super excited to present our work at one of the most prestigious theatres for dance internationally.

EKLEIDO. Photo by Stephanie McMahon.

Looking back on your career so far, what achievements are you most proud of?

We are both so proud of ourselves for doing what we set out to do a year ago. Talking to each other about how we wanted to create our own work, and now a year later we have a tour of our first piece SPLICE as well as a new creation happening over summer. And to top that off we were successful in our Arts Council England bid as well as building partnerships with dance houses around the UK which enables us to upscale our productions and continue as choreographers.

Within our individual careers, Faye’s performing career highlight was touring with Rambert Dance Company performing works by Ohad Naharin, Benoit Swan Pouffer and more. Within the Ballroom Scene Faye is proud of representing the Iconic House of Revlon for the last 7 years and helping the New Way Voguing scene develop through mentoring the new generation. Hannah is really proud of having been part of Didy Veldmans’ CARMEN alongside Natalia Osipova and Isaac Hernández and having the opportunity to perform at Athens' most majestic stage Odeon of Herodes Atticus. Hannah is also super proud to be part of the House of Elle (previously House of Milan) and continuing the legacy of this incredible culture.

What's next for EKLEIDO?

After the performance at Breakin' Convention this Saturday, we have an exciting tour ahead over summer for EKLEIDO. We are going to Ministry of Sound, Glastonbury Festival, Latitude Festival and Exeter Northcott as part of a mixed bill by Richard Chappell Dance.

We will also be creating a new work over summer that will be performed in autumn as well as in 2025.

The [Quick] #FLODown:

Best life advice?

Go for what you want, DO IT!

 Last song you listened to?

Floating points SPLICE (Just came out of rehearsals LOL).

Last book you read?

Madeline Miller - Circe

Can't live without…?

Coffee, music.

 What should the art world be more of and less of?

More collaborations, more funding and less underpaid work in the dance industry.

Website: hannahekholm.com, fayestoeser.co.uk

Instagram: @ekleido, @fayestoeser, @hannahekholm

The duo will be preforming at Breakin’ Convention 2024 at Sadler’s Wells from 4-5 May 2024.