How Rambert's Peaky Blinders show is bringing a new audience to dance

The product of a collaboration between Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight and Rambert artistic director Benoit Swan Pouffer, Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby is turning a whole new generation on to dance, writes Kelly Apter

Ambitious, forward-thinking, able to see the bigger picture and unafraid of facing difficult decisions. Just a few of the characteristics that make up Thomas Shelby, lead character in the hit television series, Peaky Blinders. But they could also be applied to Benoit Swan Pouffer, artistic director of Rambert.

Since taking over Britain’s oldest dance company in 2018, with a promise to “renovate” and bring in new and diverse audiences, Pouffer has more than proved his mettle. Having navigated a pandemic, a huge challenge for all in the performing arts, he has made good on his promise and enticed an entirely new crop of viewers through theatre doors across the UK.

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As all dance companies know, a well-known title goes a long way towards putting bums on seats. Usually, however, that means Swan Lake or The Nutcracker, at a stretch an adaptation of a beloved play or novel. The idea of a contemporary dance company adapting a long-running, highly successful television crime drama is unheard of – and a stroke of pure genius.

Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby PIC: Johan PerssonPeaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby PIC: Johan Persson
Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby PIC: Johan Persson

“It’s the first time we’ve embarked on this kind of journey,” says Paris-born Pouffer, “and it’s the best thing we could have done. My mission for Rambert is to really democratise dance and make sure it’s not scary for people. With Peaky Blinders, I’ve seen audience members who have never been to the theatre before, people who have never seen dance – and that was part of the goal.” Taking care of a large company of dancers hungry for new challenges, and satisfying loyal dance-lovers was also important, however.

For the past 97 years, Rambert has created largely abstract works, full of emotion but rarely with a narrative thread. “To build this work was really stretching the dancers’ boundaries,” confirms Benoit. “But I think that’s my job as an artistic director, to make sure they have things to sink their teeth into, to learn, to investigate and to have fun as well, that’s important.”

If audience reaction is anything to go by, Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby is hitting the spot with pretty much everyone. Aided by an acting coach, dramaturg and fight director amongst others, Pouffer helped his dancers immerse themselves in the roles of Thomas, Grace, Polly and other key characters. As with the programme itself, however, it all began with creator Steven Knight.

“I created a ten-minute dance piece for a Peaky festival in Birmingham,” explains Pouffer. “And from there, Steven invited dancers from the company to appear in an episode in series five. So the relationship was building stronger and it was evident that with this kind of collaboration, we could do more.

“I asked him to write a script for me, because it was essential to have a blueprint from the maker, then I added my ideas on how we could convey this on the stage. Once I was working in the studio, Steven would come in every now and then to touch base and see how it was progressing, so it was a truly organic collaboration between him and I.”

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For his part, Knight included a smattering of dialogue (pre-recorded by poet Benjamin Zephaniah) but essentially trusted that movement, music and the dancers’ passionate intent, would do the talking.

“I hadn’t realised quite how direct the relationship between dance and the audience is,” says Knight. “I work with dialogue and plot within scenes where people act the roles, whereas in dance it feels more subtle in the execution but more direct in the effect. An interaction between two people can be very stylised but you get to see that very quickly. The thing about dance, is that we’re all experts because we live our lives in a dance. For example, if someone walks into a room, you can tell if they’re in a good or bad mood because of their body language. Dance takes that and puts it to music.”

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As all Peaky fans know, carefully curated music plays a large part in generating atmosphere – and the stage show is no exception. Performed by a live band that joins the dancers on stage, Rambert’s production features tracks by Radiohead, Nick Cave and Anna Calvi to name but a few. For Knight, it’s all part of the TV programme’s mass appeal, and he’s delighted to see this cross-over into the arena of dance.

“I’m proud that Peaky Blinders isn't highbrow or of a particular class – it's a cross section of people from different backgrounds, and so it appeals to different people too,” he says. “People who may not have walked through a door marked 'dance' might walk through a door marked 'Peaky Blinders', so you can connect with new audiences by welcoming them through that setting.”

But what about those for whom Peaky Blinders is nothing more than a photo of flat caps that flashes past as they’re searching for something else on iPlayer or Netflix? Will Rambert’s show make any sense? “Actually, you don’t have to be a Peaky fan to come and see the show,” assures Pouffer. “It’s a love story, it’s about the redemption of a man who’s going through a journey, who’s facing his demons, and it’s about loss. Those are basic feelings that are universal and everybody can relate to.”

Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby, Edinburgh Festival Theatre, 28 February-4 March.