Q&A With Dancers of The Rite of Spring
“When someone asked why we were chosen, one of the restagers said it was because of a uniqueness within each of us.”
In between tours, the dancers of The Rite of Spring, which comes to Cal Performances on February 16–18, return to their home countries across Africa. We caught up with two of the dancers, Profit Lucky and Gloria Ugwarelojo Biachi, both from Nigeria, and discussed their careers as dancers and what it’s like being part of The Rite of Spring.
How did you start dancing and where do you dance today?
Profit Lucky: Dance has been my greatest means of communication, joy, and freedom, and has been a part of me right from birth. I started dancing professionally when I saw a post that said I could learn dance for a cheap cost, and I quickly grabbed the offer. Later on I moved to Ghana to further my university studies. Luckily, I met Valerie Miquel, who I consider my “dance mum,” and I worked, trained, and danced with her in a company for years before she moved to France. Currently, I’m not dancing with any dance company.
Gloria Biachi: At first I attended auditions across Nigeria, which boosted my energy and confidence, and kept me going. I discovered a dance school called the Dance Deal Foundation, where I did a three-year course, which helped me master the art of choreography. Now I’m a freelancer in Nigeria, working with dance directors across the country and internationally, and I facilitate dance workshops and awareness programs. This is a project that I think girls like me need and deserve, to share my experience and give back to the community that nurtured me.
How did you get involved in this project?
Profit Lucky: I got involved through Valarie Miquel and some dance friends I made in École des Sables in an exchange dance program in 2019. They all sent me the dance audition post for The Rite of Spring and they asked me to give it a try. I sent my application, travelled to Senegal, and did my auditions. Luckily (just like my surname!) I was selected.
Gloria Biachi: A friend who I met in a dance workshop sent me the application, saying “Gloria, I know you can do this. Go for it!” After being selected for the auditions, leaving Lagos to go to Senegal was a challenge. I checked in on the Goethe-Institut in Nigeria, and they sponsored me with the costs. The auditions lasted for four days, with hundreds of African dancers. In the end, 38 were selected, and I was among them, not because I was perfect, or had the best dance movement—when someone asked why we were chosen, one of the restagers said it was because of a uniqueness within each of us.
How does it feel to dance in Pina Bausch’s The Rite of Spring?
Profit Lucky: My experience has been amazing, magical, intense, filled with lots of learning and growth, and humbling. I got to know about Pina Bausch through my Ghanian friend, so it feels like a dream has come true. It feels very humbling to finally dance The Rite of Spring after so many years of watching videos.
Gloria Biachi: My experience has been a work of patience and trusting in the process. When the pandemic broke out, it was disappointing because we had done so much rehearsal to get ready for the tour. Now we’ve had performances around Europe; I take any opportunity to perform the work. It takes a lot of tolerance and patience to be able to dance this piece, and it takes a lot of ‘YOU.” This project is a legacy, a way of showing my versatility, and that I’ve come a long way. It speaks volumes on where I’ve come from and how much I can achieve.
What do you look forward to most about touring?
Profit Lucky: I am always looking forward to the physical challenges of the piece and how best it can help me progress and develop as an artist. I’m very much more open to different lifestyles, traditions, cultures, perceptions, communications, languages, foods, and histories of the different theaters, venues, cities, and countries we visit.
Gloria Biachi: I look forward to the wonderful audiences, the instant feedback we get from them, and connecting to many professionals around the world who ordinarily wouldn’t see my work. These are career-defining moments for a young girl from Nigeria, and it does great things for me and resonates with the young dancers I mentor. This tour keeps inspiring me every moment and every minute. I can’t wait to be back on stage!
Profit Lucky is a Nigerian dancer who began his dance training in Nigeria, before moving to Ghana to train with Ghana Theatre & Contemporary Dance under the artistic direction of Valerie Miquel, where he was a soloist in two productions for the company. Profit was awarded a full scholarship to Eric Scott Underwood’s Online Summer Intensive Program and the Alonzo King Lines Ballet online summer program. Outside of Dance, Profit also worked as a model dance-model in Nigeria and Ghana, and completed an exchange dance program with École des Sables and Amsterdam University of the Arts.
Gloria Ugwarelojo Biachi, who hails from Delta state of Nigeria, is a Lagos-based dance artist, teacher, choreographer, fitness instructor, actor, and costume designer. Her training includes several national and international residencies/workshops with choreographers and companies from around the world. She completed the AWA Dance mentorship program as part of the class of 2021. Her body of works include stints in theater, television, and motion pictures, and working with children of all ages. In 2021, at the Institute Francaise in Burkina Faso, her solo ILE made its performance debut at the Fido International Festival of Dance. Her latest acting credit is recorded in the Netflix original, Mystic River. Gloria just concluded an Artistic Development Residency at Dance Base Studio in Edinburgh in 2023.
