Adam Cooper is and always will be one of the greatest dancers that the UK has ever had. His talent and his movements of body and performance are known worldwide. He has been interested in dance and has been an ongoing dancer in the market for so long .
His first steps in this industry can be traced back to his childhood. He grew up in the area of Tooting London in 1971. Since he was a little child he has shown a strong appreciation for the dance, training himself at the Jean Winller School of Dance in Tooting. After being educated on classical dance and ballet he surprisingly found himself to be liking other genres such as music, singing, but always remaining faithfully attached to his main inspiration,the dance. He ha also shown interest in working in different types of dance such as Contemporary and Character Dance. During his time in between dance academies and work to pay hi living, he appeared with London festival Ballet and Chataley Theatre Paris and make some appearances in some of the most important media and television shows such as the BBC programmes "Merry Wives of Windsor".
Obviously one of the his most important, amazingly and wonderful performances is his role as the Swan in the Swan Lake. This was the main reason that inspired me to be reading and to become an passionate fan of his work and of his life as a professional dancer. I can clearly remember the first time that I went to the Theatre and saw him in that role. I can clearly recall what I though to myself as soon as he stepped out in the stage “ What a beautiful and strange creature this one is”. As a matter of fact it was a creature, he was not human , it was like if he was coming from some unearthly dimension showing up his true colours of a beautiful swan.
I was amazed by his talent and the way he was able to completely own the stage without never loosing the sigh of it. I have been training myself in some theatre academies and I can honestly assume that he must have been rehearsed many exhausting hours to just come out and do that scene. But he did not seem to suffer dancing half-naked on the stage all day. I felt like if it was natural to him to just move his arms as wings and feet as springs. He is in my opinion one of the most talent British dancers and choreographers in our generation. His moves of body were technically perfect and gave some much pleasure to the observers to just sit down and enjoy his performance.
His first steps in this industry can be traced back to his childhood. He grew up in the area of Tooting London in 1971. Since he was a little child he has shown a strong appreciation for the dance, training himself at the Jean Winller School of Dance in Tooting. After being educated on classical dance and ballet he surprisingly found himself to be liking other genres such as music, singing, but always remaining faithfully attached to his main inspiration,the dance. He ha also shown interest in working in different types of dance such as Contemporary and Character Dance. During his time in between dance academies and work to pay hi living, he appeared with London festival Ballet and Chataley Theatre Paris and make some appearances in some of the most important media and television shows such as the BBC programmes "Merry Wives of Windsor".
Obviously one of the his most important, amazingly and wonderful performances is his role as the Swan in the Swan Lake. This was the main reason that inspired me to be reading and to become an passionate fan of his work and of his life as a professional dancer. I can clearly remember the first time that I went to the Theatre and saw him in that role. I can clearly recall what I though to myself as soon as he stepped out in the stage “ What a beautiful and strange creature this one is”. As a matter of fact it was a creature, he was not human , it was like if he was coming from some unearthly dimension showing up his true colours of a beautiful swan.I was amazed by his talent and the way he was able to completely own the stage without never loosing the sigh of it. I have been training myself in some theatre academies and I can honestly assume that he must have been rehearsed many exhausting hours to just come out and do that scene. But he did not seem to suffer dancing half-naked on the stage all day. I felt like if it was natural to him to just move his arms as wings and feet as springs. He is in my opinion one of the most talent British dancers and choreographers in our generation. His moves of body were technically perfect and gave some much pleasure to the observers to just sit down and enjoy his performance.
Having being trained in theatre and in acting for some time I knew exactly what was going on his mind when he had to get in and start performing . Even if to many people his movements and acting seem to come easily as if it is part of human nature, I can honestly assure anyone of the contrary. It is really hard and is process that need a certain level of concentration and silence in order for the performance to come and to "emotionate" the audience. He really needs to get down inside himself and at the same time being able to separate himself from the surroundings , focusing on himself and on his role. This articulate and deep process of recognition and understanding of one's true conscience and nature is an element that any performer has to deal with if he want to appear genuine in the eyes of the audience.
For a dancer, this process of absorbing information about one self and emotion and being able to use them as occasion and situations present themselves come out in the form of non verbal communication and body movements. A good dancer needs to be aware of his body and of his potential. Once a dancer is aware of the capabilities and limits that his body can reach he is then able to use it as beautiful machine to express his feelings and help the character to become real. In the language of dance every movements that you make with your body has a specific symbol and meaning. Even just by moving an inch higher your right arm can send a totally different message than it meant when it was 2 inch lower. Every moment that a dancer make has been planned and worked over times and times again in order to come out naturally . Adam has been able to achieve this perfection , his movements of legs and arms are perfectly connected with the idea that he wanted to portray while he was dancing . 
The help of the backstage lights and of the side lights can really make a difference in some cases. When he played the part of the Sawn, his body was totally flashed out with colourful and magical lights that rendered his dance and performances even more unique.For some reason dancing is like breathing , it is a feeling so pure that come right from the heart and it cannot be stopped. It is like an electric wave of heat that go throughout your body and all you can do is to follow it. As the actor who played Billy Elliot in the famous movie ,has stated during his audition scene “ Dance to me is like electricity “. That is what Adam Coop is to me, pure powerful energy .
FEDERICO SENTINELLI
Further information:
websites:
( Adam Cooper in Swan Lake performance)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIwzT-EGSws
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