Jennifer Irons is an internationally renowned dancer and choreographer. Her new show Bad Immigrant\u00a0is an absurdist roller disco theatre\/dance that explores immigration, belonging, colonialism and identity. Ahead of the show touring to The Lens Studio in Portsmouth, Jacksons Lane in London and Sheffield University Drama Studio, we spoke to Irons about her inspiration for the show and what audiences can expect.<\/p>\n
What is\u00a0Bad Immigrant\u00a0about and where did the idea come from?<\/p>\n
Bad Immigrant is a roller disco about immigration. It\u2019s my attempt to become a championship roller skater as a way of proving I\u2019m \u2018good enough\u2019 to belong. It\u2019s part story, part dance, part sweaty comedy and all about the contradictions of identity. What does it mean to be \u2018good\u2019? Who chooses? And why do some have to do more to prove their \u2018worth\u2019 than others? Add some glitter and techno and we\u2019re there.<\/p>\n
The idea really began with anger. After Brexit, a neighbour told me, \u201cIf you don\u2019t like it, you can just go home.\u201d As a white, English-speaking Canadian, I\u2019ve got privilege and a platform that others don\u2019t, but the sting was still there. For three seconds I considered politics (then I remembered Billy Connolly\u2019s line that anyone who wants to be a politician should automatically be disqualified). So instead, I turned to what I know best: dance, humour, and movement. I figured if the immigration systems of the world are absurd, I can explore that in the most absurd way.<\/p>\n
I also grew up in northern Canada, in Indigenous territory, where I was considered a settler. Here in Britain, I\u2019m considered an immigrant. I\u2019m both insider and outsider, and that contradiction sits at the heart of the show. Roller skating became my way to explore it, because while borders shut us out, wheels offer freedom.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve recently performed the show at Edinburgh Fringe. How has the audience reception been so far?<\/p>\n
Fringe is like having a sister for a best friend\u2013 glorious, brutal, honesty. If people don\u2019t like your show, they just leave. So I wasn\u2019t sure how Bad Immigrant would land. But the response has been both humbling and electrifying. People laugh, they cry, they stay behind to talk. We\u2019ve even been running post-show surveys, and over 70% of audiences say they left thinking differently about immigration. That feels huge.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s been surprising is how broad the connection has been. It\u2019s not just immigrants who relate; it\u2019s anyone who has ever been \u201cothered,\u201d whether for class, sexuality, gender, or just being the odd kid in school. The show touches that nerve of belonging, and audiences have responded with both humour and heartbreak.<\/p>\n
At times the feedback has been hilarious people saying they loved watching me fall on my arse repeatedly and other times deeply moving, with audience members telling me they finally felt their own story reflected back. And selfishly? Performing it daily in Edinburgh made the show sharper and braver. And more absurd.<\/p>\n
Throughout your varied work, you\u2019re almost always dancing. How are you using dance in\u00a0Bad Immigrant\u00a0to tell the story?<\/p>\n
Dance was my first language. Skating is the perfect metaphor for migration, where borders restrict movement, wheels are freedom. I grew up watching figure skating (I am Canadian), and I always wanted to be able to glide, swoop like that, where your hair moves in the wind. Like I\u2019m in some kind of glamour shoot with a massive fan, only the fan is in my head.<\/p>\n
Roller dance is also a community that doesn\u2019t care where you\u2019re from. No one asks your immigration status; they just want to know if you can do the Crazy Legs. That open, joyful spirit runs through the show.<\/p>\n
The show documents the quest to become a champion roller dancer from zero experience. There\u2019s an excellent amount of falling over, inspiration from 80\u2019s techno pop, various skate styles and the movement of being an immigrant.<\/p>\n
Skating has given me a whole new world of movement later in life, a surprise gift. The joy of going fast, of moving with others, of finding freedom in your body, that\u2019s what I want audiences to feel too.<\/p>\n
Bad Immigrant\u00a0sounds like a really unique production. Who are some of your creative or theatrical influences?<\/p>\n
I\u2019m a magpie! Pina Bausch taught me that dance-theatre can be messy and raw and still pierce straight to the heart. Comedians like Hannah Gadsby and Jon Stewart showed me how humour can disarm before landing a gut-punch of truth. I love New Art Club\u2019s standup comedy\/dance mix and convinced Tom Roden, one half of that due to direct the show.<\/p>\n
But I\u2019m just as shaped by trashy pop culture. MTV, roller discos, the Superbowl in the 80\u2019s (when it was all marching bands and before Kendrick won it). That\u2019s the stew I grew up in, and it sneaks into everything I make. I love blending high art and low culture until you can\u2019t tell which is which.<\/p>\n
So Bad Immigrant is this mixed bag of influences: serious thinkers, scrappy mistakes, trashy pop, big dance-theatre, and everyday joy.<\/p>\n
What has been the highlight of your varied career so far and what do you still hope to achieve?<\/p>\n
The real highlight has been Skate4Mates; a project that shares the love and joy of roller skating with people seeking sanctuary here in the UK. It started as part of the development of the show \u2013 the current talk around immigration has been so awful and I wanted to see if we could do something that was full of joy. I had no idea if it would work, and it\u2019s blown me away. We have 60 people waiting to take part. Everyone so far has continued to skate. Watching people who\u2019ve survived so much find community and pure joy on skates? That\u2019s unforgettable.<\/p>\n
As for what to do still\u2026 I haven\u2019t choreographed the Super Bowl halftime show yet. If you could let them know I\u2019m available, would be great.<\/p>\n
What advice would you give to aspiring performers or creatives who want a similarly varied career?<\/p>\n
I love Sister Corita Kent and John Cage\u2019s 10 Rules. Especially:<\/p>\n
Rule 8 \u2013 Don\u2019t try to create and analyse at the same time, they\u2019re 2 different processes and<\/p>\n
Rule 4 \u2013 Treat everything like an experiment.<\/p>\n
Also: Find your people. The ones who cheer you on, lend you skates, or drag you back up when you fall over. Nobody makes great work alone.<\/p>\n
And finally, every brilliant performance\/film\/show\/book you\u2019ve ever seen is built on a mountain of failures.\u00a0Instagram doesn\u2019t show you the missed funding bids, the terrible drafts, the rehearsals that fell flat. But they\u2019re there. So keep going. Keep falling.<\/p>\n
What do you hope audiences will take away from the show with them?<\/p>\n
Joy, laughter, empathy, and maybe the irresistible urge to buy a pair of skates. We\u2019re touring to Cities of Sanctuary around the UK and hope that the show sparks a different kind of conversation about immigration.<\/p>\n
I want people to walk out feeling less alone, whether they\u2019ve been called an immigrant, or just felt like they didn\u2019t belong somewhere. I want them to laugh at the ridiculous parts, think about the uncomfortable truths, and feel provoked enough to question the language and assumptions we use around belonging.<\/p>\n
And I want them to feel the humanity in it. Because immigration isn\u2019t a \u201cproblem\u201d, it\u2019s part of human history. It brings richness, contradictions, and joy. If people leave Bad Immigrant with both a giggle and a lump in their throat and maybe humming a trashy pop song I just skated to \u2013 that\u2019s a good start.<\/p>\n
And if they do go buy skates afterwards? Call me. I\u2019ll meet you on the seafront.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jennifer Irons is an internationally renowned dancer and choreographer. Her new show Bad Immigrant\u00a0is an absurdist roller disco…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":445912,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8817],"tags":[150408,748,393,4884,150409,150410,257,35554,1620,48951,150411,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-445911","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sheffield","8":"tag-bad-immigrant","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-jacksons-lane","13":"tag-jennifer-irons","14":"tag-london","15":"tag-portsmouth","16":"tag-sheffield","17":"tag-sheffield-university-drama-studio","18":"tag-the-lens-studio","19":"tag-uk","20":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115253859068064406","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=445911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445911\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/445912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=445911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=445911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=445911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}