My name's David Cottle, I live in London and I've been dancing for about 8 years now. I began when I saw one of my teachers from my primary school showing some guys a few bboy moves and asked straight away where I can learn to do things like that!
David started with breakdancing at the age of 12, training at idance in Watford, UK. There was a hip hop class before the bboy session each week and after a couple years he started taking that as well as bboying.
In what way do you create your choreography?
When it comes to choreography I tend to listen to the track many times first so I can let my body digest it and figure out how I want to approach it. After freestyling to the track a little I then start to formulate ideas that keep coming up and from there I just dive into the track, it's meaning, it's production, timbre, and then start to choreograph. All pieces I choreography have a purpose and a reason for me creating them, whether that reason is because the song helps me express things I otherwise wouldn't be able to express, or whether I want to challenge myself with for example exploring different approaches to musicality or dynamics in my choreography.
You teach at the 68 dance studio, one of the top dance studios in the world. How did you feel when you gave your first class there, and how do you feel now?
My first class at Studio 68 was definitely an experience I'll remember, everyone was so supportive and it was the first time I really felt confident in my own creativity because of how well-received the class was. The studio itself is an amazing place but from travelling a little to other countries and seeing the energy other studios have I've definitely come to see that London needs to be more loving and supportive. The energy is often great here but I feel people who attend the studio need to always just be open to anything and anyone, supporting and showing love wherever possible.
Who or what inspires you to dance?
I'm inspired by the people I dance with, my close friends, and those who show their love for dance. I recently spent 10 days in Warsaw, Poland at 'I'M IN Training Camp' organised by Maniek Kotarski and Sandy Rzezniczak and what inspired me most during the trip wasn't just the classes themselves or the choreography but the people and the energy they gave. When we're surrounded by such genuine support for one another I feel we find our truest selves and our most natural movement through the love that we all share in dance.
Are you a Londoner or would you prefer to live somewhere else?
London is home for me and I feel there's a lot of amazing opportunities for dancers here so for now I definitely don't want to live anywhere else just because I really want to explore what's here first. But I travelled to LA for the first time last year and loved every moment. I'll also be heading back there next month to train some more, so I could even end up there in a few years time!
What is the most important thing to you in dance?
The most important thing(s) for me in dance is love - love for what we do and love for everyone who shares our passion for this art. I wouldn't dance if I didn't truly love it. Dance helps me express whatever I need to express, whether it be happiness, anger, sadness, despair, joy, or anything else you could possibly feel or experience. For giving me this emotional outlet I will always love dance because it's helped me through things that I don't know how else I would've overcome.
Some motivational words for dancers...
Nowadays I feel dancers tend to focus way too much on killing class, competing with each another and several other self-centered motives. This isn't what our art is about at all, we all dance because it's FUN. I feel it's important we remind ourselves why we started doing this in the first place - it was for the love of it, not for the videos, not for the recognition but for the pure enjoyment we felt when we first started moving to music.
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