Interview with Lukas McFarlane

In between judging rounds of the Move It & Capezio Championships on the third day of Move It Dance 2017, Lukas spoke briefly with me about the power of dance and why it is important to him.

Why do you love dancing?

Why do I love dancing? For me, I don't know how to do anything else! It's also how I speak, it's how I represent myself emotionally, and it's been an outlet for me to deal with a lot of emotions through life as well. So it's what I live and breathe basically.

Obviously you think dance has a certain power — what power do you think it has?

I think dancing is just another medium to speak. I think as artists we're really lucky that we have this physical way of depicting emotion and stories in a way that people can relate to that's different than just plain speaking.

And why do you come to Move It Dance?

I think…there's nothing like it in the UK, it just brings together all forms and different versions of dance, as well as different outlets, and it really is a support system for the community in a way that nothing else really has achieved yet. It's just a great way for the dance community to come together and support each other.

What do you think of the people you've seen so far?

I'm excited! I love it; the Move It Championship is really cool and I'm so happy Capezio has brought this to this event, I think it's something that this needed and I think it's a great outlet for people to compete for something as well.

Why do you think the arts in general are important, particularly for young people?

I think — like I said, I keep saying this! — it's an outlet, and especially for young people we have a lot of taboo issues we don't like talking about and stuff like that and I think it's a great way for people to express what they feel and feel included and feel special in their own way, because everyone is unique and everyone's important in their own way.

A massive thank you to Lukas for taking the time out of his busy day to do this interview!