Could be a contender ... Carlos Acosta in Spartacus. Photograph: Tristram Kenton
There has been a lot of chatter recently on the Arts Journal dance blog about who might qualify for the role of ambassador for dance. The death of Pavarotti, and all the talk of what he and Nessun Dorma did to bring opera to the masses, has inspired much wishful thinking about what an equivalent mass-market celebrity might do for dance.
The main issue, of course, has been who that celebrity might be. Baryshnikov has come out as one favourite, with Judith Jamison (director of the Alvin Ailey company) another. Michael Jackson (surely a joke) has been a third, along with Rasta Thomas, famous in America - if not here - for his precocious classical virtuosity (he was a gold medallist at Varna aged 15) and for his new provocatively titled company Bad Boys of Dance (possibly a steal from our own Ballet Boyz).
Quite how a dance ambassador might rival the Pavarotti effect isn't clear. Dancing on a World Cup football pitch isn't an option, and neither is selling millions of CDs.
But even if we cannot hope for a celebrity to rival the big Luciano, there is no doubt that the profession would benefit from some of its stars becoming not only more visible, but more vocal too. I might be maligning the profession, but I don't recall any dance people leading the outcry against recent cuts in Arts Council funding.
There are reasons why dancers don't go around grabbing as much attention as other media and theatre people. Beyond the fact that dance still counts as a minority art form, most of its practitioners are so exhausted by the daily routine of class, rehearsal and performance that they don't have time for extracurricular activities. Most of them also leave the profession so young.
Even so, if we were to go looking for an ambassador for British dance, the list is dispiritingly short.
Darcey Bussell: She may not have been the most vocal of ballerinas, but while she was dancing she was the closest we had to a Pavarotti-style celebrity. Too bad she has now retired and plans to live in Australia.
Michael Nunn and William Trevitt: Very good at making a lot of noise and, with their regular presence on TV, becoming known to a relatively wide audience.
Carlos Acosta: He's Cuban but he spends the greater part of his time here. The publication of his memoirs has upped his profile, as has his recent spate of independent productions.
Is that all? Perhaps I am missing the obvious, but I think it is.
