1. How did you start your career and begin your own company?

Pete: I began by doing auditions and getting work as a dancer. At the same time I was applying for small open-submission commissions. I started two companies before starting New Art Club with Tom.

Tom: I began by trying to meet and work with as many people as I could. I accepted support from any source and I attended as many performances as possible. I was then commissioned by Karen Gallagher at Cheshire Dance (now Director of Merseyside Dance Initiative) to make a short piece of work and from there I formed Air Dance Company.2. Did you have any contacts in the dance industry before you started the company?

Pete: Not before I started my first company but gradually this develops. These contacts are often very useful and the best way to make contacts is to go out there, make work and do workshops and classes. 

Tom: Yes. I consider all the people I come across in the industry as my contacts, event from the first dance class I ever went to; some of those people are now running big dance organisations.
3. How do you go about marketing and promoting your company? 

Website/myspace/twitter/publicity materials/press interviews and anything else that helps expose our work to the largest audience.4. When and how did you meet?

Pete: We originally met on the street in Edinburgh through a mutual acquaintance. I was at the Festival to see work and Tom was performing with Gregory Nash Group. We didn't actually speak to each other at the time. Then someone recommended me to Tom as a possible performer for his then company Air Dance Company and Tom invited me to come and do a project. I didn't audition as such but we just met and had a conversation and found that we got on.

Tom says: Pete was and still is the best person I've ever worked with. He is analytical, creative, funny and a bit of a pain in the arse.5. Do you belong to any trade unions or professional associations? If so, what does that involve?

Not any more but Pete used to be a NUPE shop steward when he worked in the NHS.6. How do you manage your time and plan your schedule?

With difficulty and a management team organising things for us. Basically anything we do goes into a master schedule and then we both know what each other is doing.7. Do you receive any funding from the Arts Council?

Yes. We received a 3 year development grant from Arts Council England East from 2007 - 2010. We have also received money from a scheme called Escalator East to Edinburgh, which is funded through the Arts Council's Grants for the Arts. This has supported our escapades to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival over the past couple of years.8. Do you receive funding from other sources?

Our other sources of income come from gigs, commissions from arts organisations and education/community projects.9. What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a freelance dancer?

The advantages are that you are not tied into anything for too long and you get to meet lots of interesting people and have fun dancing. It gives you total freedom.

The disadvantages are innumerable and include the following: no pension; low wages; no guarantee of getting work; always chasing the next job; and no time to plan for the long term. Basically no stability at all!10. What inspires you?

Pete: Firstly, Tom is a constant source of inspiration. Watching other people's work I often have ideas. Facing problems in the creative process often brings solutions that turn out to be really good ideas in themselves. Reading, thinking about stuff, sitting around looking out of the window, going for a walk, talking to other people, watching people dance, things in rooms, listening to the radio. In no particular order, and by no means complete as a list, the other artists that have inspired me include: Guy Dartnell, Jonathan Burrows, Lea Anderson, DV8, Phil Kay, John Hegley, John Martin, Cornelia Parker, The Chapman Brothers, Paula Rego, Don Patterson, Graeme Miller, Gabi Reuter, Forced Entertainment, Improbable Theatre, Merce Cunningham & John Cage, Trisha Brown, Steve Paxton, Yolande Snaith, Xavier Leroy, Stravinsky, Ornette Coleman, Reeves and Mortimer.

Tom: I'd agree with most of that, the artists that inspire me most are the dancers and choreographers I've worked with.11. What do you want to be when you grow up?

Pete: It may seem weird but I really am a grown up!

Tom: Exactly what I am now.12. Do you offer placements with the company?

Unfortunately we can't offer placements with the company as we don't have a central base or a regular programme of activities. One of the great things about the company is that we can respond to promoters and partners needs as and when opportunities come up.13. How can I join New Art Club?

For the most part it is just the two of us, although on occasion we do invite other performers to take part in specific projects. We run lots of education work and masterclasses, so the best way to join us is in one of those. This is where you will get the opportunity to find out how we work and create material. In The Visible People we work with a large group of local participants who then perform alongside us in the show.

You can also join us virtually by signing up to our mailing list, joining our Facebook Fan Page and following us on Twitter. We are also looking at the possibility of a Web project, which would allow people to get involved in dancing with New Art Club online.14. Do you do other work outside New Art Club?

We both do a number of freelance projects separately.

Pete: I am a part time lecturer at De Montfort University and an associate artist for the Centre of Advanced Training (CAT) in Nottingham.

Tom: I do a lot of choreography for theatre and opera. We often bring these experiences back into our process so we can both learn from them.15. What was the first piece of live work you ever went to see?

Pete: Oliver at the Leicester Haymarket when I was about 5.

Tom: The first memorable performance I experienced was Motorhead in Wrexham, I was 10.16. What was the first professional experience you had in the arts sector?

Pete: I used to be in a punk band and we used to put on nights with other bands in local pubs and community centres. We didn't make any money but we did charge people to come in so it was kind of professional.

Tom: I was artist in residence in a school in Cheshire, to this day it was the most challenging job I've ever had.17. What do you love about making work?

Having ideas and the feeling that you've made them add up to something.18. How do you feel when an audience is watching your work?

It depends on whether they look like they're enjoying it or not. You can get yourself into a lot of trouble as performer if you concern yourself with this too much. I think ideally you should be getting on with the job of performing. However, it's hard.19. What is your favourite kind of tea?

Pete: Peppermint and Liquorice

Tom: Where I come from there is only one kind of tea.20. What is the best thing about being part of a duo?

Pete: Being the handsome one, being the funny one, being the intelligent one and having someone to hold your coat.

Tom: When it goes well we have someone to share the experience, when it goes badly we share the responsibility.21. What are you most proud of?

After 11 years of making work together we still dance to our own tune (not literally - in This Is Now, we actually dance to tunes by Heaven 17 and Men Without Hats, amongst others), we are naturally averse to following he flock (unless it's The Flock of Seagulls).22. Describe your first gig. Where? When? How did it go?

Our first gig together was in 1998 in Anglesey in front of a bunch of teenagers. We kicked their heads clean off with the punch of our punch lines and wounded them inexorably with the awesome power and beauty of our dance moves. It's been a steady rise since then.23. Without comedy you would be?

A lot less funny.24. Who is your comedy hero and why?

Tom says Bill Hicks and Pete says Daniel Kitson. Because they both manage to be funny and deal with ideas. New Art Club do the same with the added bonus of some dancing.