His early days

Ivan Michael Blackstock was born in Peckham, South London and cites his upbringing in the capital as a major influence for his work. Always expressive and forever moving, Ivan gravitated towards dance from a young age, first falling in love with the form as a child – citing Bobby Brown and Michael Jackson as his earliest influences. 

A move across the city in his teenage years and difficulties in this new environment brought his passion for dance into question, feeling that his mode of expression was not as respected. 'They were like: we spit; we rap. But I was always moving and expressing my ideas through my body'. [1]

Now recognised as a star in the world of dance, 'Rising British choreographer' Ivan Blackstock has been described as ‘one to watch’ by The Guardian, having worked with some of the biggest names in music and culture. 

Deeply inspired by spirituality and his dance community, Ivan explores profound themes of life, death and rebirth in Traplord which he describes as an 'odyssey towards selfhood'. [2]

Starting out as a touring dancer

Dance is a family business for Ivan, crediting his cousin’s career as a touring dancer as the inspiration to follow the same journey. As a teenager, he joined noted dance companies such as Boy Blue and Flawless before creating Bird Gang Dance Company in the mid-2000s serving as the group's Artistic Director until 2015. [3]

During this time Ivan became a touring artist himself, supporting acts such as Kylie Minogue and Dizzee Rascal around the world. During a tour with the Pet Shop Boys across Asia, Ivan discovered Butoh – a form of Japanese dance theatre – which he attributes to greatly influencing his own approach to choreography. [4]

Establishing himself as a choreographer - and catching Beyoncé’s attention

As a choreographer Ivan has presented work in major cultural venues across the country such as Sadler’s Wells and 180 The Strand. One of his earliest individual credits was on Young Vic’s A Harlem Dream (2014), receiving praise for the show’s combination of hip-hop and Jazz choreography. 

With a varied career in choreography, Ivan’s most notable work came on Beyoncé’s Black Is King (2020) and Brown Skin Girl (2020), which received a Grammy award for Best Music Video. He is also a regular collaborator with fellow South Londoner Jenn Nkiru, providing choreography for her short film Rebirth Is Necessary (2017) and Kamasi Washington’s Hub Tones (2018) music video which she directed.

Ivan Michael Blackstock the Multidisciplinary Artist 

Ivan is a multidisciplinary creative as well as a dancer, creating CrxssPlatfxrm – a creative hub and festival showcasing unseen talent from the UK’s underground. In 2019 he programmed the first CrxssPlatfxrm Festival alongside Nike, commissioning street culture creatives and inviting dance stars and musicians to perform at the event. 

Ivan has been a contributing editor at FACT Magazine, a judge for 2019’s BBC Young Dancers and is Artistic Director of 180 Studios, as well as founding his own media production company ALTRUVIOLET.

Creating Traplord 

Traplord began life in 2015 during a period of difficulty for its creator, turning toward community to find companionship and support. Convening in an abandoned leisure centre, Ivan began to run groups for Black men to express vulnerability in a safe space and open up about the challenges they faced growing up in the country’s capital.

Inviting friends made online, mentees from the dance world and people outside of the sphere of professional choreography, Ivan describes the process of those first meetings similarly to finding family. These group sessions unearthed difficult stories for the attendees and holding space became essential, allowing Ivan and the group to transform potentially traumatic experiences through movement, eventually giving life to Traplord as a choreographed performance. Through encouraging openness and ownership, Ivan hopes to create a space that allows the Traplord family to challenge and sometimes reclaim perceptions of Black masculinity. 

Expanding the Traplord Universe – and winning the Olivier Award

In 2020 Blackstock expanded the creative world of Traplord, directing the short film TRAPLORD HAVE MERCY (2020). Utilising movement and spoken word, Ivan reflects on the stories shared in those group meetings to create a powerful and sensitive portrayal of 'Black masculinity in crisis'.

Ivan stepped behind the camera again to create Channel 4 Random Acts commission, Traplord BLK Meme/RA (2021) – an exploration of the Black mental health experience that dissected symbols and archetypes of street culture. 

In March 2022 Traplord made its world premiere at 180 The Strand as a multimedia dance production – using a raw and confrontational style, movement and spoken word to interrogate opposing themes from rebirth and self-actualisation to gang culture and police brutality. Praised for its authenticity, intensity and immersion from countless publications, Traplord went on to win the Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production in 2023.

Traplord in Manchester

Though debuting as stage production in 2022, Traplord has been in development since 2019 with Factory International and Sadler’s Wells. Its arrival in Manchester will see it take on a different form, with Blackstock and team approaching performances of Traplord similarly to how a musician might put together a setlist, chopping and changing the pieces for a show.

Weaving between dream and reality, Ivan Michael Blackstock’s Traplord questions the stereotyping of Black men in contemporary western society, exploring raw themes of mental health and masculinity through an electrifying blend of dance, live music and spoken word.

Traplord runs from 26 September to 29 September at Aviva Studios. 

[1] Mistlin, S. (2022). ‘Ivan Michael Blackstock: ‘On TV the imagery around young Black men is very violent’, The Guardian, 17 Feb. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2022/feb/17/ivan-michael-blackstock-on-tv-the-imagery-around-young-black-men-is-very-violent

[2] Dinsdale, E. (2021). ‘Traplord: the stage show uplifting overlooked stories of Black masculinity’, Dazed, Nov 18. Available at: https://www.dazeddigital.com/art-photography/article/54815/1/traplord-the-stage-show-uplifting-overlooked-stories-of-black-masculinity

[3] Ibid.

[4] ‘Birdgang’ (2024). Available at: https://ivanmichaelblackstock.com/project/birdgang/