64
Interview
PowerList 2008
DANCING
QUEEN
She’s a former champion gymnast who
now owns Europe’s top dance agency.
Meet Aicha McKenzie, Ade Alasi did
‘O
ne day I was sitting in the office and this client called and choreographers, creative directors, stage and lighting designers,
said, “We need someone to write a concept for this show dancers and models and Nike, Wrangler, Lynx, Channel Four, Louis
we are doing”. None of the choreographers were around, Vuitton, Rimmel and Virgin Mobile are just a handful of the major
so I decided to give it a go, and I got the job.’ brands that have used their services.
The way Aicha McKenzie tells it is so matter-of-fact. But this As well as blue-chip corporations, AMCK is also sought after by
was the moment her life changed dramatically, as it was this music artists looking for something fresh and unique.
simple exchange that set her on the road to where she is today, ‘The first client who went through the AMCK books was Kanye
which is founder and company director of the biggest dance West, for his Brits performance two years ago,’ says Aicha. ‘He
agency in Europe. was performing the song Gold Digger, and he wanted the whole
This was seven years ago and the then 25-year-old, who was thing to look very slick. He didn’t want hip-hop dancers. He
raised in Vauxhall by her Jamaican mother (her father is from wanted girls who looked like models and could also dance, and
Ivory Coast), was a jobbing dancer, but hardly just another they were all painted gold and dressed in gold bikinis.’ Now the
run-of-the-mill wannabe. Before she signed to an agency she was official choreographer for the Brit Awards and the MTV Europe
a junior British gymnastics champion and proud owner of three Music Awards, AMCK has created sets for Nelly Furtado, Justin
Commonwealth Games medals. Timberlake, Snoop Dogg, Akon and Corinne Bailey Rae. In addition
she has worked on videos for Madonna, Fergie and Jamelia.
Her gymnastics training, fused with street sensibilities, is
‘AMCK is a self-contained
something that makes her unique, but what drives her craft goes
much deeper.
unit, which gives me
‘My choreography is very stylised,’ says the former model, who
travelled as far afield as New York and South Africa to work, and
security and is also really
built up quite a reputation in Germany and Vienna during the late
90s and early noughties, as one of few successful black catwalk
reassuring for clients’
models. ‘It’s not really about lots of intricate steps. The moves are
the last thing to be considered.
‘What inspires me?’ she ponders, before boldly stating:
‘Everything… Film, music fashion, design, architecture, life...’
As a dancer, her background meant she thrived naturally, The way she has structured AMCK has allowed her to operate
appearing in all the major events, from MTV award shows, to the without boundaries, which further sets her apart from the
Clothes Show Live and as a backing dancer for some of the biggest competition.
music acts in the world including Usher, The Backstreet Boys and ‘The fact that I have AMCK behind me means I can create and
Take That. come up with ideas for a client, and however elaborate these may
The day that call came into the office, she was obviously ready be I know I have everything I need to put it together,’ she says.
to take things a step further and her confident attitude spoke ‘AMCK is a self-contained unit, which gives me security and is also
for her, even though she had no experience of choreographing a really reassuring for clients.’
major show. The show was for globally renowned denim brand Ever the creative force, Aicha is also a burgeoning actress,
Levi’s and, with her input, was a great success. ‘I was like, “Oh, and recently wrapped filming the British feature film Clubbed,
OK”,’ she laughs at the moment she realised she had exactly what alongside Colin Salmon.
it took to do this for a living. Her attitude to life is that there are no barriers to where
After that she was commissioned to do all of Levi’s’ big your creative talent can take you. And her advice to anyone
contracts and work with other big names such as L’Oreal and also wanting to take that and run with it? ‘You need 100 per cent
London Fashion Week followed. In 2005 Aicha opened AMCK confidence, an air of something about you that is intriguing, and
Management, along with her husband, Paolo, with whom she has a to be humble. There is always someone out there who can do
four-year-old son called Iggy. your job,’ she says of the last point. ‘But if people like you, that is
The international agency now houses 600 of the UK’s top usually what takes you furthest.’
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