The Value of a Relationship John Carney on the core relationship of Once in The New York Times:


“It’s the ones who are gone who haunt you for the rest of your life. Instead of saying, ‘I love you’ or ‘I miss you,’ they just disappear.”


Relationships, whether to people, places or thoughts and ideas, provide the framework for how we view and choose to encounter the world. At a psychological level, social interaction is essential to a child’s development, allowing her to understand the shape and rules of the world around her. As we grow older, those with whom we interact shape the opinions we endorse and the paths we decide to follow. In our lives we continually encounter people, both romantically and platonically, with whom we connect. These connections inevitably change us, perhaps in small, nearly imperceptible ways, perhaps in hugely significant ones which shift the way we approach our world. In the cases that matter, we may need to actively choose to change in order to make our relationship work. This process is not always easy and often requires one or both members of the relationship to make sacrifices. In ONCE, the Girl and Guy shift the course of one another’s lives over an incredibly brief period of time. In our own lives, the changes and choices may take place more slowly, but are just as important.


John Tiffany and Steven Hoggett, the director and choreographer of ONCE, have shared a lifelong friendship and have also collaborated artistically for many years. In an interview with The Independent, the two men discuss their life long friendship and how it affects the experience of working together.


John Tiffany: Steven is my best and oldest friend and I thank my lucky stars that he is still in my life. I met him when I was 15 at the Huddersfield Choral Society Youth Choir and we became inseparable…We didn't work together until 2003 – because our styles were so different we hadn't considered it – but we've had some amazing experiences because of it, like taking Black Watch to New York. It's brilliant to be able to share those highs with someone you've known for 20 years.


Steven Hoggett: We've created standards for each other and berate the other if he falls short. It is difficult, because it means John tells me things I don't want to hear and vice versa.


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www.independent.co.uk


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