For most of us, the bathroom is a purely functional, solitary, even shameful place. But for Bathtub Bran Ramsey, host of YouTube webseries Bathtub Bran, it’s the prime interview location for artists and leaders in the Toronto dance community. The formula must be working, because the web series was just awarded the People’s Choice Harold Award in May.
Bathtub Bran host Bran Ramsey moved to Toronto from London, Ontario, in 2008 to attend the School of Toronto Dance Theatre in Cabbagetown. But when work onstage was slow, he devised a series of interviews that allowed him to maintain a connection with the community he loves from the angle of producer, rather than cast member. Inviting the movers and shakers of the dance world out of their comfort zone and into hot water — literally — has been an enriching and entertaining experience for all involved.
“The bathroom is an intimate and private place, and the bathtub is a very disarming, sometimes awkward, setting that allows guests to be stripped down and be completely honest. Nothing to hide behind,” Bran says.
There’s almost always a glass of wine in each interview, and it’s never long before the conversation opens up and there is a real moment of sharing between the two scantily clad communicators.
Despite the bare-all model, subjects are lining up to “take the plunge” with Bran. “Everyone has been really gung-ho to get in the tub with me, but I’m more interested in interviewing the people that don’t want to do it and find out what they’re hiding,” he says. “Bathtub Bran is about seeing these dance artists as people. We all know their names and their work, but I wanted to show them as humans.”
And the rest of us are glad to see them half-naked, drinking wine in a bathtub with sexy Bran Ramsey.
Catch Bran’s latest video, an interview with Christopher House, artistic director of the Toronto Dance Theatre.
To catch the splashy appeal, check out Bathtub Bran on YouTube and follow him on twitter @bathtubbran.
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