James Lambert: Finding a Voice Between Worlds
- Daniela Denyer Malo
- 11 minutes ago
- 3 min read
From hip-hop studios to contemporary stages, London-based dancer James Lambert has built a career navigating multiple artistic worlds. In conversation with STRAND, he reflects on creativity, resilience, and what it really means to make a life in dance.
Dance has always been part of Lambert's life. Long before professional stages, commercial performances and choreography, movement was simply a way of expressing himself.
Today, Lambert works across multiple corners of the dance world, refusing to stay confined to a single style. Having started in hip-hop before training in ballet and contemporary dance, he has built an astonishing career and thriving in spaces where different artistic currents meet.
Yet behind the performances and social media clips lies a reality that is far less glamorous than many imagine. Speaking about his career, Lambert reflected on the pressures of professional dance, the importance of artistic identity, and the lessons that have shaped him throughout his journey.
For James, dance has never been simply about technique. When asked how he would describe his work, he framed it as an extension of the culture that shaped him.
"I would say it's an expression of the culture I grew up with," he explains.
Much of that connection can be traced back to his late older brother, whom he describes as one of his greatest inspirations in everything he does. Even as his relationship with dance has evolved over time, it remains a constant presence in his life.
Popular perceptions of dance often swing between two extremes: viewed as effortless glamour or a relentless (and unhealthy) struggle. Lambert, however, argues that reality lies somewhere in between.
Professional dance demands not only physical endurance but significant mental resilience. "Your brain works as much, or more, than your body," he notes, saying dance requires more intellectual and cognitive work than most people would think.
The industry itself offers little stability. Opportunities fluctuate constantly, creating a career that is rarely predictable. As Lambert puts it, success in dance is "always up and down, not consistent in any way", but his relationships in the industry have always been healthy. “People want you to win”, he says.
Learning to manage that uncertainty has been one of his most important lessons. His advice to younger dancers is simple: avoid becoming a people pleaser and trust the hours of work you have already invested.
“It’s good to want to impress, but you need to shed the people pleasing”, he says, while also advising younger dancers that “the more energy you put into it, the more you’ll get out of it”, highlighting the importance of putting is as much time and effort into your work as you want to see reflected in your career.
Lambert's artistic identity is defined by crossing boundaries rather than remaining inside them. His style is defined by versatility, and he has developed a style that borrows from multiple art forms.
"I like to play in those worlds," he says.
Rather than viewing genres as separate categories, he sees creative possibilities in their overlap. Whether drawing inspiration from electronic music, hip-hop culture or contemporary movement, he is most interested in the moments where seemingly different influences collide.
Looking ahead, Lambert's ambitions continue to expand. A world tour remains on his bucket list as the next biggest goal, alongside creating more live work and further developing his choreographic practice.
He’s also been recently chosen to join several other teachers and educators for the team at The Playground in Los Angeles, California. He’ll be moving soon after two years at The Playground London, a massive step forward in his career where he’ll have the opportunity to provide a new point of view when it comes to dance, movement, and styles for the students.
Yet despite the scale of those ambitions, his philosophy remains constant and straightforward: you need to invest deeply in the things that matter. For a dancer whose career has been built on movement between worlds, that commitment to growth seems to be what continues to drive him forward.
The key according to him? "Try and find how you move, what feels good to you, what you want to say."
