Dimitris Papaioannou The New Greek Myth - n 274 the international DANCE magazine - Ballet2000
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n° 274 • the international DANCE magazine
Dimitris Papaioannou
The New Greek Myth
ENGLISH
edition
10
3
Tribute to Petipa
1818-2018, two hundred
years of Russian tutelary
choreographer
Olesya Novikova and Léonid
Sarafanov in the pas de deux
from “The Sleeping Beauty”
at the Bolshoi Theatre,
Moscow, during last
April’s Gala Tribute
to Marius Petipa
(ph. E.Fetisova)
4
Editor-in-chief
Alfio Agostini
Contributors/writers
Erik Aschengreen
the international dance magazine
Leonetta Bentivoglio ENGLISH Edition
Donatella Bertozzi
Valeria Crippa
Clement Crisp
Gerald Dowler
Marinella Guatterini
Elisa Guzzo Vaccarino
Marc Haegeman
Anna Kisselgoff
Dieudonné Korolakina
Kevin Ng
Jean Pierre Pastori
Martine Planells
Olga Rozanova
Roger Salas Evangelia Randou is
Sonia Schoonejans the Sphynx in a restaging
René Sirvin of “Medea”, one of
Lilo Weber Dimitris Papaioannou’s
first major works (1993)
Editorial assistant (ph. R. Habermacher)
Cristiano Merlo
Translations
Simonetta Allder
Cristiano Merlo 6 News – from the dance world
Collaborator Alain Garanger
Editorial services, design, web 22 On the cover :
Luca Ruzza Dimitris Papaioannou: depicting battles
using the palette of dance
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e-mail: info@ballet2000.com 56 International Calendar CCNDC Angers:“Inlets 2” by Merce Cunningham
5
Alyona Kovalyova –
Bolshoi Ballet:
“La Bayadère”
(ph. D. Yusupov)
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Companies on tour
The Bolshoi goes to La Scala
In September something unusual will happen in
Milan: the Ballet of the Bolshoi Theatre of
Moscow will guest at Teatro alla Scala. Two bal-
lets are planned: one from the great Russian tradi-
tion, La Bayadère, of which the Muscovite com-
pany dances the recent version by Yuri Grigorovich
(2013) which is largely faithful to the historical
version of the Kirov (-Mariinsky) of Leningrad (-
St Petersburg) that dates back to the 1940s; the
other is Jean-Christophe Maillot’s recent crea-
tion based on William Shakespeare’s comedy The
Taming of the Shrew. With this creation the French
choreographer aimed at renewing the great acting
tradition of the Bolshoi’s dancers who are noted
not only for the brilliance and vigour of their tech-
nique, but also for their stage bravura. The choice
of the music fell to another great Russian name,
Dmitri Shostakovich and, to be precise, to his
film soundtrack scores.
New York City Ballet in “Something to Dance About”, a tribute to Jerome Robbins’ creations
for musicals on Broadway (ph. E. Baiano)
Choreographers
Robbins, the party isn’t over… midi d’un Faune), Other Dances (one of his most
Carolyn Carlson creates in New York City Ballet continues its celebra- popular and famous works), Moves (an avant-
Palermo tions for the centennial of the birth of Jerome garde piece danced without music) and, lastly, a
In September the dance company of the Teatro Robbins who, after its founder George sort of anthology of pieces for musicals on Broad-
Massimo di Palermo (Sicily, Italy) presents an Balanchine, is the choreographer with whom the way created by this versatile choreographer. On
evening dedicated to Carolyn Carlson. For the American company most identifies (see BAL- the other side of the Ocean, after the Robbins
last forty years this 75-year-old American chore- LET2000 cover-story, previous issue). After a tribute by Parisian festival “Les Étés de la Danse”,
ographer has been a leading light on the dance rich spotlight on him last May, a programme celebrations continue at the Paris Opéra in
scene, especially in France and Italy, and contin- entitled “Robbins 100” is planned for October October and November with a quadruple bill
ues to shine. The company of the Teatro Massimo, and will be made up of Afternoon of a Faun (his consisting of Afternoon of a Faun, A Suite of
beefed up by dancers from the Carolyn Carlson original take on Debussy’s Prélude à l’après- Dances, Fancy Free and Glass Pieces.
Company (based at Roubaix, France), are per-
forming five works that include two Italian
premières (Burning and If to leave is to remem-
EDITORIAL Alfio Agostini
ber) and, above all, a creation (Wild Woman).
The Sphinx on the cover isn’t that of the Greek Oedipus. She doesn’t ask riddles to un-
wary travellers although, like the original, she doesn’t provide answers either. Perhaps she
Choreographer Carolyn Carlson too is asking herself whether her fellow Greek Dimitris Papaioannou, with his dancing
(ph. L. Philippe) to whom the forthcoming non-dance, or non-dancing dance, is the new myth in contemporary choreography.
dance programme at the Teatro Massimo di This issue’s cover is certainly an odd one for a magazine called BALLET2000. But it isn’t
Palermo is dedicated the first cover that is outside the canons of ballet, whether classical or modern. Regular
readers will know that our perspective embraces all forms of dance: art of dance, of course
(or, to be more precise, choreographic art), which is anything but restrictive. Not only
choreographers in the full sense of the word have been given space here, but so have con-
temporary authors, those who have won over a good part of the public with their dance-
theatre: an art which is performed by human bodies in movement and is generated (though
not exactly or exclusively) by dance – or which has, in quite the reverse way, eventually
rediscovered dance.
Dimitris Papaioannou, as we shall see here, has an original talent that it is difficult to clas-
sify also within the parameters of contemporary dance and theatre. But his presence in
theatres and dance festivals around the world induce us to adopt him with full rights and
to consider him a member of the “club”.
A line-up that includes dance makers such as those also covered in this issue: young Eng-
lish ‘royal’ Liam Scarlett and the by-now colossal John Neumeier with his creation on
Beethoven; the austerely feminine Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker (she too, like Papaioannou,
paying tribute to Pina Bausch); the great Merce Cunningham, being kept alive in Angers;
Crystal Pite, Boris Charmatz, Nacho Duato, Akram Khan, plus a new name on Israel’s
enthusiastic present-day dance scene: Roy Assaf.
Not to mention the classics, naturally, ever close to us in the dancing of their ever
new interpreters.
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Theatre of St Petersburg; the production –
which also reconstructed the fourth act with
the collapse of the temple – was, however,
soon abandoned in order to bring back the his-
torical (1941) three-act version by Vladimir
Ponomariov and Vakhtang Chabukiani on
which all the other versions that spread much
later to Europe were based. After his recon-
structions of The Sleeping Beauty and Swan
Lake, Ratmansky is thus adding another great
ballet classic to his ‘done’ list. As was the case
for Swan Lake, set and costume designs will
be by Jérôme Kaplan.
Marco Morau’s Danish Carmen
The Royal Danish Ballet’s season opens in
September with a creation commissioned from
36-year-old Spanish choreographer Marcos
Morau who founded La Veronal, a company
based in Barcelona. Morau is the author of a
type of dance theatre that has its own
specificity: his inspiration usually comes from
the historical or aesthetic imagining of a coun-
try or city which results in a sort of “geo-
dance” that contains numerous elements rang-
ing from literature to films, from the plastic
arts to photography, in a “constant search for
new forms of expression” (as he himself ex-
plains). Now creating for a ballet troupe of an
opera house, Morau has chosen a famous ti-
tle, Carmen, and has stated that he wants to
go back to the original literary source, i.e. the
short story by Prosper Mérimée. He has cho-
sen the score (after Georges Bizet) by Rodion
Shchedrin which was used by Alberto Alonso
to create his famous Carmen for Maya
Plisetskaya in 1967.
The poster of the new “Carmen” by
choreographer Marcos Morau for The Royal
Danish Ballet
Isabella Boylston, James Whiteside – American Ballet Theatre: “Harlequinade”,
c. A. Ratmansky (ph. M. Sohl)
Harlequinade, a ballet made by Marius Petipa
Ratmansky, between creation in 1900 (then entitled Les Millions d’Arlequin),
and reconstruction reconstructed on the basis of period notations.
American Ballet Theatre’s artist in residence, ABT presented Harlequinade this summer and
49-year-old Russian choreograper Alexei it sparked a debate in the American papers over
Ratmansky, is preparing a new creation for the Ratmansky’s so-called “philological” approach,
New York company and which is being billed the results of which continue to divide public
as the main offering of ABT’s Autumn Season and critics. The Russian choreographer hasn’t
at Lincoln Center. For the occasion, Ratmansky yet exhausted this vein and indeed the Ballet of
is artistically teaming up again with Ukrainian- the Berlin Opera House (Staatsballett Ber-
born St Petersburg-based composer Leonid lin) has announced Ratmansky’s version, or
Desyatnikov: using his Songs of Bukovina rather his “reconstruction” of La Bayadère
(which are inspired by folk songs of the (again based on Harvard University’s notations
Carpathian Mountains that lie between Roma- by Nicolas Sergeyev) for the month of Novem-
nia and the Ukraine), the choreographer imag- ber. A similar operation, unearthing Petipa’s
ines a series of festive encounters. Ratmansky original choreograpy of La Bayadère as it was
thus returns to making an “original creation”, danced at the end of the 19th century, was also
following the controversial result of his attemped by Sergei Vikharev at the Mariinsky
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Prix Benois in Moscow
Mexican Isaac Hernández (English National Ballet) and Russian Vladislav Lantratov, (Bolshoi Ballet of Mos-
cow), both 28 years old, jointly received the 2018 Award for “Best Male Dancer”, while Korean dancer Sae
Eun Park (Paris Opéra Ballet) took that for “Best Female Dancer” at the 26th edition of the Prix Benois de la
Danse which was held in the sumptuous surroundings of the Bolshoi Theatre of Moscow. The Prix is pre-
sided over by Yuri Grigorovich (who is still very active at 91 years of age), directed by Nina Kudriavtseva
Loory and Regina Nikiforova, and has a jury of many famous artists.
2018 being the bicentennial of Marius Petipa, the great choreographer who consigned his oeuvre to Russia, the
Prix Benois Gala was entitled “Vivat Petipa!”
Awardee Sae Eun Park has been a soloist with the Parisian troupe for barely a year but is already a very
promising dancer, as demonstrated in her exquisite interpretation of the “Emeralds” solo (from Jewels) by Balanchine.
The Prix Benois/Massine (a collaboration between Russian Prix Benois and Italian Premio Positano) went to
Maria Kotchekova, a ballerina at the height of her splendour (she performed last year at Positano); her Sleeping Beauty was the finest performance
of the evening at the Bolshoi. Isaac Hernández radiated brilliance in the pas de deux from Don Quixote, partnered by Jurgita Dronina.
The “Lifetime Achievement Prize” went to Natalia Makarova although the great Russian ballerina, now a naturalised American, preferred not to
travel to Moscow this year.
The Prix Benois always has a surprise up its sleeve. This year it gave recognition to the artistic quality and political impact of Nureyev, the ‘scandal’
show premiered at the Bolshoi last
season (BALLET2000 has reported
extensively on it) after having ini-
tially been cancelled by the Russian
authorities, a decision that was
strongly challenged by public opin-
ion. Thus, the awards for Best Cho-
reographer, Composer (of an origi-
nal score) and Designer went,
respectively, to Yuri Possokhov, Ilya
Demutsky and Kirill Serebrennikov,
the three pillars of the Nureyev crea-
tion. At the gala performance, the
“Rudolf Nureyev/Erik Bruhn” duet
was danced by Vladislav Lantratov
(very touching as the legendary Tar-
tar) and Denis Davin as the Danish
star who was very close to Nureyev.
R. Sa.
The French Sylvia in Vienna Portrait of Anne Teresa De our Calendar for a listing of the festival’s other
53-year-old Manuel Legris will leave the direc- Keersmaeker offerings and take note of The Idiot by Saburo
torship of the Vienna State Ballet (Wiener For its usual “Portrait” of a dance maker, this Teshigawara, inspired by Fyodor Dostoevsky’s
Staatsballett) in 2020 and will be succeeded by year the Festival d’Automne in Paris is get- novel by the same name, which the choreogra-
Martin Schläpfer (see separate news, under the ting ready to spotlight Anne Teresa De pher will dance with his partner Rihoko Sato.
heading “Directors”). Nevertheless, in order to Keersmaeker, the 58-year-old Flemish chore-
leave the Viennese company with a French fla- ographer who has been active since the 1980s
vour, Legris has decided to restage Sylvia, the with her Brussels-based company Rosas. Choreographer Anne Teresa De
old ballet that was created at the Paris Opéra in Thus, from September to December a total of Keersmaeker and cellist Jean-Guihen
1876 by Louis Mérante, to music by Léo 11 works by De Keersmaeker will be on offer Queyras (ph. A. Van Aerschot)
Delibes. Today the ballet is principally known in various Parisian theatres, plus a “Slow
thanks to recreations by Frederick Ashton (Lon- Walk” through the city with the Rosas danc-
don, 1952) and John Neumeier (1997). But the ers, and other events with the students of
French tradition of this 19th-century choreog- P.A.R.T.S., the school established by the cho-
raphy has been preserved at the Paris Opéra reographer in Brussels. The works cover a 36-
and handed down via interpreters of the ballet year time span and will allow one to follow
and maîtres de ballet, even though it hasn’t been De Keersmaeker’s artistic development. From
performed at the Parisian theatre since its last early works such as Fase to music by Steve
reconstruction by Lycette Darsonval in 1979, Reich in1982, to the now legendary Rosas
with Noëlla Pontois in the title role. Recently, a danst Rosas created the following year which
condensed version of the old ballet was restaged already showed signs of her “mathematical”
by Éric Vu-An at the Nice Opera House. Next spirit and the combinatorics of her creativity,
November, and then again in January 2019, the all the way down to her most recent work to
mythological world of Sylvia, the nymph who Bach’s Cello Suites (see review in this issue of
falls in love with shepherd Aminta, will come BALLET2000) – in other words, a gamut of
to life again in a new production that reclaims works that testify to the richness of De
the French tradition, adding scenery and cos- Keersmaeker’s musical inspiration, from
tume designs by Luisa Spinatelli. Mozart to Ligeti, from Schönberg to jazz. See
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and Boléro). Mats Ek thus makes his comeback
as a creator after having announced, in 2016, the
end of his career as a choreographer.
Preljocaj, at home in Bordeaux
The Bordeaux Opera Ballet, at whose helm
Éric Quilleré took over a few months ago follow-
ing the departure of Charles Jude, has entered into
a collaboration with Angelin Preljocaj who is
restaging his Blanche Neige (“Snow White”) for
the company as openers of its season in Septem-
ber. Choosing a famous fairy-tale and setting it to
Michelle Dorrance, Twyla Tharp, Lauren Lovette symphonic music by Gustav Mahler, with cos-
tumes by fashion designer Jean-Paul Gauthier,
Dance is (evermore) woman Preljocaj created this work in 2008 for his own
The Autumn Season of American Ballet Theatre at the Lincoln Center (David H. Koch Theater), company with the aim of revisiting the structure
New York opens on 17 October with the usual gala performance which this year is distinctly of a 19th-century ‘grand ballet’. Preljocaj will put
female in character. Two creations: the first by 38-year-old Michelle Dorrance a famous tap
dancer and choreographer from whom the Ballet Theatre commissioned a few short pieces in
the course of the year and who created a work for the Martha Graham Dance Company in
2015; the second is by 26-year-old New York City Ballet principal Lauren Lovette who has
already created a couple of works for the company. The mixed bill will close with a revival of
In The Upper Room by Twyla Tharp (to music by Philip Glass), a work from 1986 which is
representative of “American ballet” and in which the versatile choreographer laces the classical
vocabulary with jazz and pop elements. Speaking of women choreographers, the coming sea-
son will also feature a creation by Jessica Lang, her third for ABT.
When George Balanchine used to say “Ballet is woman” he was evidently thinking of bal-
lerinas even though a great woman choreographer, Bronislava Nijinska, had already asserted
herself in his world (rooted also in the Ballets Russes), while another contemporary of his
and fellow New Yorker was also giant of female choreography: Martha Graham. Since
then, women creators have emerged in large quantities right up to our day and age; and
indeed there is no need for the world of dance to introduce protective measures to guaran-
tee “equal opportunities” – in spite of a ludicrous statement made by a French minister of
culture a few years ago. If a need is still felt to consider women (including women choreog-
raphers and dancers) a “protected species”, and if women themselves don’t feel that this is
a trap, then let the “female evenings” continue. Those who see a work of art, whether a
dance performance or another form, don’t ask themselves if the author is a man or a woman:
it is the work itself that speaks. And if amidst so many male semi-artists more women like
Twyla Tharp emerge, they will be welcome.
A.A. Angelin Preljocaj
Companies
Dorothée Gilbert – Paris Opéra Ballet: “Cinderella”, c. Rudolf Nureyev
Awaiting the return of Mats EK (ph. L. Philippe)
The Paris Opéra Ballet returns to the stage in
September in Ohad Naharin’s Decadance. After
Perpetuum, which entered the Opéra’s repertoire
in 2015, Israel’s most famous choreographer is
restaging his most famous work for the Parisian
dancers, a patchwork made up of excerpts from
various creations and which is danced today not
only by the Batsheva Dance Company (for which
it was created), but by many other companies
around the world. Decadance also features on the
programme of the gala evening that opens the
season at the Parisian theatre, preceded by the
company’s traditional “Défilé”. The programme
proceeds with the tribute to Robbins (see sepa-
rate news), revivals of Rudolf Nureyev’s
Cinderella and John Neumeier’s La Dame aux
camélias (“The Lady of the Camellias”), while
the second part of the season brings us four crea-
tions by, respectively, Marco Goecke, Pontus
Lidberg (Les Noces) and Mats Ek (Another Place
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to music by Bach and made in collaboration with
American visual artist Robert Irwin who is fa-
mous for his site-specific installations.
Lyon, not only dance
Gabriela Carrizo and Franck Chantier, founders
of the Peeping Tom Collective in Brussels, are
reviving and readapting for the Lyon Opera Bal-
let one of their successful works, 32 rue
Vandenbranden. It is in fact this work that opens
the French company’s season in September (in
the context of the Lyon Dance Biennale). In a
surreal setting that is typical of its authors, amidst
squalid shanties in the middle of nowhere with
the winds of doomsday blowing, the interpreters
of this work – midway between dance and theatre
(a theatre style that smacks of the “cruel” theatre
of Antonin Artaud and aims at shocking specta-
tors) – tell of their solitude and passions, their
impulses and the danger of madness and perdi-
tion. After a revival in October and November of
Maguy Marin’s Cendrillon (“Cinderella”), now a
“classic” of the Lyon troupe, three programmes
have been scheduled, each one devoted to other
towering choreographers: Merce Cunningham
(November), Trisha Brown (January 2019) and
Jirí Kylián (April 2019).
Lyon Opera Ballet: “Cinderella”, c. Maguy Marin (ph. L. Philippe)
Nice remembers Scholz and Van
in a second appearance during the Bordeaux Op- surrealism of Swedish dance which is gaining in- Dantzig
era Ballet’s season next May in the context of its creasing ground on the international plane, and Two choreographers left their mark on their era
usual “Quatre tendances” programme which spot- the works of Johan Inger and Alexander Ekman. yet aren’t extensively performed nowadays:
lights four present-day choreographers; Preljocaj The event of the season will be Benjamin German Uwe Scholz who died prematurely at
is to restage his 1997 creation La Stravaganza Millepied’s début in Belgium with a creation set 45 years of age, the author of “choreographic
which blends together contemporary and baroque
aesthetics while, also of note ,is Paz de la Jolla by
Justin Peck, the big revelation of choreography in Ballet Nice Méditerranée: “Troy Game”, c. Robert North (ph. D. Jaussein)
these past few years and resident choreographer
at New York City Ballet, who will be working
with the Bordeaux troupe for the first time. Two
other important ballets are scheduled: La Fille
mal gardée by Frederick Ashton (December) and,
(closing the season in July 2019), Notre-Dame de
Paris (“The Hunchback of Notre Dame”) which
Roland Petit originally created in 1965 for the
Paris Opéra Ballet.
Millepied also in Flanders
Belgian-Moroccan choreographer Sidi Larbi
Cherkaoui, director of Royal Ballet Flanders of
Antwerp has presented an eclectic season. After
the 13th edition of the choreography workshop
for young authors, whose results will be presented
on a few evenings in September, in October the
unusual Giselle which Akram Khan created for
English National Ballet is entering the repertoire.
In December there will be an all-women pro-
gramme featuring choreographies by Trisha
Brown, Jeanne Brabants (the founder of Royal
Ballet Flanders who passed away in 2014) and
Australian Meryl Tankard. A second programme
follows in January 2019 consisting of works by
Martha Graham, Maurice Béjart and Cherkaoui
himself. March and April bring with them the
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“The Nutcracker” by George Balanchine, here with New York City Ballet, enters La Scala, Milan’s repertoire
as from the coming season
symphonies” of great flourish, and Rudi van by the great Russian dancer (Romeo and Juliet) Balanchine Nutcracker at La Scala
Dantzig, a Dutch ‘master’ of choreography but, above all, from his versions of the reper- After a summer break, the Ballet Company of La
veined with the anxiety of modern Man. The tory classics which continue to be performed Scala, Milan are touring China (August-Septem-
Ballet Nice Méditerranée directed by Éric in various important European theatres, clas- ber) and, afterwards, Australia; in between the two
Vu An is inaugurating the season at the Opéra sics such as Raymonda, La Bayadère, Swan tours, in Milan, they will be reviving L’Histoire
de Nice in October with works by the two Lake and The Sleeping Beauty. de Manon by Kenneth MacMillan with
aforementioned. Specifically: a revival of
Scholz’s Oktet which was created in 1987 at
the Zurich Opera House, to music by Felix The Ballet du Capitole pays homage to Rudolf Nureyev: Lauren Kennedy and Matthew Astley
Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, and Van Dantzig’s in the pas de deux from “The Sleeping Beauty” (ph. D. Herrero)
Four Last Songs, to Richard Strauss’ song cy-
cle (the composer’s swansong), a ballet for four
couples created in 1977, the mood of which is
both sultry and sombre at the same time. Troy
Game by Robert North completes the mixed
bill.
Celebrations for Nureyev in
Toulouse
The legend of Rudolf Nureyev is still strong
among those Paris Opéra dancers that emerged
under his tenure as director of the ballet. One of
these is Kader Belarbi who has been at the helm
of the Ballet du Capitole de Toulouse ince
2012. So it is to this icon, a point of reference
for an entire generation of French dancers, that
Belarbi is dedicating the opening performance
of the season, “Dans les pas de Noureev” (In
Nureyev’s footsteps). The show consists of
excerpts from various original choreographies
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Svetlanza Zakharova and Roberto Bolle in the
Lyon Dance Biennale: dance lead roles. The new season in the Milanese thea-
multiplied by 200 tre that begins, as usual, in Deceber, brings a
new entry into the ballet troupe’s repertoire:
The Lyon Dance Biennale is France’s big George Balanchine’s ultra-famous The Nut-
showcase of contemporary dance and one of cracker which is very popular in New York where
the major festivals of its kind in Europe. This it is given a very long run each winter. The ballet
year’s 18th edition takes place from 11 to will be presented in a new production, with cos-
30 September 2018 offering, in the space of tume and scenery designs by Margherita Palli.
those twenty days, 42 different shows with Among the other novelties of the season are: a
more than 200 performances in 43 different new creation by Angelin Preljocaj (January-
towns (Lyon and surrounding area) and 67 February 2019) to the 24 Lieder of Franz
theatres and other venues, climaxing in the Schubert’s song cycle Winterreise (“Winter Jour-
“popular” and famous danced Parade ney”); the presence of Alessandra Ferri in Woolf
(“Défilé”) through the streets of Lyon which Works (February), the full-evening work that
this year is dedicated to peace. See our Cal- Wayne McGregor created for her in London;
endar for a listing of the shows on offer. Some the Rudolf Nureyev version of Sleeping Beauty
creations are particularly noteworthy. Former returning in June and July 2019 (after it had
enfant terrible of French dance, 67-year-old been dropped in favour of the controversial
Maguy Marin, returns to the fore with a Alexei Ratmansky version, co-produced with
new, politically-engaged work entitled Ligne “Gravité”, Angelin Preljocaj’s ABT) and, with it, Svetlana Zakharova as well
de crête (“Ridge Curve”): drawing inspira- new creation for his company as Polina Semionova.
tion from the theories of French thinker (ph. J.-C. Carbonne)
Frédéric Lordon, she exhorts the West to re-
sist the seduction of its materialistic society Shades of White in Stuttgart
and to discover genuine and profound dreams within the self. Another politically-engaged “Shades of White” is the title of the show which
work, Franchir la nuit (“Crossing the Night”) by Rachid Ouramdane, looks at topical sub- inaugurates the Stuttgart Ballet’s season in
jects such as immigration, uprooting and the geographical/mental “elsewhere”. More con- October. Tamas Detrich is to take over at the
ceptual than usual, 61-year-old French-Albanian choreographer Angelin Preljocaj has in- company’s helm in September (see separate
stead drawn inspiration for his new work, Gravité, from the force of gravity. “For years, news item in this issue). The eponymous
these issues of weight, space, speed and mass have intuitively run through my choreo- “White” is the dreamy white of the Act of the
graphic experiments. My everyday work with dancers leads me to experiment forms whose Shades in La Bayadère (to be performed here in
fundamental components spin around such concepts which are abstract though, at the same the Natalia Makharova version), the dazzling
time, terribly concrete. Today, according to a principle of alternation between pieces based white of Symphony in C by George Balanchine,
on pure research and more narrative ballets, this question of gravity leads me back towards and the gloriously serene white of Konzert für
a new form of abstraction.” Mark your diaries also for a musical evening (with pieces by Flöte und Harfe (“Concerto for Flute and
Joan Tower, Béla Bartók, Maurice Ravel and Hector Berlioz, played by the National Or- Harp”), a work which John Cranko made in
chestra of Lyon) during which Saburo Teshigawara and his partner Rihoko Sato will 1966 to music by Mozart – one of those ballets
embody the enchanted dreams of Hector Berlioz’s colourful Symphonie fantastique. that can only be seen in Stuttgart. The novel-
55-year-old Dominique Hervieu has been the artistic director of the Lyon Dance Biennale ties of the second half of the season include a
and La Maison de la Danse in Lyon since 2011. In partnership with José Montalvo, Hervieu new production of The Seven Deadly Sins by
has been a leading light on the French contemporary dance scene from the 1980s onwards. Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht, with choreogra-
phy by Louis Stiens, a dancer of the Stuttgart
company who developed as a choreographer
Susanna Salvi, Claudio Cocino – Rome Opera Ballet: “Romeo and Juliet”, with the Noverre Society, and also a programme
c. Giuliano Peparini (ph. Y. Kageyama) of new creations (including one by Romanian
choreographer Edward Clug who is at home at
Stuttgart Ballet).
Novelties at the Rome Opera
Marianela Núñez of The Royal Ballet of Lon-
don and Carlo Di Lanno, a La Scala-trained
principal with San Francisco Ballet, are to
take the lead roles in Jean-Guillaume Bart’s
version of The Sleeping Beauty for the Rome
Opera Ballet in September, after the sum-
mer début of Giuliano Peparini’s Romeo and
Juliet. The first offering of the new season
will be in December with a new version of
Swan Lake which the director of the troupe,
Eleonora Abbagnato has commissioned from
former Paris Opéra dancer Benjamin Pech.
Another novelty is expected in February
2019: Carmen by Czech choreographer Jirí
Bubenícek. In March and April an evening
dedicated to the music of Philip Glass has
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The Martha Graham Dance Company, guests at the Paris Opéra, here in “Appalachian Spring” by Martha Graham (ph. B. Pierce)
Martha Graham at the Paris Opéra
In September the Martha Graham Dance Company is touring Europe (France, Cyprus, Germany, Romania), their most important stop
to be, without doubt, the Paris Opéra. For some time now this American company has set itself up as the custodian of its founder’s oeuvre,
continuing to perform those works of the choreographer (an icon of American – and not only – modern dance) that are still in the “active”
repertoire, with plans moreover to resuscitate the forgotten works. At the same time, the company has opened up to new choreographic
creation that is in harmony with the Graham aesthetic. Thus, the Parisian public will be treated to a “variation” on Lamentation created by
Opéra dancer Nicolas Paul who has been active as a choreographer for some time; it will be an addition to this project which entails
recreating Graham’s famous “bench” solo, and to which several choreographers (including some famous names) have already contributed.
The reconstructions offered will include Ekstasis, a “sculptural” solo from 1933 restaged last year by Virginie Mécène, and Graham’s
shamanic Rite of the Spring which was brought back to life a few years ago. The mainstays of the programme are Cave of the Heart and
Appalachian Spring, two of Graham’s famous works from the 1940s. After many years of uncertainties and discord following the founder’s
death in 1991, today the company is directed by its former dancer Janet Eilber who used to be close to Martha Graham and danced the lead
roles in her ‘historical’ choreographies as well as her latter creations.
been planned and will consist in works by Directors
Jerome Robbins, Benjamin Millepied, Giorgio Trendy choreographers
Mancini and a creation by Sébastien Bertaud “Fall Gala” is the gala performance that kicks off
(also from the Paris Opéra). In May Angelin the Autumn Season at New York City Ballet, a Schläpfer on the Danube
Preljocaj’s Blanche Neige (“Snow White”) en- worldly and artistic event in the Great Apple dur- From the Rhine to the Danube. Swiss choreogra-
ters the Rome Opera Ballet’s repertoire. ing which it has recently become a tradition for pher Martin Schläpfer (58), currently at the helm
choreographers and fashion designers to collabo- of the Rhine Opera Ballet (Deutsche Oper am
rate so that the evening brings together the worlds
Winter Journey in Zurich of dance and of fashion. Three creations have been
Rhein – jointly based in Düsseldorf and Duisburg),
will be leaving the company (one of Germany’s
Christian Spuck, director of the Zurich Bal- scheduled and commissioned from, respectively, biggest and most important) to direct the Vienna
let is premiering his new creation in October choreographer Kyle Abraham in partnership with State Ballet and its school as of the 2020/2021
(running until December) at the Opernhaus English designer Gilles Deacon, Pennsylvania season. During the next two years, however,
in Zurich, to the Lieder of Franz Schubert’s Ballet’s resident choreographer Matthew Neenan Schläpfer will continue to lead the German troupe,
song cycle Winterreise. The German chore- in partnership with another English designer, of which he is to remain resident choreographer
ographer will however be using an orchestra- Gareth Pugh, and the very young Gianna Reisen
tion of Winterreise for orchestra and tenor (19 years, she recently graduated from The School
and aims at exploring – alternating ensemble of American Ballet and is already creating for the
dances and intimate solos – the inner journey second time for NYCB) in partnership with Ital-
of Man, his loves and nostalgias, his estrange- ian designer Alberta Ferretti. In the course of the Martin
ment and defeats. Three other creations will year the company is to present a total of six crea- Schlaepfer
be presented in the ensuing programme (also tions, two of which by its resident choreographer
in October, but for the Zurich Ballet’s junior Justin Peck whose works are gradually spreading
company) by, respectively, Goyo Montero, also to European companies. Not to mention the
Louis Stiens and Felipe Portugal. Among the numerous programmes dedicated to the two ‘tu-
new repertoire entries in Zurich we notice a telary deities’ of the company, i.e. George
ballet about Vaslav Nijinsky which German Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, and the big full-
choreographer Marco Goecke originally cre- evening ballets, from Jewels to A Midsummer
ated in Stuttgart for Gauthier Dance and will Night’s Dream (Balanchine) and Peter Martins’
be lengthening for the occasion. version of Sleeping Beauty.
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until 2024. Winner of the Prix de Lausanne and , Canadian Dave St-Pierre in his own solo Néant
very popular at the Basel Ballet where he danced “balancing between wit and tragedy, reason and
under Heinz Spoerli’s leadership, Schläpfer was a folly”, and a new work to Mozart’s Requiem by
brilliant dancer before becoming a choreographer choreographer Alain Platel, in partnership with
(today he is Switzerland’s most famous choreog- composer Fabrizio Cassol.
rapher after his mentor, Spoerli) and going on to
direct the companies at Berne (Switzerland),
Mainz (Germany) and Düsseldorf, where he took RomaEuropa and not just Europa
over in 2009. See a review in this issue of his latest The Italian capital’s prestigious festival that of-
creation for the company, Swan Lake; two other fers theatre, music and dance wants “A world
creations of his are expected in the second half of without frontiers, a theatre without borders”. The
the 2018/2019 season. leitmotif of this edition of RomaEuropa – taking
place from 19 September to 25 November in vari-
ous theatres and venues in Rome – are the “walls,
fences and barriers” that are starting to be re-erected
Festivals between nations and people in a world that recog-
A state assassination in TorinoDanza, Cherkaoui leads the
nises the utopia of globalisation. Romaeuropa
hosts artists from Africa, China, Israel, Iran, Ar-
Argentina: the death of Iñaki way gentina and Brazil, asking them to speak of their
Urlezaga’s company After pre-performances of Betroffenheit by Crys- cultural roots through their art. For the dance sec-
tal Pite last May (see review in this issue), tion, in September Serge Aimé Coulibay (a former
Argentine dancer Iñaki Urlezaga is retiring TorinoDanza ‘s new edition begins on 10 Sep- dancer of Alain Platel’s Ballets C. de la B.) gathers
from the stage and will be concluding his tember and runs until 1 December in various thea- together various African artists, including Mali’s
career in September with a series of per- tres in and around the city of Turin (Italy). The star singer Rokia Traoré, in a show entitled Kirina
formances of Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo initial performances bear the hallmark of Belgian- that incorporates various arts and opens the sub-
and Juliet at the Teatro Colón, Buenos Moroccan choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui festival “REf18” which is centred around the en-
Aires, dancing alongside Lauren who is currently at the helm of Royal Ballet Flan- counter between African and Western imagina-
Cuthbertson of The Royal Ballet of Lon- ders. In Turin, however, it’s the Swedes of the tion. Make a note also of the presence of two
don. Urlezaga danced stably in Europe at GöteborgsOperans Danskompani (Gothenburg favourites of Israeli dance, Hofesh Shechter and
Covent Garden and with Het Nationale Opera Dance Company) who are presenting Sharon Eyal, of choreographer Virgilio Sieni, and
Ballet in Amsterdam although over the years Cherkaoui’s works, beefed up by a number of of a showcase devoted to new tendencies and
he also performed with other important dancers from the choreographer’s own Eastman research entitled “Dancing Days”.
companies and at major theatres around the company. The programme consists of Noetic in
world. For five years Urlezaga then directed which the dancers handle long, bendy carbon fibre
his own company, “Compañía de Danza poles which become instruments of the choreog-
Gillot and Carlson couple up in
Clásica - Danza por la Inclusión” in Bue- raphy, of its forms and lines; the other work is Biarritz
nos Aires but it shut down earlier this year Icon in which the chosen material is clay with The unprecedented event of Biarritz’s festival “Le
following a decision by the Argentine gov- which the dancers create, protect and destroy their Temps d’aimer la danse” brings together on stage
ernment to withdraw its subsidy (of ap- idols and symbols on a sort of battlefield. Mark Californian choreographer Carolyn Carlson (who
proximately one million Euros a year). The your diaries also for other shows, such as is 75 and also very well-known in France) and
company, made up of 60 dancers from Ar- Aterballetto in an evening dedicated to Bach, Marie-Agnès Gillot who recently gave her fare-
gentina and other South American coun- Dimitris Papaioannou (the subject of this issue’s well performance at the Paris Opéra where she
tries, was established in 2013 and built up cover-story), Sharon Eyal’s Israeli company L.E.V. had been nominated étoile precisely after dancing
a good classical and modern repertoire for
itself , giving numerous performances at
home and abroad. Urlezaga spoke of his “Noetic” by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui danced by the Gothenburg Opera Dance Company
“helplessness, sadness and desolation at (ph. B. Wanselius) inaugurates TorinoDanza festival in September
having to put an end to five years of work
in which something of quality, serious, pro-
fessional and, above all, clean was set up.”
The Ministry of Culture justified itself by
saying that it already subsidises two other
dance companies, a contemporary one and
a folk dancing one. The fact that Urlezaga’s
company was a ballet troupe evidently
made no difference to the Argentine pub-
lic administrators (in this regard acting simi-
larly to their European colleagues), with the
suspicion that this fact may have actually
worked against him, despite the recent –
but significant – tradition of classical bal-
let in Argentina that has produced world-
famous artists such as Julio Bocca,
Maximiliano Guerra, Urlezaga himself,
Marianela Nuñez etc., and accounts for a
large public of aficionados in the country.
A.A.
1617
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Grettel Morejón, Rafael Quenedit –
Ballet Nacional de Cuba:
“La Belle au bois dormant”
(ph. Zani-Casadio)
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the classic Giselle of the Ballet du Capitole,
Osipova Superstar from Yuval Pick to Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and
After having been a member of various compa- lesser-known artists.
nies in and outside Russia, Natalia Osipova seems
to have found her stable home with The Royal Cuba, it’s festival year!
Ballet of London where she has been a principal
dancer since 2013. A favourite of the audiences Ever since the 1960s, every two years Havana
at Covent Garden and praised by the severe British becomes a world capital of dance thanks to its
critics since the days of her initial appearances International Ballet Festival that brings together
(on tour with the Bolshoi Ballet ) in London, dancers, choreographers, companies and jour-
Osipova has now tackled the English repertory, nalists from all over the world for eight days of
finding some of its roles suited to her actress in- shows in various theatre venues around the city.
clinations; one of them is that of the tormented The oldest and most famous of these is the
female protagonist of Kenneth MacMillan’s Gran Teatro de La Habana which was recently
Mayerling, a role that she will be interpreting again rechristened “Gran Teatro Alicia Alonso” in
in October when the season opens at London’s homage to the great ballerina, founder and di-
Royal Opera House. The Sadler’s Wells Thea- rector of the Ballet Nacional (this year celebrat-
tre in London is also banking on the her and, in ing its 60th anniversary) and foremost celeb-
September, presents a handpicked programme cen- rity of Cuban art and culture. Alonso continues
tred around Osipova that includes, among oth- to be the director of this festival which this
ers, new works by Alexei Ratmansky and Iván year, from 28 October to 6 November, will be
Pérez commissioned especially for the programme hosting dancers from the Ballet du Grand
and tailor-made for the Russian ballerina. Sadler’s Théâtre de Genève, the National Ballet of
Wells are billing Osipova as they used to bill Sylvie Prague, the Danish Dance Theatre, Miami City
Guillem: “Superstar ballerina”. On this occasion Ballet, the Ballet Company of the Teatro Colón
Osipova’s “fiancé” Sergei Polunin, the English of Buenos Aires, the Staatsballett Berlin, a large
public’s other ‘darling’, will not be among the group of principals from New York City Ballet
dancers performing alongside her, one of whom and American Ballet Theatre, as well as others
is American David Hallberg (who is also at artists who have yet to be announced. The
home at the Bolshoi of Moscow). National Ballet of Cuba will be ever-present,
and rightly so, performing repertory classics
Signes by Carlson. In this show the two artists from various parts of the world in a total of 47 and new creations. Among this year’s novel-
improvise a duet and also alternate in various performances in three different theatres in Bi- ties, a ballet workshop for professional danc-
solos created by Carlson. Thierry Malandain is arritz. The programme is extremely varied – ers and top-level students is to be held in the
the director of this festival in the famous French from Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, all the way from magnificent locales of the Cuban National Bal-
resort on the Atlantic Ocean; it takes place from the United States (in works by Jorma Elo, let School, in downtown Havana, with, as usual,
7 to 16 September and features 26 companies Alejandro Cerruto and Cayetano de Soto), to conferences, talks, exhibitions, etc.
Prix Positano
Positano, the town on the Amalfi coast whose name is associated with those of Diaghilev, Massine and
Nureyev, is again this year presenting the almost 50-year-old Prize which has become a sort of brand name
in the world of dance and ballet. The Director General/Artistic Director of 2018 edition “Positano Premia
la Danza” is once again Laura Valente, with the collaboration of Alfio Agostini who coordinates a jury of
experts that select the awardees. The Lifetime Achievement Award will go to Brigitte Lefèvre, a key figure
of France’s choreographic life, one of the pioneers of the new French dance of the 1980s and later, for
twenty years, director of the Paris Opéra Ballet. The Teaching Award goes to Azari Plisetsky. For a
number of years there has been a twinning between the Premio Positano and the Prix Benois de la Danse of
Moscow and the two confer a joint prize: this year it goes to Vladislav Lantratov of the Bolshoi Ballet of
Moscow. Maria Alexandrova (also from
Brigitte Lefèvre the Bolshoi) takes the “Best Ballerina of
the Year” Award, while those for the Best
Male Dancers go to Herman Cornejo
(American Ballet Theatre) and Federico Bonelli (The Royal Ballet London).
Other awardees are: Anna Laudere and Edvin Revazov (Hamburg Ballet), Yanier
Gómez (Compañía Nacional de Danza de Madrid), Jia Yong Sun (Béjart Bal-
let Lausanne, with partner Carme Andrés), Katryna Shalkina and Oscar Chacón
(performing in honour of Azari Plisetsky who was their balletmaster at Béjart
Ballet Lausanne), Alessandro Staiano (Teatro San Carlo, Naples, with part-
ner Chiara Amirante), Petra Conti and Eris Nezha (Los Angeles Ballet). The
Young Emerging Dancers chosen are Letizia Masini and Danilo di Donato
(Ballet School of La Scala). The prize-giving ceremony, at which the awardees
will perform, will be held in the enchanting setting of Spiaggia Grande, Positano
on 1st September. Side events will include an exhibition of photographs by
Jesús Castañar: “Images and Ghosts of Spanish Dance”
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a revival of The King Dances by David
ENB: the war is over Bintley which casts a modern eye on the very
English National Ballet, at present tena- beginnings of ballet (the 17th century of Louis
ciously directed by Tamara Rojo, returns to XIV), when men were kings of dance, and a crea-
commemorate the anniversary of the end of tion by Juanjo Arqués, Ignite, inspired by Turn-
World War I at the Sadler’s Wells Theatre in er’s painting The Burning of the House of Lords
September with a revival of the Lest We Forget and Commons. Both programmes will after-
programme which reflects on the experiences wards be toured in various English towns and
of those who fought in the conflict, and those cities where the company performs annually,
who stayed behind. The programme consists before the Christmas period revival of The Nut-
of three works by, respectively, Liam Scarlett, cracker by Peter Wright – a production which,
Russell Maliphant and Akram Khan; however, differs a little from the one danced by
Scarlett’s No Man’s Land evokes the entwined Birmingham Royal Ballet’s more illustrious
destinies of the women working in ammunition ‘royal’ cousin at Covent Garden, London.
factories at home and the men fighting in the
trenches, to a score by Liszt; Second Breath by
Maliphant, for 20 dancers, features recordings Maureya Lebowitz and César Morales –
of survivors and a live orchestra, while Akram Birmingham Royal Ballet: “La Fille mal
Khan is reviving Dust. Two national tours have gardée”, c. Frederick Ashton
been announced between October and January
Natalia Osipova and Edward Watson– (with stops also at the Coliseum in London),
Royal Ballet: “Mayerling”, c. Kenneth with ENB performing Manon, one of Kenneth
MacMillan (ph. A. Muir) MacMillan’s major ballets, and Swan Lake (the
version by Derek Deane who used to be direc-
tor of the company).
Few creations at The Royal Ballet
Creations have abounded during The Royal
Tamara Rojo and Esteban Berlanga –
Ballet of London’s recent seasons: after all the
English National Ballet: “No Man's Land”,
company does have three resident choreogra-
c.Liam Scarlett (ph. ASH)
phers, Christopher Wheeldon, Wayne
McGregor and the younger Liam Scarlett.
Strangely enough, though, this new season only
features two creations, neither of which by the
members of the aforementioned triumvirate: the Dance at East
first, in November, is by Alastair Marriott, a DanceEast is one of the UK’s leading dance
choreographer who is a regular at The Royal organisations. It is based at the Jerwood
Ballet, having already created numerous works DanceHouse in Ipswich, the home of dance in
for them; this time he will be commemorating the East of England. Its Autumn Season features
the 100th anniversary of the end of World War three premières: The Storm (photo below), from
I with a work entitled Unknown Soldiers to a James Wilton Dance, a fusion of acrobatics,
score commissioned from Dario Marianelli; the break-dancing and martial arts for seven dancers,
second creation constitutes the big event of the alongside a soundtrack of electro-rock composed
season: Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui is creating for the by Amarok; dance artist Holly Noble’s Snow,
English company for the first time and his new which tells the familiar tale of Snow White with
work, still shrouded in mystery, will début next some not-so-familiar twists; Luca Silvestrini’s
spring. Apart from these two new works, the Protein that re-creates a well-known and loved
rest of the season consists in revivals mostly of story: The Little Prince. Mark your diaries for
the traditional English repertory, with full- the works of two choreographers of note on the
evening ballets by Kenneth MacMillan international scene, above all a 40-minute instal-
(Mayerling, which opens the season, and, later, Birmingham opens with “La Fille” lation, Contagion by Shobana Jeyasingh, that
Romeo and Juliet and Manon) and short ballets explores ideas around viral pandemic and the
by Frederick Ashton (The Two Pigeons, Les Birmingham Royal Ballet opens its season metaphor of the virus conducting a parallel war-
Patineurs, A Month in the Country). Christopher joyously: England’s second ‘Royal’ ballet com- fare against humans; also, Jasmin Vardimon, who
Wheeldon is present on the programme with pany will be reviving the English comedy ballet presents her new work Medusa, created on the
his Within the Golden Hour (a work for seven by definition, i.e. La Fille mal gardée by coast of Barcelona and inspired by its marine
couples to music by Ezio Bosso and Vivaldi), Frederick Ashton, a work that has now also life: this piece examines the gendered historical
as are Wayne McGregor with a revival of Infra been taken up by various companies around significance of Medusa – the myth, the symbol-
(a work from 2008 to music by Max Richter) the world and which requires two leading danc- ism and the philosophical idea of ‘reflection’.
and Liam Scalett with Asphodel Meadows ers with an excellent technique (the title role of
(2010), a successful piece to music by Francis Lise is particularly challenging) and who must
Poulenc and his more controversial also be consummate actors, comfortable with a
Frankenstein, a full-evening ballet based on lot of mime; the ballet also requires three prin-
Mary Shelley’s novel. Of note among the clas- cipal character dancers who are indispensible
sics are a revival of La Bayadère (the Makharova for conveying its comicality which was consid-
version), the ‘house’ Nutcracker by Peter erably influenced by pantomime. As from Oc-
Wright and the recent and divisive version of tober, the Hippodrome in Birmingham offers a
Don Quixote by Carlos Acosta. programme entitled “Fire and Fury”: it includes
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