Word: ballets
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Choreography is a mysterious process. It happens in upstairs rooms and behind closed doors, and the pronouncements of choreographers are often opaque. "You have to put things together like a gefilte fish," said George Balanchine, co-founder of New York City Ballet and the most influential dance maker of the 20th century...
...traditional fashion. This isn't new in itself; what's new is the arrival of conceptual work in the dance establishment's mainstream. McGregor's Chroma, a starkly beautiful piece set in a minimalist box of white light, was the popular hit of the 2006-07 Royal Ballet season at London's Covent Garden, and led to his being appointed the Royal's resident choreographer - a radical evolution given that he has no formal classical-dance training. Other McGregor pieces are now in the repertoires of the Paris Opera Ballet, San Francisco Ballet and Stuttgart Ballet companies...
...spaces in which the body performs." By presenting the human form in a new and alien way, he wants audiences to see it through new eyes, and to understand its possibilities. Some have found the work unsettling. "You meet Wayne and he's the nicest guy," says former Royal Ballet star Darcey Bussell. "And then you see the steps and think: Hey, this is not so nice...
...performance - the mesh of high-speed detail, the interplay between the lyrical and the neurotic, the steely calligraphy of the limbs. Few choreographers make more extreme physical and mental demands on their dancers. "He likes brave people who have a willingness to try, and aren't precious," says Royal Ballet principal Edward Watson, who performed in Chroma. "Afterward you feel like your brain's been rewired." Jessica Wright, a dancer with Random, knows this sensation well: "Some of the work is mind-boggling. I love it. He's asking us to be thinking dancers, not just bodies...
...BALLET IN PARIS Legendary choreographers George Balanchine, Rudolf Nureyev and William Forsythe revolutionized ballet, their works acting as bridges between the classical and modern forms. From April 4 to May 9 dance fans can witness the evolution of ballet over the course of a single evening when the Ballet de l'Opéra performs The Four Temperaments (1946), Raymonda (1983), and Artifact Suite (2004), choreographed respectively by Balanchine, Nureyev and Forsythe, together in one show at the Bastille Opera. A rare treat, even if you don't know your plié from your pirouette. www.operadeparis.fr by Jeffrey T. Iverson...