The Dancers are Young, Beautiful, Sexy, and Smart
8th November, 2008 Valerie Lawson IMAGINE if Karl Lagerfeld appeared on the catwalk to explain how he created his latest collection. Or Vladimir Ashkenazy prefaced his next program at the Sydney Symphony with an on-stage chat about the Elgar works the audience was about to hear. That's what choreographer Christopher Wheeldon is doing for ballet. Explanations might take away the mystique. But then again they might shine a new and revealing light on the art to follow. Before the curtain rises, Wheeldon bounds onto the stage in street clothes to introduce the evening's program of his two-year-old ballet company, Morphoses. Looking younger than his 34 years, he stands at stage right and chats as you might to an old friend, explaining, linking, illuminating what the audience is soon to see. He might also screen film clips showing how a dance work has evolved or play a recording of his dancers telling their life stories. "I think a few simple words about why a program was put together can put an audience at ease," Wheeldon says. "And I enjoy it. I could go on a lot more than I do. I have this self-censor that says, 'That's enough, you've said enough'." It might all sound a bit geeky and self-conscious if the introductory spiel was not followed by dancing of such exceptional quality. Wheeldon's New York-based company is not flush with funds and can't employ full-time dancers, yet in the past couple of years he has called on a network of brilliant dancers from his past lives as a dancer at the Royal Ballet School, London, as a freelance choreographer and as resident choreographer with the New York City Ballet. Wheeldon has assembled a galaxy of stars, among them former Royal Ballet principals Darcey Bussell and Jonathan Cope, current Royal Ballet principals Alina Cojocaru, Leanne Benjamin and Edward Watson, New York City Ballet's Wendy Whelan, American Ballet Theatre star Angel Corella, the two men known as the Ballet Boyz, William Trevitt and Michael Nunn, and principals from San Francisco Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet and Hamburg Ballet. At the Sydney Festival, where Morphoses is to perform in January, the 13-person troupe will include the Royal Danish Ballet star Silja Schandorff and five Australians, including Damian Smith, who trained in Sydney and is now a principal dancer at the San Francisco Ballet. Such dancers are paid less at Morphoses than at their regular jobs but that's not a big deal. They love to dance for Wheeldon, a man who brings out the best in artists. Often described as the world's most inventive classical ballet choreographer and a natural successor to the late George Balanchine, Wheeldon shrinks from the burden of this label. In this new interpretation of a classic tale, The Imperial Ice Stars tell the story of Cinderella, a humble chorus dancer who is thrust into the spotlight as a prima ballerina and captivates the handsome Lord Mayor's son, the most eligible bachelor in town, with her graceful performance. Despite rival attempts by her stepsisters to steal his heart, the kindly Watchmakers and Gypsy Fortune Teller ensure that true love triumphs. Source: Sydney Morning Herald Copyright © 2008 Fairfax Digital |
