Dance Open 2019: Cantus performed by Introdans

Nils Christe in his own words

I find that working with dancers is really the same wherever it is in the world — all dancers are hungry to learn new material, they are like sponges.

I do my best to be receptive to what the energy is like in the studio. It would be a waste of time to just bark my own ideas at the dancers all the time. It’s much more fun when it’s a collaboration.

There is the difference between trying to show myself in the choreography, or using the dancer’s quailities. The movement always looks a million times better when the dancer identifies with it in some way.

Nils Christe

He was born in Rotterdam (the Netherlands) in 1949. He received his dance education at the Rotterdam Dance Academy and for fifteen years was one of the leading dancers of the Nederlands Dans Theater. It was here that he made his first choreography in 1974. This was quickly followed by other works, including Quartet 1, with which he won the first prize at the famous Choreography Competition in Cologne in 1979. From 1986 to 1992 Christe was the artistic director of the Scapino Ballet. Over the last twenty years Christe worked in the Netherlands making choreographies for companies such as Dutch National Ballet and Introdans. He also worked with international companies, in total, Nils Christe has worked with 68 companies in 25 countries all over the world and thus achieved major international fame. Since 1981 Christe has had a close bond with Introdans company and by now their repertoire contains a total of over 20 works by him. The choreographer admits that the music is his creative catalyst. International critics unite in calling him a true «music choreographer». Traditionally, Christe scrupulously analyses each chosen music fragment before the first meeting with the artists. He has notebooks filled with analyses, down to the last note, of the compositions he uses for his ballets. The result of this labour is there for all to see, because in his work you feel that every step, jump or arm movement is there for a purpose. His choreographies seem to be natural extensions of the sound world created by the composer.

Veritable archeologist of the ballet history, an expert in reconstructing the almost totally forgotten partitions.

Man of culture and man of taste, he embodies delicious elegance of the other times through his erudition and manners. But beyond this appearance, Pierre Lacotte had – and has now — a strong influence on the history, style and perception of dance in France as well in the entire world. Today he is considered as the expert — and the reference — in époque Romantique.

Dance Open 2019: «Coppélia» performed by Wiener Staatsballett

Pierre Lacotte in his own words

The 19th century ballets represent an irresistible purity of style. The language of that époque is amazingly rich. Combination of French and Italian schools brings a miracle.

We have so many possibilities with notation and technology now to try to fix the choreography and style of the past. We have all to get together and agree nicely that at least we must reconstitute originals to document them, even film them, before it is too late. I'm sure there are a lot of ballets very ripe for reconstitution that we don't know. We must be the testing ground for people to do it after us.

The classic dance and contemporary dance are like communicating vessels. I think it is no need to make clans; it would be better to make all fibers of our intellectual, artistic or sentimental sensibility vibrate.

The most important things about a Romantic ballet are its lyrism and purity, its power to fascinate a spectator, to take him far away from his problems, worries and from the reality at all. This ballet opens a door to the other world where troubles and challenges of the earthy life do not exist. To be absolutely happy for these few hours — that is the aim. And of course, all romantic ballets are about love.

Pierre Lacotte

He occupies a unique position in the contemporary choreographic universe. Lacotte was a favorite apprentice of a famous Russian ballerina Lubov Egorova, who, in her turn, was a student of Enrico Cecchetti, as well as a classmate of Michel Fokine and an étoile of the Serge Diaghilev's company. Her Paris school became the cradle for many recognized personalities of European and American ballet of the 20th century: from Léonide Massine and Serge Lifar to Sonia Gaskell and Rosella Hightower. In the twilight of her life, Madame Egorova, one of the last ballerinas of the Grand Ballet Age, addressed to Pierre Lacotte bitter and fateful words: “I brought you up on the classics, and you have learnt the entire repertoire. But today I see you dancing jazz... Then, who will be occupied with classics? Promise me you will transmit everything I taught you”. The disciple promised. He kept his word. By that moment, Lacotte had already built a successful stage career. Highly passionate for the dance since his early childhood, at the age of 19 he was dancing the leading roles in the Paris Opera Ballet. In 1954 the Belgian television presented successfully his first choreographic work La Nuit Est Une Sorcière. Since that moment, the desire to create his own choreographic texts guided all his career development. He established his own company Ballets de la Tour Eiffel, and then he headed the company Ballet des Jeunesses Musicales de France. For each of his companies he always created new repertoire, which resulted in more than 40 ballets to the music of Britten, Walton, Ellington, Aznavour and others. But his true destiny lied in the testament of Lubov Egorova. The company Ballet des Jeunesses Musicales de France raised two talented dancers of the generation: Gillen Tesmar and Michael Denard. They helped Lacotte to find courage and start his great adventure: to revive La Sylphide, staged by Filippo Taglioni for his genius daughter, ballerina Marie Taglioni, to the music by Jean-Madeleine Schneitzhoeffer. The premiere took place in 1832 (more than 130 years ago!). Lacotte considered this masterpiece unfairly forgotten and lost in the golden repertoire. He had done a colossal work: he received access to archives of Marie Taglioni, researched original documents, found many unpublished materials and spent long hours talking with Lubov Egorova. She still remembered reminiscences of the last Taglioni’s partner, her teacher, Christian Johansson. That was a real «bridge to eternity», and Lacotte was building it with extreme carefulness, professionalism and soul. It turned to be a triumph. The ballet was premiered as TV-film that was shortly followed by a stage version in Paris Opera. It brought contracts with this renowned ballet company to many stars of the production. Pierre Lacotte understood his calling and became worldwide famous as «the main reconstructor of the 19th century ballets». Among his landmark reconstructions are: Léo Delibes' Coppelia choreographed by Saint Léon (Opera de Paris, 1973), Auber’s Marco Spada choreographed by Joseph Mazilie (Rome Opera, 1981), Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances choreographed by Michel Fokine (Ballets de Monte-Carlo, 1986), Pugni’s Pharaoh's Daughter choreographed by Petipa (Bolshoi Theatre, 2000), Ondine choreographed by Jules Perrot (Mariinsky Theatre, 2006) and many others. During all his long career Pierre Lacotte remained a highly demanded choreographer and an active person. He taught at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de L’Opéra de Paris, headed the Ballets de Monte-Carlo company, the corps-de-ballet of the Italian theatre l’Arena di Verona and was an artistic director of the Ballet National de Nancy et de Lorraine. He wrote a book «Tradition» co-authored by Jean-Pierre Pastori, and he also intrigued the international ballet community with his future book about incredible Marie Taglioni. Today he is full of plans and energy as ever. And let it last for many years.

In his own words

...The only thing I've tried to do is get people's attention. I can make traditional creations, but I know the theater's going to be empty.

...You will never understand the evolution if you don’t understand and don’t know the basis.

...If we put a lot of material and a lot of flowers and many things, finally you are not seeing the most important thing, which is the body of the dancers.

Dance Open 2018: International Jury of Dance Open Award

Antonio Najarro

Internationally renowned choreographer from Spain who became famous not only as a leader of the ballet company, but also as a figure skating choreographer. Antonio staged a number of performances for the Olympic Games. Antonio Najarro began his career getting a Distinction in Spanish Dance in the Real Conservatorio Profesional de Danza in Madrid. As a principal dancer he collaborated with Rafael Aguilar, Antonio Gades, Alberto Lorca, Jose Antonio Ruiz, Jose Granero and others. In 2011 he became a leader of the ballet troupe of the National Ballet of Spain. Despite the fact that Antonio’s «native language» is flamenco, he manages to create works that combine classical dance with tango and jazz. In his opinion, choreography is not just a set of body movements. It is a flow of energy that controls the heart beat and the subtle movements of the soul. For the choreographer the appearance of the artist is as important as the inner state. Therefore, he also designs costumes for some of his projects. For Najarro the distinctive feature of his choreography is the abundance of «small details in movements, gestures, and expression, which are difficult to grasp and describe, but which make the work special and form its style». He is a winner of numerous awards, including Person of the Year (2017) for the Dance category, National Award Living Culture (2017), Harlequin award for best young choreographer (2009), Best Choreographer prize of the International Flamenco and Spanish Dance Competition in Seville (2008).

Dance Open 2021: «О ФЛАМЕНКО. ПАМЯТИ МАРИО МАЙЯ / DE LO FLAMENCO. HOMENAJE A MARIO MAYA» в программе «ОБРАЩЕНИЯ» в исполнении НАЦИОНАЛЬНОГО БАЛЕТА ИСПАНИИ

Марио Майя от первого лица

...В эпоху мощных социально-экономических и культурных изменений приходится искать новые формы, новые средства выразительности — потому что это единственная возможность сохранить интерес публики к фольклору... ...Искусство — это особенная концепция жизни и символический вызов человечеству…

Mario Maia

He is called a rebel, a genius, a bold innovator and a pioneer who gave the world a new style of dance and a school that synthesizes the art of ballet with the traditions of flamenco. Many will agree that among the choreographers and dancers in the history of spanish dance of the twentieth century, Mario Maya is one of the iconic figures. An unusual biography and some romantic extraordinariness are the usual set for a true and great bailaor (spanish dancer). Born in a gypsy family, Maya absorbed the traditional culture of the Granada quarter of Sacromonte as a child, and began dancing as soon as he learned to walk. Impressed by the talent of little Mario, the English artist Josette Jones painted his portrait. After winning the prize, she unexpectedly sent all the money to the boy. This gift of fate allowed Maya to go to Madrid to study. The legendary Pilar Lopez, discovered Maya, once seeing his dance in the tablao (a place where flamenco dancers performed). The Spanish ballet Pilar Lopez was famous not only for its bright performances, but also for being a forge of frames. Her school was passed, for example, by Antonio Gades, who, like no one else, did a lot for the popularity of flamenco in the world. Maya worked at the company for only two years, but they became an important stage in his creative path. After working with Lopez, Mario's brilliant career started: one after another, bright duets with talented dancers were born, offers of tours, including in the United States, were showered. In the mid-1960s, he unexpectedly moved to New York to study modern dance at the schools of the most progressive choreographers. Many believe that it was the acquaintance with the American "new wave theater" that led the Maya to create their own unique style. The New York audience was amazed by the revolutionary performances and non-standard approach to traditional flamenco. Maya brought elements of ballet technique and exercise to it, curbing the irrational spontaneity of traditional dance. In an effort to make it a full-fledged alternative to classical ballet, he not only made an attempt to put flamenco on an academic basis, but consistently transformed it into an expressive means. Gradually, his choreographic numbers developed into full-fledged performances, where the dance became only part of the action designed to reveal the storyline. And in later productions of the Maya, various poetic texts also appeared. In the 1970s, after returning to Spain, he created several independent ensembles of his own, received many honorary awards and accepted the artistic leadership of an Andalusian dance troupe. Finally in 1983 Mario Maia opened a school in Seville, where flamenco is taught along with classical ballet and jazz dancing. Today, several generations of talented artists call him their teacher. From the street stage to the professional theater – the grandiose path made by Mario Maya can not fail to impress.

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