CHANNELLING GHOSTS OF MOVEMENT
Yukichi Hattori hitting his stride in work for Citie Ballet, writes Salena Kitteringham
Could it be that, after more than a decade flourishing onstage as one of Alberta Ballet’s heart-andsoul company dancers, Yukichi Hattori, in his first year offstage, is just now hitting his stride?
As a dancer, he’s been an artist of few words; a powerhouse dynamo delivering performances that speak volumes. But now making his way as a full-time teacher and choreographer, in conversation about his new choreographic work he has created for Edmonton’s Citie Ballet, Hattori is particularly animated.
He is eager to talk. This is a dance-maker with a lot to say. Here we meet a confident choreographer emerging from a deep pool of dance languages to draw from. He says tapping into various techniques, as he did as a dancer, is one of his greatest choreographic strengths.
“I think in my body there are lots of genres of movement, lots of movement ghosts hiding within. Lots of multicultural movement within me ... Where the dance technique comes from, there’s a culture and tradition behind that. I’m starting to use that, hone in on that versatility as a language to portray my characters and colour them.”
Since stepping away from Alberta Ballet last spring, Hattori has launched the Hattori/ Williamson School of Ballet in Calgary with his wife Galien Johnston-Hattori and former professional dance colleague Tara Williamson. The three have 40 years of collective stage experience and share a passion to expand ballet to a wider, more diverse, 21st-century audience.
When Hattori was invited by Citie Ballet’s artistic director Jorden Morris to create a new work for his young professional company, he says he jumped at the chance, engaging Edmonton’s Nulle Part, an electronic music production duo comprised of Jason Troock and Ben Good, to create an original sound score.
“I like that collaborative energy. I had them come into the dance studio and merge the dancers’ energy into the track.”
Hattori says it was the sound artists that suggested they take Ghosts, a novel by César Aira, as a jumping off point for a dance work of the same name.
“The novel takes place in this limbo building, a construction site. It is a metaphor for this world that is in-between,” he explains. “I drew inspiration from the novel to show the two sides of the coin: the movement that goes on back and forth within our minds. How once you go to one side, you yearn for the other and vice versa. Keeping some sort of balance is probably the best way to do it, but our curiosity never lets us just be inbetween. The three of us tried to squeeze the essence of that novel into this work.”
The process of creating Ghosts began in December, with choppy periods of time between rehearsals, with Hattori going back and forth between his home base in Calgary and Citie Ballet’s hometown of Edmonton.
“It was the same amount of time you typically would get with dancers as a guest choreographer,” explains Hattori, “but we had lots of time to think in between. We were able to talk a lot about the novel I based the piece on and do a little improv. It was fun. There was a lot of collaborative spirit in the room.”
Citie Ballet dancer Keira Keglowitch is one of the performers in Ghosts. She says Hattori has maintained his signature style and vision while tailoring the movement to best showcase the unique talents of the young Citie Ballet dancers. “He’s pushed us to meet him half-way.”
Keglowitch, a budding choreographer whose work will be featured on the same bill, says it’s been an amazing learning experience to watch Hattori work with Citie Ballet.
Inspired by the documentary Chasing Ice, Keglowitch’s dance piece focuses on the theme of glacier melting.
“Glaciers are sort of out of sight and out of mind, but they are such an essential part of life on Earth. I’ve seen them first-hand and felt the power they hold.
“I’ve been really fortunate to spend a lot of time growing up outdoors as part of a very adventure-prone family,” says Keglowitch. “We’ve spent a lot of time in the Rockies and I’ve really grown to love and feel connected to that environment ... I’ve developed a huge passion for the reduce, re-use, recycle motto and I’ve always wanted to choreograph about the consequences of our lifestyle on the environment.”
Her piece is called On the Edge and it explores the emotional side of climate change.
“Some sections try to portray the beauty of nature. One of my favourite things is hiking and summiting a mountain peak. I try to capture that feeling, when I’m on a peak and can see for what feels like thousands of miles out into the valley. I also explore the concepts of thirst and dehydration, and I tried to play with the idea of time and urgency, with movement that is sharp and regimented, to represent how we are on schedule for disaster, how we are headed in a particular direction and it’s going to take a lot to stop that momentum.”