HAVING FUN AT BALLET B.C.
Company aims to wow audiences with Minus 16
SPOTLIGHT
Ballet B.C. Program 3
May 11-13 | Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Tickets: $21.25-$91.25 at ticketmaster.ca Ballet B.C. is closing out its 31st season with some impressive firsts.
Program 3 consists of world premieres by two choreographers, the France-based Emanuel Gat and Ballet B.C.’s own artistic director Emily Molnar. The show also marks the first time the company has performed a piece by the iconic Israeli contemporary dancer, choreographer and Batsheva Dance Company artistic director Ohad Naharin.
“For me sharing my work with dancers and the audience is a privilege,” said Naharin over the phone from Tel Aviv, where he was putting the finishing touches on a new work for his company.
“He is one of our master choreographers today in the world,” said Molnar, whose new piece Keep Driving, I’m Dreaming is a journey into — you guessed it — dreams. “We decided to do something that really initiates the company into his language. So for him Minus 16 is a kind of initiation piece in a way. It is a masterwork of his style. Also a big joy of that piece is it has a kind of special audience relationship. It kind of breaks down the fourth wall. Audiences love it. It is such a great work for the dancers to investigate, but it is also a glorious piece for audience members. “We’re super-excited.” Molnar, a former dancer, gets the exciting part from the tips of her fingers to her toes as Naharin’s work is always inherently understood to be a joyful experience for dancers and the Minus 16 piece is no different. It should also be noted that it is considered an audience favourite as it combines contemporary 20th-century music with Naharin’s movement vision.
“It’s very lively and playful. The music is wonderful. It just kind of engages an audience to just enjoy the purity of the love of dance,” said Molnar. “It is also a very smart piece. It travels through different textures and tones but ultimately you walk away thrilled.”
Originally mounted in 1999, Minus 16 is set to a very eclectic score. Everything from mambo to Dean Martin to techno and traditional Israeli music is utilized. Bottom line: it’s fun.
“Yes, there is something in this piece that has a little bit of a sense of celebrating dance,” said Naharin. “There is something about the work, the volume of it, the dynamics of it, the humour in it, the sentiment the point of reference that makes it available.”
Naharin’s backstory is an interesting and colourful one. He did not start dancing until he was 22 years old. It was during his very first year with the Batsheva Dance Company that he was scouted by modern dance master Martha Graham.
Graham asked him to come to New York. He did. There he studied at the School of American Ballet and the Juilliard School. He made his choreography debut in 1980.
Naharin was appointed artistic director of the Batsheva Dance Company in 1990. During his tenure he has created more than 30 works and developed his innovative Gaga movement.
Gaga has nothing to do with a meat dress or little monsters, but rather it is a highly regarded school of thought that focuses on the purest form of movement. Basically, dancers are instructed to take their most basic instinctive motions and build upon them.
“One thing I have been influenced by and so have many, many dance artists in the world is his Gaga movement technique and what that is doing for dance around the world,” said Molnar.
“It’s pure movement. Your own body expression in action, everybody is unique and everybody is different.”
An internationally recognized and honoured choreographer, Naharin doesn’t see his works as rigid enclosures that house the dancers. He sees his pieces as joyful templates that launch a connection between effort and pleasure.
“The choreography is just an excuse for them to learn something new about themselves about why they dance and how they dance,” said Naharin. “It’s about discovering their own pleasures and helping to open up new pleasures. It’s about helping them to connect their skills and imagination.
“Dancing is not about performing. You don’t need an audience to perform. You don’t need an audience to dance. That’s what we try to teach,” added Naharin. “It’s not to negate ballet but to help people when they do ballet to listen to their body.”
If you want to see more of Naharin’s world you can check out Tomer Heymann’s new documentary Mr. Gaga. The film is an interesting exploration of an artist and it requires no previous dance understanding to enjoy. The works that it presents are stunning. You literally cannot take your eyes off of the dancers.
“The dancers are having a ball and the audience is having a great time,” said Molnar about Naharin’s works. “He is such a smart choreographer. It is not just anything up there — it is very well structured.
“I have been a big fan of his for many, many years.”
The full 16-member Ballet B.C. company will be dancing Minus 16. Almost two decades after it premiered, Minus 16 has become a bedrock of Naharin’s portfolio. But for its creator, legacy is not something to dwell on. His view is simple — pleasure.
“The age of the work has nothing to do with how excited I can get,” said Naharin. “I can teach people something two months ago and I can be bored to death because it didn’t excite me. What excites me is not my choreography. What excites me is the expression of the dancers. So for that it doesn’t matter when I did the work. What is fresh about the work is how the dancers do it for me.”
Adding to the firsts list for Ballet B.C.’s new Program 3 is that Gat’s piece, created specifically for Ballet B.C., marks the first time a Canadian company has commissioned a work by him — a work that Gat is fully immersed in.
“He does the music, the score and the lighting,” said Molnar. “It’s amazing.”