‘Rodeo’ ballet bucks casting
Scarcely a slow developer, Justin Peck at 30 has created 30 works for major American companies, principally for New York City Ballet, where he has served as resident choreographer since 2014, while still dancing as a soloist with the troupe. He is also one of the four dancers running the company after the recent retirement of ballet master in chief Peter Martins, who has been accused of verbal and physical abuse. . Peck made his San Francisco Ballet choreographing debut two years ago with “In the Countenance of Kings.” This season, his dances will be seen twice here on opening night of Unbound, A Festival of New Works and on Program 2, when his much lauded “Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes” receives its West Coast premiere.
After watching a 45-minute rehearsal of a duet (“It will take all of 20 seconds in performance,” Peck says), we chatted in an office in the Chris Hellman Center for Dance. Q: Your ballet’s title, “Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming,” sends mixed signals. Where does it come from? A: It’s the title of an album by the French-born composer Anthony Gonzalez who’s part of a band, M83. I chose this music because of my experience with it and how it inspired me in relation to these dancers in this company. I did not walk in saying I wanted to work with pop music. The last time I was here, I was impressed with California’s sprawl, and I spent my free time walking around town with headphones. Q: What is the relationship between the title and the movement? A: The music is specifically inspired by the way we human beings dream at different phases of our life. There are references to dreaming as a child, then dreaming as a coming-of-age teenager and finally dreaming as fully developed adults, and how your experience changes. I made the piece for 14 (7+7) dancers, and I had some in mind from the beginning. I knew Ulrik Birkkjaer who came through New York regularly with the Royal Danish Ballet, and I noticed Gabriela Gonzalez at the Miami Ballet School. She is young but very talented. Q: Let’s talk about “Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes.” Are you dismissing Agnes de Mille’s classic ballet set to the same score? A: No. Agnes pronounced hers “Rodeo (Row Day Oh)” I call mine “Rodeo (Row Dee Oh),” which should tell you something. And, to avoid confusion, I purposely used Aaron Copland’s concert score, rather than the theater version. I am super excited to do it here because the structure of my casting is the inverse of Romantic ballet, with its omnipresent women’s corps. Mine is for one ballerina and men only. San Francisco at the moment has an incredibly strong group of men. This should be a great showcase, not just for their athleticism but for their strength in adagio.
Q: You have been here twice in three seasons. You must really love the company.
A: Outside of City Ballet, San Francisco is my favorite company to work with for a couple of reasons. Helgi (Tomasson) supports, respects and encourages new work; it is top priority. And then there are the dancers. Some of them, like Dores André and Joe Walsh, have tremendous chemistry which I can use.