A remarkable ballet rebel returns with some revelatory dance
If you watched a lot of ballet in Toronto in the mid1990s you’d have noticed the kid with the big jump.
You may have wondered what happened to him. Well, Eric Gauthier, the boy who wanted to play hockey, but took up ballet instead, didn’t hang up his dance shoes.
When The National Ballet’s Canadian artistic director Reid Anderson left the country and became head honcho of The Stuttgart Ballet in Germany, 18-year-old Gauthier followed him.
Gauthier didn’t know it then, but he would later become one of the most sought-after forces in dance in Europe.
Well, almost 30 years later he’s coming back to Toronto, where the adventure began, and he’s bringing his award-winning company Gauthier Dance/Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart with him. Unfortunately, it’s only for three performances.
“Back then I was just a kid keen on exploring the world of dance and Europe,” Gauthier says. “I remember I told my mom I’d be back to Canada in two years. When I left, I was only a member of the corps de ballet at The National Ballet of Canada. And I was the only group dancer Anderson invited to join him in Germany.’’
As a kid, Gauthier had seen the musical “Cats” and that was the genesis of his interest in dance.
“I was nine and so impressed by that musical, I just knew that performing on stage was what I wanted to do. My mother sent me to dance classes and I fell in love with the art form straight away. I still love music and singing and I have a band of my own that performs. But I think my greatest talent is dancing.”
Gauthier eventually moved toward choreography, as many dancers do. And he found contemporary dance was a better fit for him than classical ballet.
Starting Gauthier Dance in 2007, a powerful, eclectic company, Gauthier took his work to Stuttgart’s Theaterhaus, an oasis for cutting-edge theatre and dance works, celebrated throughout Germany and all of Europe.
“Passion, passion, passion is what makes the company work,” Gauthier says. “That and hard work. The thing is Gauthier Dance aims to break down the fourth wall. I want audiences to get involved. I want them to share our experience.’’
At the close of a Gauthier Dance program the response is tumultuous. It’s not just an audience giving back affirmation to the dancers and choreographers, it’s a celebration by a committed theatre of followers.
New dance fans and those who have a history with ballet and modern dance join together to fill the theatre with waves of love and respect.
As you might expect, Gauthier, who just turned 47, is high on the works he is bringing to Toronto’s Fleck Theatre this April. For a start, expect two visions of that classical ballet warhorse “Swan Lake.”
“With the ‘Swan Lakes’ that we are doing, I wanted to create a new format for an iconic piece, to give both audiences and artists the chance to draw on a well-known subject. At the same time, I wanted to have them discover something completely new.”
Gauthier Dance/Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart, is bringing to Canada a world premiere by Canadian dance icon Marie Chouinard.
“With ‘Le Chant du Cygne: Le Lac’ Marie wanted to give the swans a voice and a strong message, as opposed to the ‘Swan Lake’ we have seen in countless stagings, where the swans are beautiful and just meant to be looked at,” Gauthier says
“I’ve been a fan of Marie Chouinard ever since I was a kid at The National Ballet School in Toronto. Her fierceness, determination and virtuosity stand out.”
In her lakeside world expect revolution and opposition to oppression. Expect a feminist point of view. Expect a “Swan Lake” with a rock-hard edge.
It is a wily contrast to Hofesh Shechter’s “Swan Cake,” also on the Gauthier bill.
Shecter, an Israeli-American dancer, composer and choreographer, has created more than 30 dance works.
“This one is poetic, powerful and engaging,” Gauthier says.
It’s a real tour de force and a firecracker of a piece. It’s very today and it sums up everything Gauthier Ballet stands for. It makes you walk out of the theatre with a big smile on your face.”
Schecter’s vision has been called, “A dance study in swarm behaviour, set to an immersive score of his own making.”
And all this ballet comes before intermission!
After the interval, the entire 16 members of Gauthier’s company will perform Ohad Naharin’s cult classic “Minus 16.”
“It fits my company like a glove,” Gauthier says. “The choreography here combines diverse episodes, musical material and moods. It’s a terrific finish to a tailor-made program.”
When you ask Gauthier why he turned to choreography, after dancing powerful performances that resonated so deeply, for so many years, he has a simple answer.
“It’s a natural evolution,” he says. “After all, you can’t dance forever.”
So, how does it feel to return to the place where the Quebec-born Gauthier began his onstage dance adventure?
“It feels like pure joy,” Gauthier says. “I couldn’t be more excited.”