Two heads, one dance work
How do choreographers learn to collaborate? By putting egos aside
When it comes to making moves, choreographers generally prefer to go it alone. Roberto Campanella and Robert Glumbek, on the other hand, find lots of reward in choreographing together, as they have done yet again in Expire, a new work being presented this week as part of ProArteDanza’s Harbourfront Centre season.
“It’s an unusual thing in the industry, but I’ve found it to be a wonderful association,” says Campanella, 44, a former National Ballet soloist and ProArteDanza’s founding artistic director.
“Naturally we both have our egos,” says Glumbek, who holds the title of artistic associate. “You learn to put your ego aside when there’s something important to be done.”
Both men are immigrants: Campanella from Italy, Glumbek from Poland. Campanella’s dancing career was blighted by chronic injury and, apart from the occasional appearance, he essentially quit the stage in 2005. Glumbek, 48, has also incurred his share of injuries, most recently to his Achilles two years ago, but has bounced back to continue performing at a physical level that defies his age.
“It hurts my body watching what he does,” jokes Campanella. “Frankly, I don’t know how he does it.”
The two first met when Campa- nella was still with the National Ballet and Glumbek was performing with the long-defunct Desrosiers Dance Theatre. That was 16 years ago; in the intervening years, despite their separate personal lives and busy schedules, they’ve developed a shared creative vision. “There’s a lot of history and friendship,” says Glumbek, who will also dance in ProArteDanza’s “Season 2012” in a duet by American choreographer Kevin O’Day. “Since my last injury I’ve vowed not to dance in my own pieces,” he says ruefully. But how, one might ask, do two choreographers function as a team, even if they are willing to leave their egos — “the tough part,” concedes Campanella — at the rehearsal door?
The process varies with the work, says Campanella, but in the case of Expire, the originating idea came from Glumbek.
“He gets a seed in his mind,” says Campanella. “Then we just talk and talk until we have a framework for the piece.”
In Expire, a work for eight dancers, Glumbek was interested in exploring the theme of breath and breathing, something we almost take for granted.
In shaping movement, Campanella and Glumbek will often divide the work and choreograph separately, bringing what they’ve made to see how it fits together. It sounds rather mechanical, but Campanella explains that the reason it works is that he and Glumbek have similar outlooks on life and a shared dance esthetic.
“He’s Polish and I’m Italian,” says Campanella.
“That means we bring a lot of fire and passion to whatever we do. But it’s crazy how similar we are in our esthetics.
“We share this belief in intense physicality. It’s never about steps for the sake of steps. It’s always focused on emotional energy and how we all connect on a human level.”
Adds Glumbek: “We’ve learned to be very honest with each other. And there’s a lot of unspoken energy, a lot we simply don’t need to talk about because it’s already understood.” ProArteDanza’s Season 2012, including Expire, is at Fleck Dance Theatre, 207 Queens Quay W., Oct. 3 to 6. Go to proartedanza.com or call 416-973-4000 for tickets.