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Season
2013 – 2014
Welcome to the Royal Ballet of Flanders
2013/14 season, my first full one
as artistic director of our award winning
company. I have put together
programmes that pay homage to our
rich past with contemporary perspectives
that I hope will challenge, inspire
and continue to demonstrate the great
diversity of Belgium’s only classical
ballet company. I am particularly delighted
this year to be working closely
with the Vlaamse Opera in the two
glorious opera houses in Antwerp and
Ghent to bring you the very best ballet
and opera.
For me, creation and collaboration
are critical to the wellbeing and health
of the art form of ballet. Our dancers are
superb artists and athletes and they must
not only interpret works created on others
but also be creative instruments for
choreographers of today. Creation is very
much the life blood of ballet, and this
season, our programmes include new
works that continue our Made in Flanders
brand. A highlight of this creative force is
our annual Coupe Maison, which allows
our own dancers opportunities to develop
their choreographic talents on their peers.
Creation was very much at the
core of ballet in the early 20 th century.
This season coincides with the 100 th
anniversary of the first performance
of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, a
work which shocked the senses and
challenged notions of ballet in the collaboration
between Stravinsky and the
choreographer / dancer Vaslav Nijinsky.
Sergei Diaghilev was the mastermind behind
this creation and all that the Ballets
Russes produced.1909-1929 was a true
golden age of ballet that forever changed
our perceptions of the art form. To celebrate
this era, we present Diaghilev
Unbound, bringing to the stage musical
masterpieces through reinterpretations
of three of the greatest ballets of that
period, the Belgian premiere of Glen
Tetley’s tour de force version of The
Rite of Spring and a new production of
Stravinsky’s Les Noces choreographed
by one of today’s rising choreographic
talent’s Slovenia’s Edward Clug. To
round out the programme, I have invited
my fellow Antwerp resident, Sidi Larbi
Cherkaoui to work with our company for
the very first time to stage his acclaimed
Faun. All three, contemporary views on
iconic works.
In the Spring, we challenge conceptions
of classical ballet in Beyond the
Tutu, a programme that opens with one
Season 2013 – 2014
of classical ballet’s most challenging
works for the female dancers, La Bayadère,
The Kingdom of the Shades by
Marius Petipa, staged for us by legendary
American ballerina Cynthia Harvey. The
men are put through their paces on the
same programme by the return of Nicolo
Fonte’s Made Man, a work specially
made for the Royal Ballet of Flanders in
2010. We round out this programme with
Tyll by the Swedish iconoclast, Alexander
Ekman. No ordinary classical ballet, Tyll is
a fast-paced piece with tongue-in-cheek
commentary on classical ballet. As with
many of his works, with a twinkle in his
eye, Ekman brings humour to the stage.
For our full length production of the
year, we are producing a new interpretation
of Serge Prokofiev’s Romeo and
Juliet. This is the crown jewel of the
season, as the world’s most famous love
story receives its world premiere in a
new production by Russian choreographer
Slava Samodurov who is joined by
Belgian’s leading fashion designer Tim
Van Steenbergen to create the costumes,
and set designer Anthony Macllwaine to
bring to the stage a fresh new view on
these star-crossed lovers.
As in the past, we have a guest company
with us in the spring at ‘t Eilandje.
We introduce you to a company making
its Belgian debut, Saarländisches Staatstheater/Donlon
Dance Company from
Germany with two works by award winning
choreographer and Artistic Director
Marguerite Donlon.
A highlight of the year will be our
first international gala on 17 October at
the Antwerp Opera House, that brings
our dancers on stage with dancers from
Stuttgart Ballet, the Dutch National Ballet
and other companies from around
the globe.
As always, our doors are open to you
our public from Classics in the City, behind-the-scenes
tours, open rehearsals,
pre performance talks and schools matinees
to 24 Hours in the Podium, all giving
you insights and access to the world of
ballet and our dancers here at the Royal
Ballet of Flanders. From avant-garde
ballet to classical, there is something for
everyone. I look forward to welcoming
audiences old and new to exploring our
performances in Antwerp and Ghent.
Warmest wishes,
Assis Carreiro
Artistic Director
56
Conversation Assis Carreiro &
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui
This season, Antwerp based international
choreographer Sidi Larbi
Cherkaoui works with the Royal Ballet
of Flanders for the very first time staging
his acclaimed Faun duet. Artistic
Director Assis Carreiro spent some
time with Sidi Larbi discussing, Sergei
Diaghilev, ballet, dance in Belgium
and the general state of the art form,
a conversation that they hope to continue
over the coming year…
A: Last week I went to the Paris Opera
Ballet to see your newest creation
to Ravel’s Bolero. It was really beautiful,
what a wonderful new work.
S: It was a pleasure to make it. The
dancers have worked very hard to master
Damien and my dance language.
Dance is my language. There was not
much time and it was physically pretty
intense and was not easy for them to
find the efficiency to execute the movements.
But we chose mature dancers
who could fall back on their experience
to make it work.
A: This season you are coming to
work with the Royal Ballet of Flanders
for the first time and to have ballet
dancers produce a new interpretation
of your Faun. It is a wonderful opportunity
to have our first collaboration
and I hope not the last.
S: Collaboration and cooperation is
the exchange of knowledge and technique.
It is an exchange of information,
and the specific qualities each person
owns. Ballet uses its own rules, it has
its own aesthetic and its own sense of
shapes and architecture that are very
valuable and that generate a specific
beauty. In contemporary dance we have
the example of Trisha Brown who works
with release technique, the geometric
movements of William Forsythe and
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker who
works from the mathematics of the
musical composition. My own contribution
is perhaps that I grew up with the
‘movements of the street’, which allows
me to translate to other dance styles in
a qualitative way. My dance language is
fluent and organic and inspired by yoga
and martial arts.
A: One hundred years ago ballet
was so innovative, but today, innovation
seems to take place mainly in the
world of contemporary dance, no?
S: In the beginning of the last century
there was no fear and no need to get
financial support. The institutionalization
of art came later. Choreographers from
the beginning of the last century, such
as Vaslav Niijnsky, showed the audience
what they really wanted to say, it was
very honest. They did not consider the
opinion of journalists, critics and others.
Faune was very risky at the time and
avant-garde, organic and conceptual. His
theme was controversial. He translated
Greek sculpture to the stage. Sexuality
is very explicitly addressed. I have enormous
respect for the courage of Les
Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev.
A: Where is the art form of ballet
today?
S: By creating the many structures,
hierarchies and ownership around art,
other interests, such as economics
come into play. As an artist, you are
sometimes a bit of a hostage to everyone’s
interests and walk into certain
agendas that often have little to do with
artistic creation and take no account of
art as it comes from a different value
system.
The dance world is completely divided,
we have reached a point where we
have to find each other again and this
is difficult. When I started working with
the Ballet of Monte Carlo, ten years ago,
in 2004, I was one of the first contemporary
choreographers who went from
a perspective of contemporary dance
to the ballet, and I was welcomed with
open arms. A lot of people around me
questioned my decision. Ballet is dance
and I am interested in movement. I felt
good about it.
A: Twenty years ago when I moved
to England there was a big divide
between ballet and contemporary
dance, but it has become increasingly
smaller over the years and both realize
they need each other.
S: Is it to do with the elitist versus
popular? Whether they want to see
themselves in a better light. It comes
to quality and equality and this can be
found in different styles. Ballet is different
from other dance languages. Is it
therefore important or not? You do not
compare Dutch and French in terms of
elitist or old-fashioned. Each language
has historic and beautiful words that you
will not find in any other language. Ballet
is similar, it offers many possibilities.
Each dance style is fighting for
dominance and the underdog must fight
back. Maybe ballet assumed the role of
the underdog, and therefore it will start
fighting back. Once there is a capacity
to see equality across the genres, there
will be a better understanding of this
thing called dance.
A: Since the Autumn of 2012, I
have been the Artistic Director of the
Royal Ballet of Flanders and moved
to continental Europe. The division
is still evident here, and I did not expect
it. Here, ballet still often gets the
stamp of being ‘old-fashioned’. For
English
me it is far from old-fashioned, but
rather a great technique that opens
up a lot of possibilities. How can we
convince people that ballet is innovative
and very potent? It is a common
idea that prevails and is not a reality.
By working together with you, I hope
that we reach an audience that we
cannot otherwise reach. We hope that
your audience will come to see Faun
in another context. They may think
that ballet is not for them but perhaps
it is. I think when people come to see
The Return of Ulysses it comes as
a surprise too, as it is not what they
expected a ballet would be. Ballet can
transcend clichés, but this remains
a challenge. We want our audience
to have a taste of your work, and to
broaden their dance diet.
S: When I made the flamenco show
with Maria Pagés, I came into contact
with two groups: flamenco fans and
the rest who asked me what the hell I
wanted to do with flamenco. But they
came to watch the show and thought
it was phenomenal. People often have
their opinion ready but you can still surprise
them.
A: Do you think ballet dancers are
afraid of working with contemporary
choreographers? Afraid that they will
lose their technique?
S: Dancers know that they can
develop further by delving into dance
disciplines other than their own; their
language is movement. They are very
driven to master the unfamiliar movements
and to make them their own.
For me it’s about finding a way to show
them. Dance is my language: It is easy
for someone to overwhelm with a dance
technique. Sharing your own dance
language is difficult. During the last ten
years I have been working with other
dancers and I teach them my dance
language and they teach me theirs. For
a choreographer it is important that you
bring your own dance language to create
something beautiful together.
A: Along with your Faun we bring
to the stage this Autumn Le Sacre du
Printemps by Glen Tetley and a brand
new Les Noces by Edward Clug.
The program is entitled Diaghilev
Unbound because all the works are
contemporary interpretations set to
iconic music commissioned for the
Ballets Russes. Diaghilev’s gifts still
allow for reinterpretation and are very
potent and relevant today.
S: I grab with both hands opportunities
that allow comment on the work
of previous generations. Thanks for
the space that you offer me. In the
beginning it can be quite frightening
to reinterpret a very familiar work just
because everyone knows it. As it was
57
with Ravel’s Bolero that I created with
Damien Jalet at the Paris Opera Ballet.
But it is good to gain the trust and to
make choreography to even the most
famous scores. This includes Faun that I
will make for you of course. It’s like a reworking
of Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare.
Everyone knows the story, but
the way someone approaches the story
is often unique.
A: I and only a few others in the audience
at the Paris Opera might have
seen the Bolero by Maurice Béjart but
the music of course everyone knows.
I did not have time to think about
Béjart because I was so impressed
by the music and the performance of
your interpretation.
S: I see it from the perspective of
an artist. A lot has been done and it remains
frightening to work on something
that everyone knows. You ask yourself
in advance how well you can use the
familiar choreography and what you
can overcome. It is a story that quietly
takes shape in your mind. Béjart lived in
Belgium and we met in 2004 in Monte
Carlo. The first thing he told me was
that he had heard that I worked a lot
with other choreographers. Then he
said to me that he created his best work
while collaborating with others. Ten
years later when Brigitte Lefevre asked
me to create a new version of Bolero
I also wanted to collaborate with others
including Damien Jalet and Marina
Abramovic.
A: Collaboration is very important.
I see in Belgium a great deal of innovation
and creativity in dance and
here at the ballet we need to continue
to evolve and collaboration is a wonderful
way of ensuring this.
S: The strongest artistic achievements
are often collaborations between artists
and organizations. The year that I danced
with Alain Platel’s Les Ballets C de la B
and we collaborated with Victoria, everyone
developed better and the more it
happened the better. Some artists isolate
themselves to maintain their artistic
integrity and not lose their focus but you
can lose a connection with others.
Flanders exerts an attraction for
international artists. Many foreign artists
live and work here because there
is great interest in art. At the Royal
Ballet of Flanders there are 18 different
nationalities, and the company is strong
because it brings together many different
influences.
The ballet language was for a long
time the dominant language of dance.
If you had not received ballet training,
then you could not dance. I of course do
not agree and I never will, because I’ve
seen far too many incredibly good dancers
from other dance disciplines who