MEET THE ARTIST BEHIND THE CREATIVE WHEELS OF THE  NEW WAVE OF SWISS BALLET

The audience notices Heinz Spörli’s legacy in your choreographies, do you share this opinion?
I think it is normal to be influenced by the choreographers I worked with throughout my career! Each experience makes me keep something from it, a step, a feeling, a breath, things that altogether starts to build my own language. Heinz Spörli was part of my career for a long time so his influence is palpable, but I am sure he is not the only one! I believe that it is a natural way for any choreographer to find his way, and I am still living new experiences as a dancer that still touch me somehow.

In your latest creations, piano and strings were featured intensely. Is this becoming a trademark of your work?
In general, I am probably inspired with compositions for piano and strings but I don’t think that it is a trademark of my work! I might have had a period that I was influenced by this type of music but I am always open to new styles of compositions that inspires me.

You have the ability to make the dancer who dances in pointed shoes look as much as the male dancer in solitary. What importance do you give to the roles in your choreographies?
In general I like to work with the ladies on pointe-shoes, I think it is something that we are losing more and more in the ballet world! I also like to put them in soft shoes or socks, it brings a certain heaviness into the movements and definitely gives us ore liberty in motion, but I am open to any options. Each piece is different for me and I think the dancers influenced me a lot into giving them the right importance, and that reflects into the piece, but I share the importances between female and male roles.

Stepping Over — Ball James & Grant
Foto: Jeff Cravottafix

What’s it like to work with your own company’s dancers? Do you enjoy true freedom of choice when casting? Are you demanding or do you give them freedom of movement?
The good side of working with my colleagues is that I know them all, their strengths and their weaknesses, which is perfect for me to cast them on the right part! The downside is that it is hard to leave them out of my pieces, but that is something I have to start dealing with, I can’t always use them all. Also, the fact that I know them well on a personal level helps us feeling comfortable working together, but it can also be an obstacle for them to take it more seriously, but we try to find a good balance and, in the studio, we are professionals.

Can you relax on your spare time off work or do you feel the itch to create on the train, your home or during vacations?
If I am not actively creating a piece, then I can enjoy my free time without thinking about it, but when I’m working on something all my spare time is used to at least listening to the music, so the piece is alive in my head and starts to take over! I like that anyway, so hopefully I will always have something to think about in my free time.

Let’s focus on a particular piece:
Regarding the minimalism surrounding the mise-en-scène of Stepping Over created for the Charlotte Ballet, which I thought to be one of the most beautiful pieces I have seen lately. Do you feel that you achieved the technique and harmony from the dancers that the audience was able to witness in every movement?
Nice that you talk about Stepping Over because it was an amazing experience I had! I was somewhat concern ed about it because it was the first time I was going to work with dancers I didn’t knew, so regardless that I had the music and started imagining the piece, I didn’t have the faces yet so in a way, I was stuck on my imagination. As soon as I got to know them everything started to make sense and the puzzle pieces fell in the right place. They were fantastic, I just had to say it and they would do it right away, no questions asked, no struggle, they would just find a way to do it immediately and that was truly inspiring. It was definitely a great experience that I would love to repeat! I think that as choreographers we will always find something more to explore, there’s no ending, the piece should be always alive and reaching further from their own limits, I am sure Stepping Over has grown a lot since the premiere and the more they would perform more they would achieve.

How did you manage to inspire your dancers to achieve such sensitivity in such a technical choreography?
I think the music helps me achieve that personal sensibility and after it I only have to transmit that feeling and use their own skills to reach it through the movement. It is a fascinating task!

To conclude, are you working on a new piece? Are we going to see you on stage soon?
Yes. I am working on a new piece for the Junior Ballet Zürich which premieres in Winterthur Theatre on October 20th. I am using “Fearful Symmetries” from John Adams, which has been inspiring since I first started to choreograph but only now I felt secure enough to create with. Working with such young talents also helped me take the decision of using this composition because of the huge power it transmits, which I am sure the dancers will be able to show too.