April 5, 2011

A Noble Radiance: Johan Kobborg Interview (Pointe Magazine)

Laura @ 17:58 —
Filed under: English,Interviews — Tags: , , , , —

The Royal Ballet’s Johan Kobborg needs no introduction – his legendary partnership with Alina Cojocaru, his dramatic flair, the productions he has staged around the world speak for themselves.  For Pointe Magazine’s Reverence column, he talked to me about Bournonville, shopping, singing and more:

Cover of the April/May 2011 issue © Pointe Magazine

Cover of the April/May 2011 issue © Pointe Magazine

In reaching the top, how much is talent and how much is sweat?
For me, it was definitely more determination than talent. I know principals all over the world who are actually not naturally talented, but have worked very hard.

What are you most proud of?
My productions of La Sylphide. Staging it at the Bolshoi was an enormous personal achievement, because they’d just done a different production of La Sylphide, and I was able to change the dancers’ opinions of the ballet.

You were trained in Bournonville technique. What do you love most about it?
For a dancer it’s an amazing technical base. Maybe especially for boys, because for all the jumps you’re not using your arms to get you in the air. It comes from the stomach. That core strength makes everything else easier.

What’s your biggest indulgence?
I’m a shopaholic. If you let me loose in Dolce & Gabbana and I see something, I just think, ‘I work so hard, I should have it.’ It’s not good. I’m also a bit of a sparkler—I always wear gold sneakers. I have lots of pairs. (…)

» Read the full interview in Pointe Magazine: “A Noble Radiance,” April/May 2011

Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg in rehearsal for La Sylphide © Johan Persson

Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg in rehearsal for La Sylphide © Johan Persson





December 23, 2010

Big, Bold, Bolshoi: Yuri Burlaka Interview (Pointe Magazine)

Laura @ 21:11 —
Filed under: English,Interviews — Tags: , , , , —

Yuri Burlaka has been a discreet presence at the helm of the Bolshoi Ballet, but he has clearly allowed the company to build on the renaissance Alexei Ratmansky initiated. I had the great pleasure to meet him in London last summer, and my “Director’s Notes” article is in the latest issue of Pointe Magazine:

Cover of the December 10/January 2011 issue © Pointe Magazine

Cover of the December '10/January 2011 issue © Pointe Magazine

Even on a Friday morning in the midst of a three-week tour to London, the atmosphere in a Bolshoi company class is reverential. There’s no chatting or laughing at the barre. The soft-spoken coach, Marina Kondratieva, enumerates steps calmly and thoughtfully. Each dancer respectfully thanks her and the pianist before leaving the room. Their dedication is a reminder of the company’s illustrious history.

Founded in 1776, Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre has long boasted one of Russia’s preeminent ballet companies. Swan Lake received its première there, and Alexander Gorsky and Leonid Lavrovsky, among others, contributed to its distinctive bold, fearless style. After the Russian Revolution, the company grew close to the Soviet establishment, and produced stars such as Ekaterina Maximova and Vladimir Vasiliev under the 30-year directorship of Yuri Grigorovitch. “Bolshoi” means “big” in Russian, and any artistic director today has to cope with the challenge of bringing a weighty institution, reluctant to change its ways, into the 21st century. (…)

» Read the full interview in Pointe Magazine

Yuri Burlaka in rehearsal for Paquita Grand Pas © Damir Yusupov

Yuri Burlaka in rehearsal for Paquita Grand Pas © Damir Yusupov





October 3, 2010

Interview : Wayne Eagling, a Steady Presence at ENB (Pointe Magazine, October/November 2010)

Laura @ 18:26 —
Filed under: English,Interviews,Other — Tags: , , —

My interview with English National Ballet director Wayne Eagling is now online as well as in the new issue of Pointe Magazine! From the current strength of the company to his casting policy and the difficulty to mount new productions, the former Royal Ballet Principal discusses his vision for a company which has left its troubles behind since he arrived…

Cover of the October/November 2010 issue © Pointe Magazine

Cover of the October/November 2010 issue © Pointe Magazine

Watching English National Ballet’s corps de ballet glide through the second act of Giselle, it’s hard to imagine the com­pany’s very existence was in jeopardy five years ago. Two artistic directors had resigned in rapid succession, citing insufficient funding among other reasons. England’s Arts Council was forced to implement a four-year plan to keep the London-based company alive. The odds were certainly against Wayne Eagling when he became director in 2005, but his steady, patient work behind the scenes has resulted in a small revolution.

Founded in 1950 by British stars Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin, English National Ballet was designed to bring prestigious guest artists and a classical repertoire to remote areas in the UK. Today, the company continues to tour extensively, but it now cultivates young stars of its own.

Eagling quickly realized his mission at ENB would be quite different from what he had known during his previous 13 years as director of the state-funded Dutch National Ballet. Formerly a principal dancer with The Royal Ballet, Canadian-born Eagling appreciated the “family business” feel of ENB, relishing the opportunity to spend more time in the studio. He began building on the company’s existing strengths, including talented dancers and a packed schedule, with some 170 performances a year. (…)

» Read the full article in Pointe Magazine: “Core Strengths,” October/November 2010





June 27, 2010

Interview : Dusty Button, Breaking the Mold at BRB (Pointe Magazine, June/July 2010)

Laura @ 20:09 —
Filed under: English,Interviews — Tags: , , , , —

Dusty Button (surely one of the most delightful names in the business?) has been with Birmingham Royal Ballet for two seasons, but in her teenage years she was also one of the most successful dancers on the US competition circuit. I found out why she decided to complete her training at the Royal Ballet School and stay on to work in England, and the article is in the latest issue of Pointe Magazine, which features ABT’s Maria Riccetto on the cover:

Cover of the June/July 2010 issue © Pointe Magazine

Cover of the June/July 2010 issue © Pointe Magazine

Onstage, Dusty Button defies categorization. The Birmingham Royal Ballet corps member from South Carolina uses her long, swan-like lines with typical English softness but bursts with energy in spiky contemporary work. Once told by a teacher at American Ballet Theatre’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School that she had “too many ingredients” in her soup, Button may be the unlikeliest dancer to find a home in an English company.

Ballet did not start out her favorite genre. Button began dancing at age 7, dividing her time between jazz, tap, hip hop and ballet. Within a few years, she was winning prizes at competitions like Showstoppers and New York City Dance Alliance. “I loved it because it was a way for people from elsewhere to see me dance,” she says. (…)

» Read the full interview in Pointe Magazine





April 1, 2010

Interview : Maverick Marie-Agnès Gillot in Pointe Magazine (April/May 2010)

Laura @ 21:46 —
Filed under: English,Interviews — Tags: , , —

Marie-Agnès Gillot was the first dancer in the history of the Paris Opera Ballet to be made an Etoile not at the end of traditional full-length ballet, but after a contemporary performance. It was Carolyn Carlson’s Signes, in 2004, and since then Gillot has remained the most peculiar star of the company – with few classical heroines in her repertoire, but instead a wealth of tailor-made creations and avant-garde collaborations. I caught up with her a few months ago for a Reverence interview published in the latest issue of Pointe Magazine, with the lovely Maria Kochetkova on the cover:

Cover of the April/May 2010 issue © Pointe Magazine

Cover of the April/May 2010 issue © Pointe Magazine

You are a choreographer as well as a dancer. What drew you to hip hop for Les Rares Différences, the piece you made for the 2007 Festival of Dance in Suresnes?
My subject was Auguste Rodin. I needed bodies like sculptures—ballet dancers are too lean. Hip hop dancers have an absolutely statuesque upper body. I learned a lot from hip hop, too, especially from the movement dissociations.

What are you currently working on?
I’m putting together the first dance flash mob in France, for a charity. We will have professional dancers performing in a train station.

Who inspires you?
All of my colleagues. I pay a lot of attention to them, and I always find something that I would like to replicate. I love taking a little something from everyone.

Of which accomplishment are you the most proud?
I loved my first Don Quixotes and Swan Lakes. It was a consecration—I was already an étoile, even though I didn’t have the title. The audience and the orchestra were stamping. My dressing room was so filled with flowers I couldn’t sit. (…)

» Read the full interview in Pointe Magazine: ‘The Maverick Star,’ April/May 2010





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