Feet in two worlds

By BERNADETTE RAE

Cinderella is a certainty and Swan Lake can always be relied on to lay the golden box office egg. There is a beautiful tradition supporting the continued performance of the world's big white ballets. But artistic director Gary Harris, of the Royal New Zealand Ballet's triple bill featuring Saltarello, Abhisheka and The Celebrated Soubrette, believes it is "imperative that the company presents works like these, where the boundaries are pushed out for the dancers, the company and the audience. This is ballet for the 21st century."

Every art form must continue to grow and develop with the times. But contemporary programmes are notoriously difficult to sell. "People love going to see the story ballets, because they are familiar and they know what they will get. With the contemporary bills, they are not so sure."

One of the hottest issues facing the future of ballet is striking the elusive balance between traditional movement and innovation. For Harris that means keeping the classical genre visible, in the arabesques and the pointe work. But he wants to see those elements choreographed so the work looks fresh, quirky, extraordinary and athletic.

It has worked, in Harris' book, if the audience is on the edge of their seats saying, "Wow! Just look at what these people can do with their bodies".

Saltarello has already proved its "wow" worth, bursting on stage for its 2001 premiere in Wellington dressed in slinky black and silver, and punching out a near perfect blend of edgy, contemporary originality in fine classical technique, set to a medieval musical score.

Choreographer Christopher Hampson, barely in his 30s, has since created the company's version of Romeo and Juliet, again a celebration of classical technique and storytelling, but given a contemporary twist, no less effective for its supreme subtlety. Saltarello and Romeo and Juliet are in the company's repertoire for the tour of Britain next month, alongside Javier De Frutos' Milagros and Mark Baldwin's FrENZy.

Hampson has reworked some aspects of Saltarello, primarily to set it on a larger stage. The first version formed part of the road tour, with stage size an issue in many smaller towns. The beginning has been re-choreographed, there are several additions to the body of the work, and the lighting design by John Rayment is also new.

Adrian Burnett's Abhisheka is a new commission, set to fellow New Zealander John Psathas' music which draws inspiration from Hindu ceremonial cleansing rites.

Burnett describes it as an atmospheric piece, exploring stillness and space. Dressed in cream, gold and coconut colours that echo elements of the original cleansing ritual, and performed on a set that suggests a sacred chalice, the work abounds in layers of intricate movements, breaking into big sweeping steps.

"The RNZB is a classical ballet company," says Burnett, "but they can also do contemporary things. They are superb at both. I use pointe work in Abhisheka but the crossover, the intersection of the classical and contemporary movement, is what forms the vocabulary and is what I found so interesting."

The final work is The Celebrated Soubrette by Javier De Frutos, a tribute to Las Vegas nightlife that does not shy away from showing its characters in the light of day. It is set to American composer Michael Daugherty's tribute to Liberace, with four movements - Rhinestone Kickstep, How Do I Love Thee?, Sequin Music and Candelabra Rhumba.

De Frutos describes his style of choreography as "a combination of balletic movements, showgirl dancing, idiosyncratic and comic movements". But it is not all glitter and glitz.

A soubrette is a certain type of showgirl, says De Frutos. Often they were classical ballet dancers who grew too tall or too shapely for the classical stage and were snapped up by Les Folies Bergere. They had to "look quite good" too.

De Frutos' work is primarily about the psychology of being a soubrette: she had a job but that success was still coloured by a sense of rejection. Above all, she had to keep her glamorous looks.

He says Mae West was a typical soubrette, maintaining her platinum mane, beauty-queen makeup and style until she was 85.

"The primary drive was a fear of age," he says. "And that is an interesting concept for dancers - even these dancers who are not old at all, but still have to deal with the psychology of ageing and how it affects their careers."

The Celebrated Soubrette was first performed by Rambert Dance Company in 2000. At the beginning of the RNZB rehearsal period, De Frutos found it difficult to imagine any but the original dancers in the primary role. "But these dancers have made it their own."

Performance

* What: Saltarello

* Where and when: Aotea Centre, from today until Saturday