Kevin O'Hare 2016（２）
https://balletassociation.co.uk/pages/reports-2016-kevin-ohare
ティアゴがケガをしたとき、マシュー・ゴールディングがマリアネラ・ヌニェスとドン・キホーテを踊ることになっていた。普段、ケヴィンは緊急事態に備えて列の端に座っているけれども、このとき彼は列の中央に立っていた。マリアネラが踊り始め、マシューが踊る音楽が始まっても彼はどこにもいなかった。サム・レインが列の最後にいて、すぐに舞台に出た。マルセリノが舞台に飛び込んでいき、ほかのダンサーの先頭に立って踊りだした。そしてマシューが登場し、マルセリノにギターを渡した。マシューの楽屋のスピーカーが壊れていて、呼び出しが聞こえなかったのだ
On one occasion when Thiago was injured, Matt Golding stepped in to dance in Don Quixote with Marianela Nuñez. Normally Kevin sits on the end of the row in case of emergency but this time he was stuck in the middle of the row. Marianela started the act but when the music for Matt started he was nowhere to be seen. Sam Raine was on the end of the row and went off immediately. Marcelino jumped in and started ahead of another dancer. Then Matt came on and gave a guitar to Marcelino. Kevin said it's a dancer's nightmare and always happens once in a career. The tannoy in Matt's room was not working and he hadn't heard the calls.
2014-2015年のシーズンの開幕はドン・キホーテの再演で、その次に「不安の時代」と「セレモニーオブイノセンス」「エタリウム」を上演した。「不安の時代」はリアムの大胆さを感じる魅力的な作品で、ケヴィンはトリスタン・ダイヤーを昇格させ、リアムが彼を抜擢し、才能を表した。クリスマスの「不思議の国のアリス」は大作で70人のダンサーが出演する。フランチェスカ・ヘイワードがデビューし、ヴァディム・ムンタギロフが加入した。ティアゴとマリアネラはオネーギンの再演に出演し、イツィアル・メンディザバルとナタリア・オシポアのデビューも素晴らしかった。ナタリアはリハーサルでポーズを取らなかった。ケヴィンはポーズをとるように促し、ステージマネージャーのヨハンナにナタリアがするまで幕を下ろさないよう頼んだ。最終的にはこれがうまく行った。うまく行かなかったらクランコ財団から指摘を受けていただろう
At the start of the 2014-15 season Don Quixote returned, followed by Age of Anxiety, Ceremony of Innocence and Aeternum. In Age of Anxiety it is fascintating to see the boldness of Liam – extraordinary. Tristan Dyer had been promoted by Kevin and the casting by Liam showcased this emerging talent. Alice in Wonderland at Christmas is a big piece, with 70 dancers. Francesca Hayward made her debut and Vadim Muntagirov joined the company. Thiago and Marianela came back to Onegin and there were great debuts, Itziar Mendizabal was wonderful, Natalia Osipova too. Natalia was great, then in the general rehearsal she didn't quite do the pose at the end. He encouraged her to do it and told Johanna [stage manager] not to bring down the curtain until she did. In the end it worked out fine. He could expect calls from the Cranko Foundation if this wasn't the case.
ケヴィンはホフェッシュ・シェクターを長い間尊敬しており、「アンタッチャブル」は彼の制作方法を経験するいい機会になった。作品には20人のダンサーが出演する。公演の後、ケヴィンはホフェッシュと食事に行くために楽屋口で彼を待っていた。ホフェッシュが出てきたとき、19歳か20歳くらいの女性たちがケヴィンにホフェッシュとの写真を撮ってほしいと頼んだ。ホフェッシュは「この人はロイヤルバレエの芸術監督だよ」と言ったが、彼女たちには関係なかった
Kevin has been a long term admirer of Hofesh Shechter and Untouchable was an experience for the dancers because of the way he works. There were 20 dancers in the piece. He went to dinner with Hofesh after a show and waited for him at the stage door. When Hofesh came out all these 19 and 20 year old girls were asking him [Kevin] to take photos of them together with Hofesh, and Hofesh was saying, “but this is the Director of the Royal Ballet” however, the girls weren't concerned.
ケヴィンはオウド・ヨブセン・ヤングダンサーズプログラムを提供しているオウド・ヨブセンに感謝している。ロイヤルバレエ学校出身のダンサー向けにバレエ団と1年契約するプログラムだ。プログラムでは団の練習のほかにも指導があり、今年はダーシー・バッセルが指導した。来年は男女3人ずつがプログラムに参加する。団に加入するにはポジションが空くのを待たなければいけない。退団するには3か月前に知らせなければならない。しかし、生徒たちにただ待てとは言えない。今年は参加者全員がバレエ団に入ることができた
Kevin is grateful to Aud Jebsen for sponsoring the Aud Jebsen Young Dancers Programme. These are one year contracts and go mostly to dancers from the Royal Ballet School. There is extra coaching, for example this year all the girls are tall and Darcey Bussell came in to do coaching. There will be three girls and three boys on the programme next year in the Royal Ballet. He has to wait for positions to become free, dancers have to give three months notice of leaving, but he can't tell students to wait just in case. But, this year, all the apprentices will join the Company.
リーズの結婚の再演はかなり早くなりそうだ。ラウラ・モレラとヴァディムの配役は奇妙に感じたかもしれないが、ラウラは批評家協会の賞を受賞した。来シーズン再演の予定だ
La Fille mal gardée seemed to come back very quickly. Some thought Laura Morera and Vadim was odd casting but she won an award for her performance at the Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards. Kevin will bring it back next season.
ウルフワークスはかなりのリスクだった。ウェインがアレッサンドラ・フェリに踊ってほしいと言ったときケヴィンは大変うれしかった。ケヴィンは学生の頃、フェリのデビュー公演を全て見ていた。マノン、ロミオとジュリエット、影の谷。ケヴィンはマクレガーの3つの作品の組み入れ方が気に入った。オーランドー、ダロウェイ婦人と波だ。観客の反応と口コミが広がっていくのは見事だった。チケットを売り続けていたので、2公演追加した
Woolf Works was a real risk, Kevin was particularly pleased when Wayne McGregor said Alessandra Ferri would dance. Kevin had seen all her debuts when he was a student – Manon, Romeo and Juliet, Valley of Shadows. He liked how McGregor incorporated the three stories, the hard hitting Orlando, the gentle start with Mrs Dalloway,and The Waves. It was amazing to see the audience reaction and watch “word of mouth” work. They held the curtain on two nights as they were still selling tickets in the box office.
Kevin likes to see shows from the amphitheatre but now is getting a bit of vertigo and he couldn't be seen to walk out part way through.
In the triple bill (In the Night, Afternoon of a Faun, Song of the Earth) Kevin bought back Song of the Earth from earlier in the season. This is important to do, for example in this case it enabled him to get another cast on. Lauren Cuthbertson was fabulous.
On the tour to America, Carlos Acosta had an ankle problem before Don Quixote in Washington. He hobbled his way through the rehearsal, but next day at breakfast he was bright and cheerful as usual. Nothing was going to stop him, his fantastic technique helped. It was a fabulous performance. And the same in Chicago which was Carlos's last full length performance with the Royal Ballet.
They couldn't go to the Met in New York because they are doing the lighting for opera. They couldn't do Aeternum because the sets wouldn't fit in the theatre, and they weren't able to stage Alice in Wonderland because Canadian Ballet has the rights to perform in the US. He chose mixed bills of The Dream and Song of the Earth, and then Age of Anxiety, Infra, with gala pieces. The critics wondered why he chose The Dream as it is in ABTs repertoire. Sam Raine has worked wonders with the Corps and the Fairies in The Dream were sensational. Sam is great. It was a good end to the season.
At the start of this last season there were a lot of debuts in Romeo and Juliet and it was 50 years since it's opening. The Saturday matinee is a special event for a debut, and so it was for Matthew Ball and Yasmine Naghdi. Kevin had put them together in Onegin and they had gelled, hence the Romeo casting. Francesca Hayward also had a debut. Connectome came back and Raven Girl too with alterations by Wayne. Beatriz Stix-Brunell made a wonderful debut in the latter.
For the quad bill (Viscera, Afternoon of a Faun, Tchaikovsky Pas de deux, Carmen), Carmen had its detractors but it was a celebration of Carlos, and it is what he wanted to do. It is important sometimes to give people that space. Carlos is a role model and he deserved it. Shchedrin’s Carmen Suite was originally going to be used but because of some other changes they had to change and Martin Yates orchestrated, based on Bizet.
Christopher Carr had never before staged Two Pigeons, and he had to set it on the bigger stage. You had to be stony hearted not to like it. Whenever he speaks to students at the school they always talk about Two Pigeons. Kevin was delighted with how fresh it came out. The dancers weren't sure but grew to love it. There is lots of corps de ballet work and soloist roles to get their teeth into.
Kevin asked which was the best combination with Two Pigeons, Rhapsody or Monotones? Members were divided in their opinions. Kevin thanked the Ballet Association for helping bring back the original staging of Rhapsody, the return to the simple costumes was in harmony with the clear lines on the backdrop. He is pleased it is back in the repertoire and it won't be 30 years before it returns.
Nutcracker in one big block is not great for the fans. It's a tough time, lots of matinees and dancers get sick at this time of year. The shows met a high standard and they worked on it all the way through. Some people said they were “even enjoying the Waltz of the Flowers” this time round.
The Company does Giselle so well. There were fabulous debuts, Akane Takeda was particularly special. Kevin thought she looked like a Giselle in waiting when he saw her perform Moyna/Zulma in the last run. Sarah, Lauren and Nela had a great go as they hadn't had many chances before.
The next triple (After the Rain, Strapless, Within the Golden Hour) was to celebrate what Christopher Wheeldon is to the Company and the dance world. Kevin is not keen on bringing in too many works from other companies but it was appropriate on this occasion. Both casts for After the Rain were great and Golden Hour is a joy. They did work on the costumes of the latter but were sensitive as the designer had passed away. The projections now work well. For Strapless Kevin wanted to see a narrative in a short time scale like Sir Fred achieved with The Dream and A Month in the Country, condensing a whole story down. Both Chris and Kevin have the same ideas about how to enhance it next time. It's important to work on it, you can't just sit down and say oh well that was it.
Frankenstein is a bold and ambitious work. Liam believes in, and loves classical ballet and created it in that idiom. Liam is very clear how he wanted to present it, but of course there will be revisions. Liam wouldn't feel honest to do it in a different way. John McFarlane created some great designs, the music works well, it is a tough score to play. When you think about Winter's Tale, Woolf Works and Frankenstein, how extraordinary it is to have three very different ballets to cater to a lot of different tastes! Every night at Frankenstein there has been a fantastic response from the audiences and he's not just saying it because the critics didn't like it. It is a fact, if you're there, people last night were on their feet cheering. And it is sold out.
As Wayne says, no one is doing these things lightly, the choreographer, the dancers, and the artistic director. Kevin believes that Liam tells the story very well and clearly, there may be other things which may need to be changed. Finding a dramaturg that can work well with the choreographer is not easy. Experience in the theatre is already there, for example John MacFarlane, there are 1,000 people working there. Dramaturgs don't always work.
Next is The Invitation, it will be fascinating to see. Wayne has a cast of men, it will be wonderful to see them tearing across the stage. He really wants to see the Company do The Invitation again, Kevin was never in it but it was one of his brother Michael's very first roles with Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet. It is a strong work with good roles for people, something Zenaida can make her own. Kevin apologised about the casting but he wanted to see how it fitted in the studio first.
Kevin is bringing back MacMillan's Anastasia next season, but is also thinking about Judas Tree, Danses Concertantes. Valley of Shadows is being considered, it may be reworked according to Kenneth's suggestions or as the original.
Finally Kevin talked about how hard it is to sort out the casting. And he is thinking that they need to do something a bit lighter for the next new productions.
David thanked Kevin for coming to talk and for the privilege of members attending the rehearsal of The Invitation that morning. Kevin thanked the Association for their support and hoped it would be possible to provide something similar next season despite building works.
Report written by Chris Scott, edited by Kevin O’Hare and David Bain ©The Ballet Association 2016