Could you tell us about your show "Ombra"?
“To explain it very simply and succinctly, it’s about a group of people who gather around a tree, stay there for a long time and start to interact. It was commissioned by the director of Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, who after the experience of ‘C(h)œurs’ wanted to continue the research between the dancers and the choir. It’s also a tribute to my friend Gérard Mortier (former director of La Monnaie in Brussels, the Salzburg Festival, the Opéra national de Paris and the Teatro Real in Madrid, among others) who died 10 years ago. I was also lucky enough to be able to work with the dancers beforehand. Opera Ballet Vlaanderen gave us the opportunity to have monthly work sessions for a year, which enabled us to talk a lot with the dancers and work on improvisations. It’s a way of working that I really appreciate, being able to develop the pieces collaboratively and collectively. I should also point out that all the dancers who take part in this piece do so voluntarily, which is not so often the case since it’s usually the choreographer who chooses them.”
In the centre of the stage there is an impressive tree, designed by the visual artist Berlinde De Bruycker. Can you tell us more about this unusual object and your collaboration with De Bruycker?
On stage, a gigantic tree trunk plays an important role in the show. Photo: Koen Broos
“I’ve known Berlinde for over 15 years. She’s a friend and we’ve already worked together on several projects. So when I asked her to work with her again on this project, she said yes straight away. I wanted to represent Gérard Mortier on stage and the idea of the tree came to me. It has the particularity of disappearing from the stage in a subtle and gradual way: as the performance progresses, it slowly sinks into the ground.”
Music also plays a very important role in this show. How did you envisage this musical accompaniment and the place you reserved for it?
“I gave composer Steven Prengels carte blanche. In fact, his music preceded everything else in the creation. We based the rest of the show on his composition. I did give him a few indications, though, because I really wanted to work with three pieces of music. The first is Handel’s ‘Ombra mai fu.’ I had already used this piece in the early 1990s in one of my first choreographies and I was very keen to work with it again. The second is ‘Soave sia il vento’ from Mozart’s ‘Cosi fan tutte.’ And the third is Samuel Barber’s ‘Agnus Dei.’ To this, Steven Prengels has added other music by Beethoven, Bach...”
Combining dance, choir and orchestra can’t have been easy, and it’s a difficult balance to strike so that one doesn’t overwhelm the other... What choreographic language did you want to develop for this show?
“Working with the choir is a very pleasant thing to do. It’s a rare encounter and I was delighted to be able to experience it again. The choir and the dancers are very physically involved, and for “Ombra” I wanted to work with them in a different way. So I asked them to learn and perform the entire text of the opera arias in sign language. To do this, we worked with a deaf person who helped us translate and learn the text. We are sometimes asked to have sign language interpreters on stage. So I came up with the idea of integrating this language directly into the choreography.”
“As for the balance between all the elements, that’s a job that's done day by day, that you discover gradually. It’s like making lace. You have to take into account what the dancers want, what the music is expressing. I don’t have a ready-made recipe, but we made perfect use of the time we were given in the studio.”
It has been said that this will probably be your last production. Is that true?
“That’s what they say. I’ve been retired for a few years now, but a creator never stops, you know... I’m not looking for other projects, but I’ll keep an ear open if there’s one I like.”
, Friday 17 and Saturday 18 January, 8pm.
This article was originally published in .