seminar with Ratmansky - Dale Brauner

Moving Forward at the Bolshoi

An Interview with Alexei Ratmansky
conducted by Anna Kisselgoff
New York City Ballet Seminar
New York State Theater
New York, NY
April 10, 2006

by Dale Brauner
copyright ©2006, Dale Brauner

Alexei Ratmansky was in shock. He was in Moscow in 2003 to choreograph “The Bright Stream” and thought he was going to be called on the carpet for being behind schedule for the big evening-length ballet. His head was still filled with Dmitry Shostakovich’s music from the rehearsal he just left. Instead, there in the office of Bolshoi Theater’s general director Anatoly Iksanov, Ratmansky — a Bolshoi Ballet School graduate who never danced for the big company — was being given a chance to run the whole show.

After a pause, Ratmansky asked “Don’t you want to see how the premiere goes?” Iksanov’s answer was “no,” while Ratmansky’s was “yes.” The former Royal Danish Ballet principal dancer took over the reigns as artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet in January 2004, succeeding Boris Akimov.

Ratmansky was telling this story on the stage of the New York State Theater last Monday, taking part in a New York City Ballet seminar. He was in town to begin choreographing a ballet for the sixth installment of the Diamond Project (his ballet will receive its world premiere on June 8 and be repeated four times).

In the final seminar of NYCB’s 2005-06 performance season, dance writer and critic Anna Kisselgoff interviewed Ratmansky. This should have been a plus, since Kisselgoff had produced a thorough profile of Ratmansky for The New York Times (where she had been the chief dance critic for more than 25 years) last year. Published on July 15 to preview the Bolshoi’s visit to the Metropolitan Opera House, the piece detailed Ratmansky career as a dancer and choreographer.

Born in 1968 in the city then known as Leningrad, Ratmansky trained at the Bolshoi Ballet School in Moscow, where he was the roommate of American Ballet Theatre star Vladimir Malakhov. Both were students of Pyotr Pestov, who taught a clean classical style, and neither were accepted into the main company. Ratmansky danced with the Ukrainian National Ballet and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in Canada before joining the Royal Danish Ballet as a soloist in 1997. As a choreographer, he studied at the Moscow Choreographic Institute in the 1990s and took part in NYCB’s New York Choreographic Institute in 2002. Ratmansky has produced works for the Bolshoi Ballet, Mariinsky-Kirov Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet, and San Francisco Ballet.

Kisselgoff went through much of this information in a rather frustrating fashion, answering her own questions, despite Ratmansky’s fluency in English. However, mid-way through the seminar Ratmansky appeared to catch on that he needed to be more aggressive in giving his answers and his charm and perceptive manner came through on a variety of interesting topics posed by Kisselgoff and the audience in a seminar-ending Q&A.

His first choreographic work:

I started to choreograph while in school. My first ballet was to “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” by Paul Dukas. It was for Malakhov, my roommate. We did it in our room! We invited some boys and girls who were interested in the ballet. I was not encouraged to choreograph by the school. It seemed like I was the only one who wanted to do something like that.

The Danish style:

The Bournonville style is very old and classical but different from the Russian style. The most interesting thing was the mime tradition there. I feel like it’s in the middle, between the English tradition of mime and the Russian. It’s very soft. It’s not very naturalistic, not as much as the English. It’s very romantic, very natural. The problem with Russian mime is it was eliminated during the Yuri Grigorovich era from all the Russian ballets. For me, [The Royal Danish Ballet] was like a new world. I was open-eyed and watched whatever I could.

Choreographing “Cinderella” at the Kirov Ballet in 2002?

Mariinsky Theatre general director Valeri Gergiev called in 1998. They wanted to use a young, Russian choreographer. I was fortunate to have Nina Ananiashvili (Bolshoi and ABT star) perform some of my ballets in St. Petersburg. This was when I made “Middle Duet” for the Kirov. Later, I was invited to do “The Nutcracker” with designs of Mikhail Chemiakin, a famous artist. I started working on it for about a year and a half, but it just didn’t work. We couldn’t communicate with the designer and he was much more important person for this project. I found out that I was dismissed and I had all this material. Thordal Christensen, then the head of the Royal Danish Ballet, had started doing his own “Nutcracker,” but he resigned and they had the sets and costumes made already, with the premiere in two months. So, that was a fortunate thing [that I filled in at Denmark]. Chemiakin was really dominating. Everything had to be his way. He even showed what type of movements should be used. But the designs were very impressive. I was really sad. It was a tragic moment. But I was able to make my own “Nutcracker” in Denmark. A year later, I did “Cinderella” for the Kirov, in an updated version.

Retaining the Bolshoi style:

I don’t think it should be lost. I think the style of the Bolshoi is very different than the style of other companies, which is a good thing. The coaches know exactly how everything should be done and they like the way it was done when they were stars. At the same time, it’s incredible that we have these old principals of the company coaching and teaching, because it continues the tradition. The way of coaching is very different at the Bolshoi, because each coach has a group of dancers they look after and it is more like a family relationship; like mother and daughter. They coach them in every part in different ballets.

Changing the Bolshoi or not:

The company is big, it’s 200 dancers. Some I haven’t seen yet — babies, injuries. When we go on tour, we’re on a three-week tour now in England; we still have to perform in Moscow. So we do need that many dancers. One third of them are really, really good dancers. Another third, they are nice on stage — good looking — we can use them. The other third, I would actually be happy to fire, I think. But that’s not possible, they have life contracts.

When I came, my first idea was not to change from the moment I started. Of course, the work was new to me and I wanted to learn how the theater worked. And to see what could be done there, what is good and what is wrong. I gradually started to realize how well-structured it was. It’s a machine that can run by itself and set the ballets. Last season, we did 270 performances. This season is a bit less because the main stage is closed, but we still have to do 30 different programs, including 18 full-length programs. It’s enormous work. How much freedom do I have? I think I have quite enough freedom in terms of planning the repertoire, doing the casting. I can’t fire — well I probably can, maybe two, three, five dancers, but I can’t change the structure of the company. And I don’t think it’s necessary because it works.

Whether the Bolshoi keeps the Yuri Grigorovich versions of the classics:

The Grigorovich ballets — the dancers they are very comfortable in these ballets; they feel at home. They are very sure of what they are doing. For example, when we did the Balanchine program (including “Concerto Barocco,” “Agon,” and “Symphony in C”), it was very challenging for the dancers. For the younger ones, it’s a challenge that they like, but for those who are over 30, established principals, it’s difficult for them to admit that they don’t do something very, very good. It’s a mental problem also, because they don’t want to show they are doing something wrong, or can’t do it. There’s also a devoted public for Grigorovich’s ballets. I think it’s important to keep them in the repertoire. It’s important not to only perform Grigorovich’s ballets, but to do new creations, to do Western ballets, but it’s also important for the company to feel the ground and to enjoy the identity they were brought up with. Besides, they are very well-structured ballets. “Spartacus” is always a popular ballet with the public.

Choosing the repertoire for tours:

I speak with the promoters and discuss what we want to show and what they want to see. The problem is the Bolshoi is so much associated with “Swan Lake” or “Don Quixote” that it’s always [what we're asked to do]. We can’t go anywhere without the “Swan Lake.” It’s destiny. Of course, we are very eager to show the new works, the new productions that we’re doing. For the London season this summer — we are at Covent Garden. We are bringing the new “Cinderella,” “The Bright Stream,” and a triple bill with “Pique Dame,” by Roland Petit, my new ballet on Stravinsky’s “Card Game,” and Balanchine’s “Symphony in C.” Well, along with “Swan Lake,” “Don Quixote” and “Pharaoh’s Daughter.” (laughter)

His Diamond Project ballet:

The music is by Leonid Desyatnikov and called “The Russian Seasons.” It’s based on folk Russian songs and texts. There will be a singer in the pit. It’s really difficult to speak because I haven’t started choreographing, everything I have in my mind I’m not sure if it will be on stage. It’s based on the Orthodox Church calendar — the 12 months. I wanted to use a Russian composer. I like Desyatnikov’s music; I think it’s very sophisticated. From my own experience as a dancer and a choreographer, I am somewhere in between the West and Russia. I feel he has the same approach. The costumes will be by another Russian, Galina Solovieva. I felt like I needed some support from the Russian side! The theme of the ballet is a question of whether I’m Russian at all; trying to find an identity. I graduated from the Bolshoi Ballet School in 1986, it was the last year before Perestroika. Then I went to Ukraine, which was very happy to separate from Russia. Then I went to Winnipeg and Denmark. Now coming back (to Moscow), I don’t really feel very much at home there because I’m used to the West.

I like New York very much. I’m very excited about starting work tomorrow, and also very nervous because I don’t feel like I’ve got a lot of time, so we’re going to have to run right from the start. I’m very impressed with the New York City Ballet dancers’ speed and musicality.

The best qualities of Bolshoi and NYCB dancers:

For the Russian dancers, the center movement of dancing is more up, and with the New York City Ballet dancers it’s more down in the legs and the feet. If it was possible to combine these qualities [the result] would be my ideal dancer. The port de bras and the movement in the upper torso is definitely a plus in the Russian dancer and the cleanness and the speed and the turnout of the American dancers… But the Bolshoi dancers jump and if you have turnout, it’s harder to jump like that. If you look at the animals that jump, they never jump turned out. It helps to jump higher if you’re not that turned out.

What’s coming up for the Bolshoi:

When I took the post, there was great concern about where to go and what to do. These two years were about trying to balance the comfortable feeling of the dancers and the public of seeing the old ballets produced by Grigorovich and his versions of the classics vs. new works and something of the unknown. So far, we’ve done a Balanchine program, an all-Massine program, we’ve done John Neumeier’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” a new “Cinderella,” which is by Yuri Possokhov, a Russian who dances with the San Francisco Ballet. I did “The Bolt” by Shostakovich. Grigorovich just revived his “Golden Age.” Next season we will have a new creation by (NYCB resident choreographer) Christopher Wheeldon. Also, Twyla Tharp’s “In the Upper Room” and Balanchine’s “Serenade.” We’re doing a new “Le Corsaire,” staged by me. For the season after, I hope to do some Mats Ek — I think it will be crazy!

Photo courtesy of the Bolshoi Ballet.

danceviewtimes

Moving Forward at the Bolshoi