OFF the WALL

Two main forces behind the success of Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT), one of Europe’s best dance companies, share some thoughts.

Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT), now in celebration of their jubilee anniversary, held the annual audition for its junior company NDT2 on January 25, and dancers from all over the world were in this highly selective procedure.

In our interview, Anders Hellstrom, NDT’s artistic director who took this position after Jiri Kylian, the world-famous choreographer whose effort has put this Dutch company on the world map in his 19-year artistic directorship, says “There are certain basics that have to be there. One thing is strong classical background, because we do use it in our [contemporary dance] choreography. Movement quality and musicality are very important, so are how they present themselves, the possibility of improvisation, and mentality.”

“In this company, we create many new works every year. Contemporary dance goes into many different directions. Our resident choreographers work in their different styles, and I also commission many choreographers from outside. You need to have curiosity and an open mind. Also, I look at how new dancers can fit into the group.”

With such criteria that looks for dancers of highest quality, NDT, despite its name, currently has only two Dutch dancers in both the senior and junior companies combined. Already evident in their photos, set, costume, lighting, costume, and even film are as striking, if not as significant, as the dancers’ movement in contemporary dance. Hellstrom comments, “Sometimes I see wonderful pictures, and they look really interesting, but when I see the actual production, it doesn’t live up to the expectation.  When all these components are on the same level and supporting the choreography, that’s when it’s working; but when one component is taking over and shows the lack of choreography, then I don’t think it’s successful. I don’t see these components as threats to the dancers, though. When [set, costume, lighting, etc.] are produced at a high level, they should, instead, be an inspiration for the dancers.” 

Apart from creating new works with resident and guest choreographers, Hellstrom informs that, continuing an NDT tradition, three dancers with choreographic talents have also been given an opportunity to create their own short works to be staged for the public, as part of the program called “UpComing Choreographers”.

Two NDT dancers who, given such opportunity years ago by Kylian, have now become two of the most sought-after choreographers are Sol Leon and Paul Lightfoot, wife and husband whose choreographic work “Skew Whiff” was performed by Stuttgart Ballet here in Bangkok two years ago.

Lightfoot says, “There’s so much creativity in this company [NDT]; I didn’t want to be in the company where we’re performing repertory pieces all the time.” Consistently creating, Lightfoot and Leon are collaborating with Philip Glass on a newly commissioned piece exclusively for NDT’s jubilee.

Lightfoot reveals some other sources of his inspiration: “I love movies, all kinds of them, no question of taste. It depends on what comes to me: it can be people, my colleagues, a man in the street, a building, etc.” Also his favorites are photography by Edward Steichen and sculptures by Ron Mueck. “I like to create this kind of work in which you don’t have to read about it further in the program: it’s all there in the works themselves.”

Before becoming a dancer, Lightfoot wanted to be an actor since he was young, and his strong interest in theatre has been evident in the fact that he always triple-tasks as choreographer, costume and set designer. He recalls, “We went out to see theatre a lot and I’m always interested in the design for the theatre. In the 1970s, there were comedies by Alan Bennett and Tom Stoppard where situations happened in three rooms and they changed back and forth, so I was interested in that. And sometimes when I started creating my work, I would set out that I want to make a dance play, I want it to look like theatre, not ballet. As a viewer, I also want to see something different, because it’s our work and our life.”

Leon and Lightfoot's "Said and Done"

However, Lightfoot notes that the use of multimedia in contemporary dance productions has become a trend—many, he finds, are quite unrewarding—and that it should be there only if it has to be there.

That explains why Singaporean audiences at Esplanade’s da:ns 2008 were highly impressed with the perfect marriage of dance choreography, theatre production, and cinematography in Leon and Lightfoot’s “Silent Screen”.

Leon and Lightfoot's "Shoot the Moon" was staged in Hong Kong

During their Asian tour, NDT1 was initially scheduled to perform at Bangkok’s 10^th International Festival of Dance and Music last October before Singapore and Hong Kong, but partly because of the disagreement of the program selection and the fact that the Bangkok organizer asked the company to perform for one evening only, which they never did, it was cancelled. NDT1, instead, made their Beijing debut, after the junior company NDT2 performed there in May. Both Hellstrom and Lightfoot hope that this long overdue Bangkok debut will be realized this auspicious year, and so do we.

For more on Nederlands Dans Theater, www.NDT.nl

special thanks to NDT’s Julia Bontes and The Esplanade’s Gina Koh whose help has made these interviews possible