ProArteDanza turns Beethoven's 9th Symphony into a social and political ballet

October 16, 2019 admin classical music, Dance, Festivals, music, Theatre, vancouver arts

Credit to Author: Stuart Derdeyn| Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2019 18:00:20 +0000

Part of 2019 Chutzpah! Festival

When: Oct. 26, 28, 8 p.m.; Oct. 27, 2 p.m.

Where: Norman Rothstein Theatre, 950 W. 41st Ave.

Tickets and info: From $24, at chutzpahfestival.com

Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake and Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé are a few examples of great ballet scores that play out just as well in the concert hall.

But to adapt a work as daunting as Beethoven’s 9th Symphony into a ballet is another thing entirely. One of the most performed symphonies in the world, the four movement work also incorporates Friedrich Schiller’s 1785 poem Ode to Joy in the final part.

Award-winning ProArteDanza choreographers Robert Glumbek and Roberto Campanella devoted a decade to creating the company’s full-length contemporary ballet of Beethoven’s 9th, which has it’s Vancouver debut at the 2019 Chutzpah! Festival.

The piece features nine dancers exploring underlying social and political themes with intensely physical movement. The 9th! has been described as “refreshingly innovative” (Michael Crabb, Toronto Star) and “a thrilling, 21st-century perspective on Beethoven” (Martha Schabas, Globe & Mail).

Former National Ballet of Canada dancer Campanella, who has such choreographic credits to his name as the Academy Award-winning film The Shape of Water, says The 9th! began with a 2009 commission to tackle the first movement of the symphony for a project at Dance Encore festival in Trois-Rivières.

“The whole idea was each movement would be done by choreographers from different parts of Canada and then we would present it as a whole with live orchestra,” said Campanella.

“Our piece became part of the ProArteDanza repertoire, and Robert and I decided to take our time and work on a movement at a time for the entire work. This is Beethoven’s masterpiece, so you must proceed carefully.”

ProArteDanze’s The 9th!. PNG

A 2010 trip to Berlin which included a trip to the ruins of the Berlin Wall, demolished in 1991, provided inspiration for the narrative context of The 9th!

Campanella was deeply moved by some images of family members on either side of the wall waving at one another, bridging the reality of their profound separation. Walls, both literal and figurative, feature prominently in contemporary social and political discourse. The choreographers had the context for the ballet.

“And a number of coincidences came up that reinforced this, such as Leonard Bernstein conducting a performance of the symphony in 1984 at the Berlin Wall,” said Campanella.

“In that performance the words in Ode to Joy were changed to Ode to Freedom, and that still resonates 30 years later. And, in one other coincidence, we’ll be performing our last date of the tour on Nov. 9, which was the day that the Berlin Wall was demolished.”

ProArteDanza was founded by Campanella to showcase contemporary choreography from both ballet and modern dance, with a strong belief that the two diverse disciplines can integrate into a dynamic and expressive dance fusion.

It debuted in 2004 with a trio of sold out shows in Hamilton and Toronto, including works from Campanella, Glumbek and James Kudleka. The company won the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Choreography in 2010, and has premiered works by many national and international artists.

ProArteDanza also runs a summer intensive training program where emerging talents can get instruction from some of Canada’s top dancers, and is developing a three-year program to launch the careers of aspiring dancers.

Campanella is not one to shy away from new challenges, and taking his skill set into new environments. This is how he wound up doing the choreography for director Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water.

“Guillermo and I already had four years of experience working together, but I was still a bit confused when he sat me down and explained that what he envisioned was this beautiful duet between a woman and a fish,” said Campanella.

“It was great, and I can only feel very privileged to work with such a visionary director and with Sally (Hawkins, who played the main female character), who I have an unbound respect for — both her artistry and her passion. We rehearsed a lot, and there were opportunities to do things with Doug Jones (who plays the amphibian being) who was always ready to try new ideas out.”

Campanella said that the filming experience on the Shape of Water was a fantastic one, and has certainly generated attention for his other work and kept the phone ringing. He worked again with del Toro on the recently released Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and is working on another project as well. He says that it’s very good to have the work apart from the dance company as “one certainly pays the other’s bills.”

Campanella said that without a doubt, The 9th! was one of the hardest projects he has been involved in. Of the parts, none was more difficult than the fourth movement which includes Ode to Joy.

“Everybody knows it, it’s incredibly iconic, the European anthem, and you have nowhere to hide,” he said.

“Even though the work is complete, we still envision doing it with live music, live choir and other undisclosed components. As it will be in Vancouver, this is a very intense and dynamic dance show that doesn’t let down.”