Adam Hougland, principal choreographer of the Louisville Ballet, is the creator of works such as Cold Virtues, Devolve, Made to Be Broken and Fragile Stasis that premiered here on the Whitney Hall stage. Wendy Whelan, a Louisville native who has gone on to international success as a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, is a frequent, if not frequent enough, guest artist with her hometown company. These two artists met only two years ago through a chance introduction by a mutual friend. Their own friendship sparked immediately and soon grew into a collaboration that became Rite of Spring, one of three ballets on Louisville Ballet’s April program.
SD: We will be excited to have you both back with this
new project. What was it about Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring that inspired
you?
AH: I think choreographers are naturally drawn to tackle these big monster
pieces. When I was talking to Bruce Simpson about ideas for this season’s
piece, I mentioned wanting to work with Wendy. She goes back to Louisville
so often and I choreograph there, so it just seemed like a natural next
step for us to do something for Louisville. Since Louisville Orchestra was
playing for this production, I wanted to do something big and exciting.
So I thought, “Why not Stravinsky? How about the Rite
of Spring?”
SD: Wendy, you and Adam met independent of the Louisville Ballet. Tell me
about the beginning of this project.
WW: It happened right on my doorstep. I had been in a class I don’t
usually take with one of my friends. This friend had a friend, and that
friend happened to be Adam. I said, “Aren’t you that guy who
choreographs in my hometown? I keep hearing all these great things about
you…”
AH: And I said, “Aren’t you that dancer from Louisville?”
WW: We seriously were talking this way on the front stoop of my apartment.
We both said, “Let’s do something together!” The idea
just exploded. The next thing I know, Bruce Simpson is calling me about
a project with Adam.
AH: I asked her what composers she likes.
WW: I mentioned Stravinsky, and he came back with Rite of Spring! It’s
actually a piece I have always wanted to work on, so it’s kind of
a little dream come true.
SD: It is a monster piece. Are you using the entire score?
AH: Yep.
SD: Just the mood swings in the piece alone are a challenge.
AH: It is here for a second and then completely turns the corner. It’s
quiet and then it’s loud again. It’s…
WW: …bi-polar.
AH: Yeah, that’s exactly the word I was looking for.
WW: Somehow we relate.
SD: Adam, when you have the orchestra in the pit, what is your relationship
to the conductor? Do the two of you sit down and discuss his or her interpretation
of the music?
AH: Each time I’ve had my work done with an orchestra, it’s
been different. It depends on who the conductor is and how interested they
are in having that collaborative process. Most are really awesome and are
so eager to make sure the tempo is right. Jeff Cook is the conductor for
Louisville Ballet and he’s just fantastic. He’s the kind of
person who sits in the room rehearsal after rehearsal and watches things
until he really knows the dance. He will get a good sense of what I need.
I think it’s going to be great, but the orchestra will need quite
a bit of rehearsal. It’s a complicated piece to play.
SD: The process will benefit, I’m sure, from the Louisville Orchestra’s
having performed this piece in the past. A lot of the musicians will have
a pretty tight grasp of this work. What is your vision? Is this a story
ballet?
AH: The vision definitely centers around a group that has
cut off their connection to everything that is of nature and life. When
Wendy emerges, she represents everything they have lost: life, youth, nature,
love and so on. In the end, they destroy what they can never have or ever
be. It’s
not tribal so much as we are exploring the idea of Wendy as the life energy – but
rather than reveling in that or worshipping that power, they beat it into
the ground…not unlike our current environmental policies.
SD: There is a message, but it’s not – strictly speaking – a
story ballet like Swan Lake?
AH: No, it’s not a real narrative, although there is a strong dramatic
arc.
SD: Wendy, is it normal for you to rehearse separately from the corps?
WW: Sometimes. If I’m doing a new piece of choreography,
we put it together whenever the choreographer decides it’s time to
start mixing the colors together. But I’ll be there for at least two
weeks of rehearsal prior to the performance.
SD: That’s actually a significant amount of rehearsal time.
WW: Yes, and Adam has pretty much sketched out what I’m doing from
beginning to end. Now he’ll make the stuff for the other dancers and
fit me into what that mountain range is going to look like.
SD: Adam, it’s been more than a year since you have been in Louisville,
but you are very familiar with the company and what individual dancers can
do. How long have you been the resident choreographer?
AH: This is my sixth time working with Louisville Ballet
and the fifth new work I’ve created on them. The great thing about
the Company is that there’s not a lot of turnover each year. Instead
of starting over again every time, we are able to keep digging deeper. I
like to push myself to extend the language and create new vocabulary, so
when I’m in Louisville
I feel like I’m in my lab with a group of people who really understand
me. It’s a growth experience for me each time that helps me see where
I want to take my work for the next year or so as I’m going other
places. Louisville is definitely my place to experiment.
SD: That’s a pretty big commitment from the artistic leadership at
Louisville Ballet.
AH: I feel really supported by the Company and by Bruce.
SD: Wendy, tell me what it’s like to work directly with a choreographer
who is creating a piece just for you.
WW: It’s my favorite thing in the entire world. It’s what I
dance for. It’s the area I want to explore further at this point in
my career.
SD: Describe a typical studio session.
WW: We are totally playing in the sandbox. He gives me an idea and I give
him a version of what he has asked for. He either says, “That’s
great, let’s go on with that,” or he will say, “Let’s
try something else.” We do a lot of tinkering. It’s a lot of
fun; it’s a magnified, physical conversation and it’s very enjoyable
for me.
AH: It’s so out of the ordinary for me to have this much process time
with some-body like Wendy, where it’s just the two of us. Usually
when I’m creating a ballet, the principal dancers are the ones who
are so busy that there’s never enough time to really sculpt what I
want them to do. In this case, I feel like we’ve approached it from
the opposite direction by starting with just the two of us. I can come in
with no real preparation and we can find things together.
SD: Adam, in the past you and I have talked about your use of costumes,
sets and lighting because you get involved in how everything interacts on
stage – not just the movement of the dancers. Where are you in that
process with this piece?
AH: Since the beginning of this project, I have been in constant contact
with Marion Williams, who has designed many of the sets and costumes for
my ballets. We have gone through several concepts for this piece over the
last year, and we’re finally coming down to an idea we like. She is
fantastic, and I think the sets are going to be fantastic and atmospheric.
SD: You said Wendy’s character is metaphorical. Will there be a lot
of symbolism in the designs?
AH: I think they will give you a sense of being in a particular place, as
opposed to some of my other works which feel like a dance-with-art-installation.
Most of the work Marion does is with opera and theatre companies, so she
comes to dance with a completely different perspective and has fewer preconceived
notions about how dance scenery and dance costumes have always looked and
how they should look. We start from scratch and ask, “Why does it
have to be like that?” In this case, we’ve designed it more
theatrically, but I’m sworn to secrecy at this point.
SD: Well, we don’t want to give away anything. That’s part of
the enjoyment. We will look forward to seeing it on stage!
Adam Hougland’s Rite of Spring, starring New York City Ballet’s
Wendy Whelan, will be one of three works presented by Louisville Ballet
April 3 and 4 in Whitney Hall as they end their 2008-2009 season. The program,
RéVive’s Rite of Spring, also features the Company Premiere
of Val Caniparoli’s Vivace, set to the music of Schubert; and Bruce
Marks’ choreographic setting of Ralph Vaughan-Williams’ Lark
Ascending. Tickets are available through the Kentucky Center box office
at 502.584.7777 or kentuckycenter.org.
For more information about what is in store for their 2009-2010 season,
sign up for an e-newsletter
at louisvilleballet.org.