SCRATCHING his head slightly and thinking about dance in Europe, the internationally celebrated French choreographer, Angelin Preljocaj, says there’s a kind of academics of modern dance that’s developing in Europe.
He has brought his renowned ballet company, Ballet Preljocaj, with a contingent of 18 dancers, to perform Les Nuits (The Nights) for the first time in South Africa as part of this year’s Dance Umbrella.
And what he means is that going against everything the title “modern” (contemporary) stands for, it’s as if it has been put in a box.
He found something very different when he judged a dance competition in Mali recently.
“People were so happy to dance,” he says and he loves the energy and the storytelling capacity of Africans. “It’s also as if they have so much more to say,” he adds.
He is disappointed by the seeming lack of courage, to stretch yourself as a choreographer that seems so prevalent in the European modern dance world.
“I found the African choreographers so refreshing,” he said, puzzled by the news that the dance world locally was battling to find audiences and especially funds to keep going.
“They seem to be telling their stories and sharing their culture through dance,” he noted and this he found invigorating.
If that challenge doesn’t exist, dance also becomes less powerful and that is bad for its survival.
He believes audiences should be challenged especially in today’s world where there is so much trying to grab people’s attention.
Les Nuits, described as a lavish, sensual and enchanting ballet inspired by A Thousand and One Nights, was brought to South Africa by the French Institute South Africa and Total South Africa.
It’s a monumental work and, as Preljocaj explained, he’s not retelling the story, it’s what he felt and experienced having read the book.
“If people look for the story, they will be disappointed,” he says, but there was little chance of that.
It is his choreography and the extraordinary dancers who completely overwhelmed the audience on the opening night of Dance Umbrella in the Mandela Theatre last Tuesday.
He explains further in his programme notes: “Beyond the mystery of this text, which was most certainly written by several people and featured extremely varied tales, the text has also allowed generations of readers to dream… intrigued and attracted down the ages by its fantastical and erotic dimension.
“The tales contain some very sensual aspects, which I wished to represent through dance. What makes it particularly captivating is the device established through the character of Sheherazade.
“With her words, culture and intelligence she represents a bastion against barbarism and challenges us to question the role of women in society. It is evident that a great many avenues are opened up by this literary monument and each theme pushes me to develop dance as a concept and take the actual writing of the movement further.
“The Nights delves deeply into the mystery of a mythical Orient, where the body represents symbols, like a calligraphy expressing moods and emotions.”
Preljocaj, born in the Paris region in France, began studying classical ballet before turning to contemporary dance. He studied with Karin Waehner and Zena Rommett and Merce Cunningham in New York. He later resumed his studies in France and his teachers included the American choreographer Viola Farber and the French choreographer Quentin Rouillier. He then joined Dominique Bagouet before founding his own company in December 1984.
He has made short films and several full-length films for which he was awarded the Grand Prix du Film d’Art in 2003, the Vidéo-Danse First Prize in 1992 and the Prague Video Festival Prize in 1993. In 2009, he directed Snow White and he has collaborated on several films on his own choreographic work: Les Raboteurs with Cyril Collard (based on the painting by Gustave Caillebotte) in 1988, Pavillon Noir with Pierre Coulibeuf in 2006 and Eldorado/Preljocaj with Olivier Assayas in 2007. Several books have been written about his work, the most recent being Angelin Preljocaj, de la création à la mémoire de la danse (2011).
He has received numerous awards, including the Grand Prix National de la Danse awarded by the French Ministry of Culture.
The list goes on and on.
But when he speaks about art and the art of dance, none of that pomp exists. Trying to explain his own work and what he strives for, he tells of composer John Cage’s Empty Words where he so taunted audiences that they participated by screaming at him to go home.
But this is exactly what he wanted, he wanted them to react and to engage and not just sit back and listen. “It was an incredible performance,” says Preljocaj about the audience who were expecting a traditional work and were then completely thrown by what Cage brought to the concert. “He wanted to provoke them,” he said.
As for the choreographer, he needs to work in two very different ranges where the one would not exist without the other. He followed Cage with a work titled Empty Moves which in turn dealt with civil disobedience and he needs this kind of challenge to do something like a Snow White which comes from a much gentler place.
“We have to be radical and experiment and also tell stories that talk about the human condition,” he says.
It is that scope, that depth of expression that is visible in Les Nuits. Those who were there on the night, knew they had witnessed something extraordinary and worthy of opening this year’s Dance Umbrella. Let’s hope this won’t be the last time for Preljocaj in South Africa but also that Dance Umbrella will fight the fight and be victorious.