Morgan Beckwith: Southport, CT

Vaneav's Swan Lake

By the end of this week the dancers have learned (or meticulously reviewed) a sizable portion of Vaneav’s ironic yet intelligent take on this paragon of classical ballet. In this step of the process the company’s social and hierarchal dynamics become tense and every dancer seems to be on the defense. The newcomers are feeling the pressure to not only perform the material they have just learned so speedily but to also adapt to Goran’s specific yet highly subjective way of cleaning choreography. The seasoned Mystic Ballet dancers simultaneously aid the newbies during their adjustment process while trying to renew and cultivate their own personal perspective on the material.  

This grotesque, sarcastic, and carnal interpretation of Swan Lake incorporates brute force with gesture to achieve a musically attentive and abstracted piece of choreography. Goran has spent the past week probing each dancer to find what it is inside of them that propagates this movement.

Goran tells his dancers to “grab it, chew it, and don’t let it go,” referring to their animalistic sensibility towards another member of the production. He often questions the dancer’s sense of focus in their role, “close your eyes and envision the material with the music.” He demands they have a “clear vision of what is happening in your[their] head, every single atom of your [their] body has to react. In this sense he asks his dancers to use the studio space as not only a place to experiment with the physical body but to utilize the room for constant psychological investigation. This is no longer the ballet school environment where one can simply agree with their superior. Here Goran could call on a dancer at any moment asking them to come up with their own elucidation of the choreographic material. Goran gives them the steps but asks that they think and move in their own intelligent and informed voice.

The environment of this experimentation is crucial. Goran begs of his dancers to “eliminate the reality around them, to keep their own focus and build on it because this ultimately a work place.” Giggles and insecure answers to Goran’s questions are meet with a stern yet patient speech about the serious mindset required to complete the difficult task of learning and perfecting choreography in this manner. There is no time to waste on individuals who are not comfortable enough to act as the choreography and sensibility of the piece requires. Creating multiple layers of meaning and sentiment for each step does not leave any time for dancers who are not present in every moment. Each person in the room must be on the same level of commitment and reasonability.

However, it is obvious that this particular approach needs to be adapted in the case of group work. For example there is one signature step that is repeated several times by dancers. In trying to determine how to best execute this with the same quality on different bodies Alex came up with the imagery of hitting a nail into a piece of wood with the side of his head. Funnily enough, this visualization made a huge difference in the similarity of the dancer’s performance of the step. So much of this work is strategic problem solving. However, in this case the artistic can never rely on a formula to solve his or her challenge.  

At the end of the day Goran acknowledges that he is a very difficult person to please. But I have to say I do not know of any artistic director who is easily satisfied.