With his production of”La Bayadère”, Nikolaj Hübbe for the first time directs a ballet that has not been a part of his RDB and NYCB background. I talked with him about the challenges and choices a few days after the premiere.
Although Nikolaj Hübbe sees the Russian school as one of the key elements of the RDB repertoire, the choice of “La Bayadère” was not entirely based on the famed third act. The allure of going Indian was also a part of the decision.
“It seems so exotic and so far away. We have a lot of Spanish settings in our Bournonville tradition, so the Russian alternatives like “Paquita” and “Don Quixote” did not push as many buttons,” says Nikolaj Hübbe.
However the production did not commit 100% to India. Somewhere along the way Solor and Gamzatti turned into a proper British upper class pair. By moving setting to the British colonial rule, the production gains a framework which allows for added contrast and meaning as well as giving greater scope for the designer, Richard Hudson.
“It was an idea that suddenly struck me, and I could not let it go. The more I considered it, the more meaning it made. By making it an Anglo-Indian romance we create a bigger and different gulf between the lovers and by making Solor into an English officer, we sort of discover India through his eyes,” says Nikolaj Hübbe.
Richard Hudson then designed late Victorian costumes, worthy of any Merchant-Ivory movie and turned half of the cast into pale ladies and stern officers. Actually the styling of the various groups of dancers anonoymize the corps more than usual.
“I think the styling gave the dancers a change to try out other personas and thereby a new freedom”, says Hübbe.
But changing a big part of the cast into British Ray also demanded changes to the choreography and Hübbe chose to embrace the English theme by choreographing some of the ensemble dances with Sir Frederick Ashton in mind. It is therefore possible to recognize certain Ashton traits in the dances.
A milestone reached
When Nikolaj Hübbe took over the Royal Danish Ballet in 2007, he set himself certain milestones, like a US tour in year 3, and “La Bayadère” was also marked as a mile stone for the company. The RDB ensemble is not big and as a company with a retirement age at 40 and a large obligation for character dances, it frankly never have had the required numbers in the female corps to make an attempt on
“La Bayadère” and the Shadow Empire. Well not before Hübbe. In less than five years he has managed to build and drill the corps into a unity, capable of great things and the famed third act and the success of the work is very much to the credit of the corps, probably as much as the stars in the leading roles like Alban Lendorf, Gudrun Bojesen and Gitte Lindstrøm, each leading one of the
three casts.
A partner in crime
Nikolaj Hübbe knew from the instant, he set his sight on “La Bayadère” that he would need a co-director with a deeper knowledge of the work and the Russian style. He thought he would to have go outside the company, but when Ewa Draw, the Russian-Canadian teacher joined the RDB staff three years ago, he had found his match. And according to Hübbe the report and the cooperation has worked seamless.
Solor is on Hübbe’s résumé, based on one guest performance in Munich but he has acquainted
himself with the work through many of the present versions, primarily the Makarova version at ABT and Royal Ballet, the Nureyev version in Paris, The Marinsky and Bolshoi and also the Dresden production by Aron S. Watkin.
However seeing the bulk of productions, made Hübbe ask himself the question of whether the
fourth act really was necessary: “The only point of the act is to bring the temple down and that is more about set design than ballet. I have seldom seen it done convincingly, and therefore considered to do without.”
Hübbe’s solution was to drop the fourth act and move the bits into second act. Plot wise a grief struck Sir William (Solor) commit suicide before joining Nikiya in the shadows.
Conquering the Danish audience
The Danish tradition for character driven ballets and naturalistic mime does not necessarily makes the local audience embrace the more stylistic Russian tradition. Compared to other versions of “La Bayadère” Hübbe’s is almost Freudian, however for some critics it does not pass muster compared to local favorites like Cranko and Neumeier. Luckily seeing is believing and the audience response
have been visible and audible, so the ballet is on its way to becoming a local hit, which will create the foundation for a long performance life.
What comes next?
Nikolaj Hübbe has now a substantial body of productions behind him, and although he has choreographed large segments, he has yet to create a full ballet from scratch. He admits to nursing some ideas but has not of yet set any wheels in motion. It would in many ways be a logical step. His work with RDB has shown his capabilities in choosing and creating productions which has enhanced the company and the dancers. Whether he dares to commission a work, 100% of his own making it yet to be seen, it could be an interesting development for the company and for Hübbe.
Foto:
1. Nikolaj Hübbe with Amy Watson and Ulrik Birkkjær
2. Nikolaj Hübbe and Susanne Grinder
3. Nikolaj Hübbe and Eva Draw
Copyright (c) Royal Danish Ballet
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