Interview with Oliver Starpov
March 20, 2017
Seeing your own ballet receive 10 standing ovations on 11 performances, would build confidence in any choreographer and 21 year old RDB dancer and choreographer Oliver Starpov is no exception. Except how many 21 year old choreographers, who have created works for a leading international ballet, do we actually know? And it was not even his first ballet for the company.
How could such a young choreographer make such an outstanding and mature work as “Beginning and Ending?”. I interviewed Oliver Starpov when he made his first ballet for the company a few years ago, and have followed his career since as a choreographer and dancer. It has been an astonishing ride. He has choreographed in very different genres from modern to classical, and not one work resembles another.
Getting Started
“As a first year dancer I got the chance to be involved in a project, called “Interregnum”, where there was no choreographer attached and the dancers should do the choreography themselves. This project really gave me the chance to test if I had it in me”, says Oliver Starpov.
In addition to “Interregnum”, Starpov also choreographed som smaller pieces for the in-house experimental company Corpus. His big break through came when Silja Schandorff and Nikolaj Hübbe asked him and principal dancer Gregory Dean to choreograph the Third Act Divertissements for their production of “Swan Lake”.
Making it on the Big Stage
“I passed Nikolaj Hübbe in the corridor and he asked me in right there if I would be interested in choreographing two segments in “Swan Lake”. My immediate response was Yes, off course. Luckily, Gregory Dean and I wanted different segments. His preference was the Hungarian and Neapolitan dances and mine were the Spanish and Russian, so we both got what we wished for”, says Oliver Starpov.
Starpov created an edgy trio for the Spanish dance: “There are so many Spanish divertissements in Classical ballets, so I chosed a more modern feel to it.” However, it was his Russian dance that created the biggest splash. “I checked a lot of other “Swan Lake” productions, and in almost all of them, the Russian segment was very boring, which surprised me, as I felt that it had a particularly strong score, which inspired me to choreograph for one women and seven men”.
Starpov’s Russian divertissement includes tricky and daring partnering, high speed, a full-fledged super woman and also a nod to Balanchine’s “Apollon”, where the seven men re-creates the famous fan pose. It is innovative, daring and also showing how well the very young choreographer really knows and understand ballet as an art form and its history. And as importantly, he can make Classical ballet modern and edgy.
The big Splash
“Swan Lake” put Starpov on the map, and in the following season, Oliver Starpov started working on an idea which a year later became “Beginning and Ending”, as well as creating a more modern work “Fluorenscence” for a PopUp under the Corpus umbrella.
Two segments of “Beginning & Ending” got a preview on “The Hübbery”, the RDB Dance & Talk Show. That was some wakeup call! Most young choreographers tends to build their first works a bit too close to already proven successes. There is no quotes in Starpov’s work. One of the segments shown was the finale, where the leading man and the male corps combines dance and athletics to create what can only be derided as a heavenly freedom.
At the premiere it became clear that this was the level for the whole ballet. However, although how complete “Beginning and Ending” feels on stage, for Oliver Starpov the work is only the first part of a full evening ballet.
“It is not the plan to make the current work longer in itself nor creating more with the protagonist. My plan is to create two more pieces that shares some traits with “Beginning and Ending”. A bit like the structure of the novel “Cloud Atlas”. It can also be liked to Balanchine’s “Jewels”, which we are staging now. Different works with a shared theme. I hope it will be possible to make the full evening project and rather sooner than later”.
A Tune to Dance to
“Beginning and Ending” uses music by the British composer Max Richter, who has also provided music and scores for leading choreographers like Wayne McGregor and Leon & Lightfoot.
“One of the greatest difficulties in choreographing is finding appropriate music and also finding it in a larger quantity. You can sit in a cinema and hear something that you would like to use. However, when you investigate the piece may be shorter than a minute, because it is composed to match a specific moment in the movie.
I first learned about Max Ricther when a segment from one of his works, was used for a small Corpus work. His compositions is so suited to dance”.
Minding the Day Job
Oliver Starpov has another career going besides choreographing. He is a member of the RDB corps de ballet.
“Although I do not see myself as a potential Principal Dancer, I do enjoy the development of my career as a dancer. Over the last seasons I have had several dramatic roles. I am also doing more partnering and is now getting more demanding and interesting roles.”
An added bonus is that he has been cast in the recent productions of Wayne McGregor’s “Infra” and Akram Khan’s “Vertical Road”.
“Wayne McGregor was only able to attend the last week of rehearsals and off course the focus was on the premiere cast. However, he also managed to work with the second cast, which I was part of. His assistant Jenny Tattersal had informed him of “Beginning and Endings” and as McGregor works closely with Max Richter, I am very grateful that he has expressed an interest in seeing my work. Akram Khan was here for a longer period and it was a special gift to work with him and the cast.”
Going Places
The success of “Beginning & Ending” means more to the Danish ballet environment than most people realize. Royal Danish Ballet has struggled for many years with getting good choreography made on the company. Many leading choreographers has been signed, but never managed to create a masterpiece on the company.
The reason is most probably the fact that choreographers usually make their best works on dancers they know. Whether this will be the case for Oliver Starpov, we have yet to know. So far he fits the mold.
Actually the dancers he choreographs for, have been with him since he made his first choreography in the ballet children’s own company called Company B.
The Generation Game
“My generation at the ballet school included many outstanding dancers. My schoolmates Sebastian Haynes, Andreas Kaas and Ida Praetorius are now leading dancers in the company and several others are also dancing significant roles,” says Oliver Starpov.
Andreas Kaas and Sebastian Haynes shares the leading part in “Beginning & Ending.” In a short promo film about the production they talk about the experience of working with a friend and school made at the helm. Andreas Kaas conclude” We are seeing a whole new and different side of Oliver, and it is a side I would like to see a lot more to.”
House Choreographer
He is not alone in that point of view. When I interviewed Nikolaj Hübbe last autumn he was very clear that one of his key goals for his prolonged period as Artistic Director was to focus on the choreographic talents of Oliver Starpov, Gregory Dean and Sebastian Kloborg.
“I hope that I can get the chance of creating a ballet on professional terms. Everything I have done so far, has been on very limited time and limited ressources. Originally we did not have a budget for costumes, nor stage design. The tree which is the only set piece is one I spotted back stage. More time and more ressources could make such a big difference”.
Oliver Starpov is currently working on a Pas de Trois for his two leading men Andreas Kaas and Sebastian Haynes and Giodana Gallo, who joined RDB this season. “Giodana is dancing the role as the forest girl in “Beginning and Endings”. There is something about her that inspires me as a choreographer.” He is also looking into participating in some of the big international choreography competitions.
And on top of this he has a backload of idea for ballets, including a ballet inspired by Frida Kahlo. This wheel is not running dry. Let us hope that RDB can provide the frames for a truly Danish choreographer. It has been a long time since that happened last time.
Photos (Copyright(c) Royal Danish Ballet)
- Sebastian Haynes in "Beginning and Ending" ( Photo by Henrik Stenberg)
- Oliver Starpov starting out as choreographer in "Interregnum" (Photo by Signe Roderick)
- Russian Dance in "Swan Lake" (Photo by Costin Radu)
- Andreas Kaas (middle) in "Beginning and Ending" (Photo by Henrik Stenberg)
- Oliver Starpov (Photo by Natascha Rydwald)
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