Choreography contest winner borrows from Gypsy culture
Nelly van Bommel walked away with the cash in March 2007 as the clear winner of the Milwaukee Ballet's Genesis Choreography Competition.
Now she's back to claim the other half of her prize: a commission for a new work, which the company will perform on a mixed-rep program Thursday through Sunday at the Pabst Theater.
"O Clemens," her prize-winning octet, was smart, buoyant and elegant, like its accompanying Vivaldi concerto and Pergolesi "Stabat Mater."
Van Bommel, who has her own modern Noa Dance Company in New York and never danced in a ballet troupe, made a dance that showed the dancers' balletic lines to advantage and for the most part kept them comfortably vertical.
The second time around, she would stretch the vocabulary more, but still respect the dancers' training and style.
"It's light, it's dancey," she said of her new work, during a break at the Milwaukee Ballet's Walker's Point studio. "This is a little wilder, I think, than last time, but still very much a piece for them. I probably wouldn't have made it for my dancers.
"The experience last year was good. I learned a lot about the process, and ways to make it more efficient."
Building from a base
Like many modern choreographers, van Bommel has a core of regulars. Their shared history and aesthetic turns dance-making into a collaborative give-and-take over extended periods of time.
Ballet dancers and ballet companies don't work that way.
"Usually, I don't start from the beginning," she said. "I start with a draft and move things around. That can be confusing to dancers. This year I tried to be more clear about that, so they know where we're going."
Van Bommel said some of her 12 dancers worked with her on "O Clemens," and that gave her a head start this year. Instead of standing around waiting for her to dictate steps, they're pitching in some, in the modern-dance way.
"It took a couple of weeks, but now I can take from what they give," she said. "It's like cooking. You take what they give, add spices and shake it up."
Seven Romanian Gypsy songs were their starting point.
The music reflects a long-standing interest in Eastern Europe in general and Gypsy culture in particular.
Van Bommel grew up in France and lived there until moving to New York in 2002. She had some contact with Roma people in France and on trips to the East.
The title of the piece is "Gelem Gelem," after the song a Gypsy congress that convened in London in 1978 adopted as a national anthem.
"Every year, a Gypsy camp formed in our neighborhood," she said. "My mother was a teacher, and sometimes the boys - always boys, never girls - would attend her classes for a month or two before they moved on."
Getting in the mood
In preparing for this piece, she listened to a lot of Roma music and looked at a lot of Roma dancing on video.
"There is this wonderful research tool, now - it's called YouTube," she said. "The girls shake their shoulders a lot. The guys have a lot of percussive footwork. And the movement is always driving down."
Some of that seeped into her new 30-minute ballet, but she does not intend to mount a stylized folk dance.
"I always wanted to use Gypsy music in a way that is not folky," she said. "It's more my fantasy about Gypsies and the Roma diaspora.
"I'm especially interested in the women. In traditional culture, they're subservient until they're married. Then they gain some prominence. I'm interested in how Gypsy women are portrayed in literature. Often, they're like Esmeralda, beautiful and strong. I wanted to explore that, and I have such a female character in the piece."
While the dance hints at characterization, it doesn't tell a story.
Van Bommel is more after the specific moods of the seven songs. Like most Roma tunes, they evoke either sentimental yearning or dancing and partying.
"I want to move between nostalgia and fiesta," the choreographer said.
The music's powerful rhythm posed the biggest challenge. The path of least resistance would be to simply move with the thrust of the beat, complicated and compound as it might be.
"I'm in love with this music," she said.
"It's fun, but it's more than fun. You can't just go with the music, you have to go away from it and come back again. I want the bodies to be strong, strong enough to compete with the music and resist it.
"But sometimes you can't help it, and you're carried away."
Now she's back to claim the other half of her prize: a commission for a new work, which the company will perform on a mixed-rep program Thursday through Sunday at the Pabst Theater.
"O Clemens," her prize-winning octet, was smart, buoyant and elegant, like its accompanying Vivaldi concerto and Pergolesi "Stabat Mater."
Van Bommel, who has her own modern Noa Dance Company in New York and never danced in a ballet troupe, made a dance that showed the dancers' balletic lines to advantage and for the most part kept them comfortably vertical.
The second time around, she would stretch the vocabulary more, but still respect the dancers' training and style.
"It's light, it's dancey," she said of her new work, during a break at the Milwaukee Ballet's Walker's Point studio. "This is a little wilder, I think, than last time, but still very much a piece for them. I probably wouldn't have made it for my dancers.
"The experience last year was good. I learned a lot about the process, and ways to make it more efficient."
Building from a base
Like many modern choreographers, van Bommel has a core of regulars. Their shared history and aesthetic turns dance-making into a collaborative give-and-take over extended periods of time.
Ballet dancers and ballet companies don't work that way.
"Usually, I don't start from the beginning," she said. "I start with a draft and move things around. That can be confusing to dancers. This year I tried to be more clear about that, so they know where we're going."
Van Bommel said some of her 12 dancers worked with her on "O Clemens," and that gave her a head start this year. Instead of standing around waiting for her to dictate steps, they're pitching in some, in the modern-dance way.
"It took a couple of weeks, but now I can take from what they give," she said. "It's like cooking. You take what they give, add spices and shake it up."
Seven Romanian Gypsy songs were their starting point.
The music reflects a long-standing interest in Eastern Europe in general and Gypsy culture in particular.
Van Bommel grew up in France and lived there until moving to New York in 2002. She had some contact with Roma people in France and on trips to the East.
The title of the piece is "Gelem Gelem," after the song a Gypsy congress that convened in London in 1978 adopted as a national anthem.
"Every year, a Gypsy camp formed in our neighborhood," she said. "My mother was a teacher, and sometimes the boys - always boys, never girls - would attend her classes for a month or two before they moved on."
Getting in the mood
In preparing for this piece, she listened to a lot of Roma music and looked at a lot of Roma dancing on video.
"There is this wonderful research tool, now - it's called YouTube," she said. "The girls shake their shoulders a lot. The guys have a lot of percussive footwork. And the movement is always driving down."
Some of that seeped into her new 30-minute ballet, but she does not intend to mount a stylized folk dance.
"I always wanted to use Gypsy music in a way that is not folky," she said. "It's more my fantasy about Gypsies and the Roma diaspora.
"I'm especially interested in the women. In traditional culture, they're subservient until they're married. Then they gain some prominence. I'm interested in how Gypsy women are portrayed in literature. Often, they're like Esmeralda, beautiful and strong. I wanted to explore that, and I have such a female character in the piece."
While the dance hints at characterization, it doesn't tell a story.
Van Bommel is more after the specific moods of the seven songs. Like most Roma tunes, they evoke either sentimental yearning or dancing and partying.
"I want to move between nostalgia and fiesta," the choreographer said.
The music's powerful rhythm posed the biggest challenge. The path of least resistance would be to simply move with the thrust of the beat, complicated and compound as it might be.
"I'm in love with this music," she said.
"It's fun, but it's more than fun. You can't just go with the music, you have to go away from it and come back again. I want the bodies to be strong, strong enough to compete with the music and resist it.
"But sometimes you can't help it, and you're carried away."
Labels: Gypsy, Gypsy Culture, Gypsy Dance, Gypsy Music, Roma
posted by Allie @ 8:46 AM
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