Next month, Sadler’s presents the UK premiere of a new work Five Days in the Sun (3 Nov) set to Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, which actually marks its 125th anniversary this year. The music itself has a fascinating history, composed after a near-death experience and whirl-wind romance.
1. Having initially trained as a composer and conductor, how has your musical background shaped your approach to choreography, particularly in Five Days in the Sun?
I would say that most of why informs my approach to choreography making, comes directly FROM the choreographic process. From engaging with the questions that are proper to it – music and how the choreographic thing interacts with it, being one of them. The fact I had a dream of becoming a conductor when I was a young man, doesn’t really play a part in it I think.
To put it in the simplest way, I would say that what I’m after is finding a way where choreography and music remain separate and clearly defined entities that interact, that dialogue, rather then blend or morph into one another.
2. Mahler’s Fifth Symphony moves through a huge emotional range; how did you translate its music into movement without relying on a conventional narrative?
Following on my previous answer, translating whatever is happening in the music, isn’t really what I’m tying to do. That would be like having a conversation with someone (a very intense someone in this case) and just repeating everything they say in the same manner in which they say it. I find that to be a very limited and static way to approach the question of how choreography relates to music. Im after the interaction, the dialogue, things bouncing off of each other, reacting to each other, informing each other. What I focus on are the relationships between all things, rather than how to enslave one element to another.
3. The work unfolds across five tableaux, each exploring a different dimension of human experience; how did you decide what each section should express?
I do not. I refrain from trying to decide what the work is about. The reason for that is that I’m not making work that is about something, but rather, I want to make work that IS a thing.
That implies I don’t impose on the audience what they’re supposed to see and experience, I trust the work to be in itself conducive for having an experience, which then remains subjective to each person coming in contact with it.
The way I see it, in order for the work to be able to touch people in precise and specific ways, it can’t limit itself to being about something in particular, but rather it needs to be about everything, thus opening the space for a meaningful yet subjective and personal expirience by the viewer.
4. The 12 international dancers have been living and working together in Marseille; how has this shared experience influenced the movement and dynamic of the piece?
It is the first time I have all of my dancers living in the same city (or country for that matter). It’s a bit early to say how this impacts the work, but I think it might helps facilitate some aspects that are primordial for the creative process, such as trust, familiarity, and a shared story etc.
5. Marseille has become an important hub for contemporary dance; what is it about the city’s creative environment that makes it such a fertile place for experimentation?
I think it’s a mixture of things. It’s a very multicultural city, which is always a great setup for creativity with a dynamic mixture of cultures and vibes. A lot of younger people making it their home and quite a few dance makers settling in. Time will tell but it does feel right now like marseille is indeed becoming an important hub for dance making.
6. As Five Days in the Sun reaches UK audiences, what do you hope they take away from experiencing Mahler’s symphony through dance rather than music alone?
I think that if one lets go of the paralyzing need to ‘understand’ and allow the expirience of the thing to take hold, they are in for a powerful ride and touching human journey – that of life itself in condensed form.