GTP: Día bueno, Mauricio! I understand that you were in France working on a full-length ballet called The Messiah that premiered in October last year at the Opera House of Bordeaux. Can you tell us more about that experience?
MW: The Messiah , created on Handel's music, was an excellent work experience for me. It is an 85-minute ballet with no intermission. I did not follow the religious text in the piece, but as there is great spirituality in Handel's music, I used the music and lyrics as a whole universe of feelings. Dancers love to be a part of this experience, and audiences of much diversity enjoyed this ballet. In the Opera House of Bordeaux, as with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet of Canada, The Messiah was premiered with a live orchestra, a full choir, and soloist singers, which gave the performances a very special quality. In that very old Opera House, the oldest in France, The Messiah took on a truly magical sheen.
 GTP: After The Messiah, you returned to Buenos Aires to develop a Shakespearean play The Tempest into a ballet, which you set to music by Philip Glass. What made you decide to work with such grand material and what was the creative process like?
MW: The Tempest has been a very long project that I had in my mind until I was fortunate enough to create it for our own company last year. I love to create story ballets, and Shakespeare is the best partner for that. His stories and characters are unique, and to add to this, working with Philip Glass music made the result of this creative process immensely wonderful. The ballet has been very successful. We did 26 performances in 5 weeks in Buenos Aires and we were always sold out.
GTP: Tell us more about how you came up with the choreography for the piece, Seasons Of Buenos Aires, which we will be able to see in Singapore soon.
MW: Seasons of Buenos Aires is the fourth ballet that I created on Astor Piazzolla's music. The premise of this nocturnal ballet hinges on the encounters between men and women; couples that are dancing in the night. There is a sense of tango around, but not the classical tango with the classical cliché. In my piece, I follow the sensual music of Piazzolla, adding to it a set of contemporary movements – gestures of the people of Buenos Aires – that gives to the work an unique flavor.
GTP: Was it an easy choice for you to decide on using Astor Piazzoll´s music for this piece?
MW: I was born in Argentina . Although I have very strong roots with Europe, both of my parents are from Poland , from Warsaw . Since I can remember, tango music has been part of my life, and Piazzolla has been present in my memory since forever! I love his music, because it is a very important part of my essence.
GTP: Have you ever been to Singapore, and if so, what are your deepest impressions of our island city?
MW: Unfortunately not, I do hope to fulfill my dream to visit Singapore very soon. I am most thankful and honored that Singapore Dance Theatre, through its Artistic Director, Ms Goh Soo Khim, has invited me to stage Seasons of Buenos Aires . I do hope that this will be the beginning of a very good artistic relationship.
GTP: Do you think there are any similarities between Buenos Aires and Singapore? How about the differences?
MW: I do not know Singapore well enough to give a correct answer. However I believe that both cities are very eclectic and cosmopolitan. The artistic life is very important for us, as I believe it is for all of you. In this aspect, we are very, very close.
GTP: What kind of dancers do you like to work with and why? Have you ever had to work with any difficult dancers and how did you resolve these problems?
MW: I do love dancers with an open mind, without dogmas- dancers who are able to dance classical ballets as well as contemporary works. I do love to see their imagination and their musicality. My works are technical difficult, however I enjoy their creativity and input – what they are able to do with my texts – which are movements and their quality. It is also important for me to see how they can tell their own story through my ideas, steps and choreographic phrases.
GTP: I notice from your biography that you received grants from The Choo-San Goh and H Robert Magee Foundation in 1993 and 1998 for Perpetual Motion and Now And Then respectively. Coincidentally, Singapore Dance Theatre will be staging a tribute season to Goh Choo San this September at The Esplanade Theatre. Are you familiar with Goh Choo San's choreography, and could you tell us more of your association with him?
MW: I am most honored that two of my ballets have been granted with the Choo San Goh Choreographic Award. I met this wonderful choreographer in Washington in 1982, while he was working with the Washington Ballet. He was very kind to allow me to be present at some of his rehearsals, which I enjoyed very much. I do love immensely his musicality and fluidity of movements, and imagination. Our works shared the stage at an evening performance with the Royal Ballet of Flanders. They presented a very beautiful work that Choo San created on Samuel Barber's music for (Mikhail) Baryshnikov when he was with the American Ballet Theatre. It was called Configurations . I was truly impressed with this ballet.
GTP: It is really a pity that you could not make it to Singapore this time due to your work commitments in Argentina. Is there something you would like to tell potential audience members who are still thinking about whether they should come and watch your dance piece?
MW: In fact I am very sad that I cannot come this time to Singapore due to my commitments in Argentina . I do wish very much that both the audience and the company dancers in Singapore will enjoy my ballet as it has been well-received in Belgium , the USA and Argentina . My assistant Andrea Chinetti is the most qualified person to teach all my works as she knows them even better than me! Because of my confidence in Andrea, I know that the dancers and the audience will get the best version of my Seasons of Buenos Aires.
GTP: Finally, do tell us what is next on your busy calendar.
MW: Right now I am working on a very big project for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet of Canada. It is a new version of Carmen with an original score created on my own libretto, with sets and costumes by my long-time collaborator Carlos Gallardo (who also produced the costumes for Seasons of Buenos Aires ). This new work is going to be premiered next October in Winnipeg . After that the company will tour several cities of Canada .
Also in October, the Ballet du Capitol, in France , will present Seasons of Buenos Aires.
Next week our company in Buenos Aires is premiering in Buenos Aires Perpetual Motion, the work that was given a grant by the Choo-San Goh Choreographic Award Committee.
Mauricio Wainrot's Seasons of Buenos Aires will be presented under Impressions, together with Jeffrey Tan's Negro Y Blanco and Jiri Kylian's Stamping Ground , at the University Cultural Centre, on 18 & 19 May, 2007, 8pm. |
