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Christopher Hampson,
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Here is a link to the previous column in the series.
Prague OK…Let’s go back to August of this year. I was in Prague teaching at Laterna Magika and visiting Terezine and Csecky Krumlov. I was due to have the first of a series of meetings for my commission out there in 2004 with Petr Zuska the new Artistic Director of the National Ballet. Then it started raining. This wasn’t rain like we get in England (I know about rain, I come from Manchester). The rain didn’t stop and the rivers didn’t drain and Prague started to flood. The rest I think you may have read about in the newspapers. I paddled out of the city with having not met Mr. Zuska and knowing that even though it was only August, I was to leave rain for snow. Not real snow, of course, but the imaginary stuff that appears in Christmas ballets like The Nutcracker. I knew I wouldn’t catch up with Petr until I had ploughed my way through this next project.
My latest ballet is presently on at the London Coliseum. It’s called The Nutcracker. I did all the steps and Gerald Scarfe did the sets and costumes. We both worked together on the scenario and setting for this new production. After I’d arrived back in London from Prague, I found a towel, dried myself off and started work with ENB on Nuts. One of the first sections I started on was the Grand Pas de Deux. I created most of it on Thomas Edur and Agnes Oaks and I can’t remember if I’ve told you about this or not, and I can’t check on the internet as I don’t have a computer at the moment (more of that later). I started the rehearsal by asking them to show me a version of the Grand Pas… WELL! What a can of worms!
 Thomas Edur and Agnes Oaks as the Prince and Sugar Plum Fairy in Christopher Hampson's Nutcracker Photograph courtesy of the ENB Principal Daria Klimentova ©
One of the major changes I made was the Prince’s solo. I created it on Thomas Edur. It’s a Tarantella. A Tarantella. I’ll just say that again to make sure you know what I’m talking about, a Tarantella. I did about four or five versions on Thomas and then asked the pianist to play it at the tempo indicated by Tchaikovsky. Thomas was the first to complain and David Wall the second, they’d both fallen into my trap. The point is, I can’t bear hearing the music at “Prince doing his solo” speed, and the Prince can’t do his is solo at “Tchaikovsky” speed (which means the solo lasts 31 seconds).
 Christopher Hampson, in the studio, showing how to be a convincing Snowflake in his Nutcracker! Photograph courtesy of the ENB Principal Daria Klimentova ©
Lots of people helped to make this production. I enjoyed working with Irek Mukhamedov, especially on the mime scene in Act Two. I wanted to create a mime scene that didn’t need a ballet dictionary to understand it, and he threw himself at it with gusto. He told me that he’d gone home and tried it out on his kids, and it worked. Kids were important in this production. Gerald was consulting his Granddaughter on the odd design idea, I had Sarah McIlroy’s son sat on my knee for one of the Party Scene rehearsals and of course the children from Elmhurst Ballet School were encouraged to voice their ideas. I would imagine that at least 40% of the audience for a Nutcracker are children and these little people should not be ignored.
 ENB Nutcracker by Christopher Hampson Grandpa (Kevin Richmond) chasing his Girlfriend, Ms V. Aggra (Jane Haworth) Photograph courtesy of English National Ballet ©
As an avid fan of Ballet.co I’ve enjoyed all the debate surrounding my production of Nutcracker. I think it has raised some interesting questions about the Nutcracker as an entity. My take on it, for what its worth, is that the reason we have so many productions (apart from the commercial aspect of this festive ballet) is that the Nutcracker has never really worked. It was, and still is, an unresolved collaboration between Tchaikovsky, Petipa, and Ivanov. It was a critical failure in 1892 and didn’t come to these shores in its entirety until the 50’s. Since then there have been countless takes on the scenario, and numerous productions and I’m sure there are plenty more to come.
After the premiere of Nuts I had an engagement in Atlanta. The Atlanta Ballet had contacted me some time ago about doing a work for them. They got me right in the middle of all of the above, which can’t have been pleasant for anybody. I spoke with Michael Pink about the company, as they had performed some of his work. He told me he’d enjoyed working with them. John McFall (Artistic Director of Atlanta Ballet) offered to fly me out to meet them in person. A hideous flight ensued and after the plane eventually landed in Atlanta I spent five totally inspiring days with the company. They were performing at the Fox Theatre, a 1930’s Art Deco/Egyptian Style place. It was decided that I’d create a work for them in the next 18 months, so watch this space.
I go to Wellington, New Zealand (very American way of putting it, but at least you know where I mean) in April 2003 to create a new Romeo and Juliet. The phone calls are difficult because if they phone me when they start work I’m normally in a pub and when I phone them at the start of my working day they are normally in a pub, such is the time difference. It’s a very exciting project and it’s a company I’ve worked with before. The most exciting part is the Prokofiev score. Next year will be a very Prokofiev year for me, as the next ballet I do is…
2003 is the 50th anniversary of Prokofiev’s death and I have been commissioned to create a work to mark this occasion. Trapeze is a score that was originally for the Ballet Romantique, a collaboration between Prokofiev and Boris Romanov in the 1920’s. However, the premiere was delayed by financial restraints and an injury to the Prima Ballerina (some things never change). Prokofiev went on to allow a concert version to be performed in Moscow a few years later bearing the title Quintet. Before its rescheduled ballet premiere, Romanov asked Prokofiev for two extra movements, which are familiar from their later use in the Divertimento, rearranged for Orchestra. The two additional movements of Trapeze are being reconstructed from manuscripts. This will enable the ballet to be performed again in its original quintet scoring. This is where I come in, as there is no recording of the choreography that was done by the Romanov Company. I’m currently talking with a nice guy, Monsieur Clenin, who is based in Champagne that is going to make me a real Trapeze. It is pure coincidence that he is based in this region!
Once Nuts had gone on and I’d done my recce in Atlanta I came back to ENB to have a look at Double Concerto. I enjoyed
During the English National Ballet’s season at the London Coliseum I’ve been teaching for Laura Conner at Pineapple Dance Studios in Covent Garden. I’ve enjoyed doing this as I get to see dancers I haven’t fallen over in ages. Quite a few mates from the Royal Ballet were in the other day and some dancers from ENB, which I was very surprised to see, as they should have probably been performing in my ballet! What’s next? Well, Trapeze, Romeo and Juliet and more to come, but before that I’m going to Prague (in January) to pick up that meeting I had to abandon with Petr Zuska. News of the commission will come after that meeting, so here’s another space to watch.
For Christmas I’m going to be with my family in Manchester for the first time in nearly 20 years. Since I was eight years old I have danced in Nutcrackers every Christmas, firstly with Northern Ballet Theatre, then the Royal Ballet and finishing with English National Ballet. Now my own production is on I can’t think of a better way of celebrating than with my folks.
I wish all Ballet.co readers and writers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
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