© Peter Schnetz Zurich Ballet reviews Kevin Ng reviews

Heinz Spoerli, the artistic director of the Zurich Ballet, is one of the most outstanding classical choreographers working in the world today. Spoerli was born in Basel where he began as a dancer, and he later started work as a choreographer in Geneva at the age of 31. Between 1973 and 1991 he was the director of the Basel Ballet, which he built up by creating an average of more than four ballets a year. He then spent five years directing the Ballett der Deutsche Oper am Rhein company based in Dusseldorf, before he accepted the offer to take over the Zurich Ballet in 1996.

In Zurich, Spoerli continued his prodigious creativity, and the wide repertory of his abstract and narrative ballets was supplemented by works by other major choreographers such as Balanchine, Forsythe, Kylian, and Van Manen.

Kevin Ng: Mr. Spoerli, you create both dramatic ballets and pure dance ballets. But would you say that your instincts have more to do with story ballets?

Heinz Spoerli: Not at all. Dance is my first love. I think I am good in telling a story, but I also like to create abstract ballets as well. For instance, my ballet "Goldberg Variations" is a completely abstract ballet. I just work in dance, and I try to speak through dance, and so this distinction doesn't really matter for me. I get the feeling that I must continuously imjprove on the previous ballet and it is challenging. My way of dealing with it is to find new ideas all the time. So it's good to change from time to time and alternate between story ballets and abstract ballets, so that my mind can work on a good variety. With a story ballet, you have to get the idea as well as the music together to narrate the story. In an abstract ballet, you just tackle the music. Actually my main inspiration is directly from the music.

I live with music. Music is like a religion for me. I can regenerate well to music. It can be any kind of music, and doesn't necessarily have to be classical music. That's what provides me constantly with the material and the motto for developing dance.

When I first start work on the music, there is the music, and there's me, so it makes two people, and so I never feel lonely. Loneliness is more likely to set in when my work is over, when the music fades. I get the feeling that my partner is no longer there, and that brings with it a certain feeling of emptiness.

You've choreographed a number of ballets to J. S. Bach's music. Why are you particularly fond of Bach's music?

For me, Bach is the composer who fits into any era. He's the sort of umbilical cord who always brings things full circle. Everyone can identify with Bach. It's so exciting. For me, it's a very relaxing experience, almost like meditation.

I admire very much your masterly ballet "Goldberg Variations". How did you start creating that ballet?

I studied the whole numerology of Bach's works, especially "Goldberg Variations". I said to myself that I'd plan it out. I'd have one person or a group of people at the beginning of each theme, but I had to give it up because it's not the right approach. One can't approach music like that. In the end I instinctively did what I felt was right.

I notice a lack of individual stars in the Zurich Ballet. Is it your wish to make your dancers function like different instruments in an orchestra?

No, there are two aspects. A star will really have to be extra special in my company, because the standard of the dancers is already very high. Stars are more likely to join a bigger company, and there aren't that many stars around the world any more.

And you very seldom invite guest dancers to your company.

It's a big problem for me. We have 50 performances in Zurich only, and so naturally I want to give my own dancers the maximum opportunities to dance. But when I can find elsewhere the right dancers who are of such a high level, e.g. Thomas Edur and Agnes Oaks, then I'll invite them. Actually I'd love to have them in my company too.

For your intake of new dancers, do you give priority to your school, the Swiss Professional Ballet School?

I just take the best dancers available, from whichever school.

Do you have much say at all on the policies of the School?

I was the director of the School, and now the school is government-run, though I am still interested in ballet education in Switzerland.

Do male dancers tend to dominate in your ballets, e.g. the male soloist in "Mozartina"?

This is more because of the link with Mozart who holds the ballet together. I have many works which are dominated by women. It's much more difficult today to find good female dancers than good male dancers.

So you don't have a muse in Zurich Ballet?

I have Karine Seneca and Yen Han. Yen Han is like a sponge. It's wonderful to create for her because she can put so much into the process. Actually Yen dances Chloe in my new ballet "Daphnis et Chloe" (which was premiered in April). And Karine Seneca has a very elegant and sophisticasted aura.

Do you have a good relationship with your dancers?

I am like a fatherly figure, and I must be at hand if they need me, and I must care for them. But at the same time it's necessary to have a sense of detachment too, to keep my distance, otherwise it would become too intimate, and that's not the idea of the whole thing. It's a group I work with and supervise, but in the evenings I need my own space, space to think and be myself.

You have produced some classics in Zurich - "Nutcracker" and "Giselle". You haven't staged yet "Swan Lake" and "Sleeping Beauty".

I staged my own versions of the classics, and I also endeavoured to keep in step with the times. If I can fill the house to see a classic, the audience might be tempted to come back to see other works too. Anyway I did stage "Swan Lake" and "Beauty" in Dusseldorf where I had a bigger company. It's harder to stage "Beauty" for a smaller company, though it may just be possible to do "Swan Lake".

Have you changed Petipa's choreography?

No, not really. I've kept the original choreography for the second and fourth acts. I've actually staged two productions of "Swan Lake" - one more classical than the other - in Basel and Dusseldorf respectively. In the Dusseldorf version the story took place in a ballet studio. The ballet master was Rothbart, and as for the double role - Odile was Rothbart's girlfriend, while Odette was the Prince's girlfriend. You see the four swans dancing in theback in a tutu like in a performance, and that's when we go to a performance in Act 2 in my version. At the end the ballet master pushed away Odette as well as Odile, and the prince is left alone at the end of the story. So it all came together, though my production was very controversial at the time. I felt like doing something different at that time.

Have you tried to develop a young in-house choreographer in your company?

I did encourage a few before. Mikko Nissen, the present director of the Boston Ballet, was in my company. And so was Martin Schlepfer, who is now a famous choreographer in Germany. I haven't done as much in Zurich, because the Zurich Opera House isn't equipped for that. We have so many operas that we just cannot get the stage for the young talented choreographers. We should really have a second theatre, or a smaller stage. But still we have a junior company, and I let them try choreography.

Doesn't the small seating capacity of the Zurich Opera House limit the box office revenue?

Well, we are state-subsidised, and it's good to be sold out all the time anyway.

Does the company still dance the Balanchine ballets which were acquired when Patricia Neary was director?

Yes, we just danced a Balanchine triple bill last autumn. We did "Rubies", "Duo Concertant", and "Theme and Variations" to celebrate Balanchine's centennial. Actually I always try to bring in works by other choreographers, so that the dancers can have something else besides my repertory. In April my ballet "Daphnis et Chloe" was premiered in a mixed programme which also includes Jiri Kylian's "La Petite Mort" and Paul Lightfoot's "Skew-Whiff" set to Rossini's music.

Which choreographers from the past have influenced you the most - Balanchine perhaps?

Yes, certainly Balanchine, and also Jerome Robbins as well as Robert Joffrey. I wanted to have a company in between the New York City Ballet and the Joffrey Ballet. Joffrey brought a contemporary spirit which updates classical dance to our era. It's important that the classical technique doesn't get static like in a museum, but remains a creative force. Ballets shouldn't be like a museum piece. Actually a lot of critics now only watch modern works, especially the younger critics in Europe who don't know about classical ballet any more. I wish to ensure that classical dance can still be as creative.

How do you see the future of classical ballet?

The important thing is to keep the basic schooling which has to be done. People nowadays don't want to spend six years in school, which is the problem. Some dancers go to do modern dance after only spending two years in school, because they can already perform on stage. But in the school you have to learn the vocabulary Mind you, you have to do that for every language - be it English or Russian. So that's what you have to do in dance. That's what we've lost today, and that's the danger of concentrating on e.g. contact improvisation. It's just movements. I say, "Teach the young students classical technique, and what they do afterwards with the dance it doesn't matter, because they can always fall back on their classical dance education."

And in recent years you've staged some of your works for other companies too.

Yes, I just worked in South Africa. I did work at the Universal Ballet of Korea, the Italian comanies in Naples and Rome, as well as in Berlin and Portugal. I was also invited to work in Australia, but couldn't accept the invitation.

I've been all over the world. That's the way it is with ballet. You go somewhere for two months, and then you are off again. You are always saying goodbye. You always take some nice memories with you. That's the idea of it, but it is still a leave-taking, as is life itself.

Who looks after your ballets when you are away?

Chris Jensen, the first ballet master, and also Jean-Francois Boisnon. Now I am bringing up the principal dancer Francois Petit to be a ballet master. He comes from the Paris Opera Ballet School, and he teaches very well.

Do you think that your own company dances your ballets better than other companies?

Yes, usually. If I know that a company is not so strong, I'll choose one of my ballets that will suit them technically.

The Zurich Ballet haven't toured the US for a while now, I don't think.

Well, we are planning a US tour in 2006, though it may not include New York. As for our future tours, we are planning tours to Frankfurt, Paris, Barcelona, and Genoa which is this year's cultural city of Europe.

Was your London tour in 2000 well received?

Yes, very well received. I got a nomination in the Laurence Olivier Awards. I was very proud, because I hadn't expected that at all.

Do you normally create a new ballet every season?

Much more. This year I just create "Daphnis et Chloe". However last year I did four new works, as well as the choreography for Rameau's opera "Les Indes Galantes". The opera lasts for four hours and have a lot of dancing. So after my large workload last year, I am doing less this year. I just like to choreograph when I am inspired. And also of course I revive my old works. Earlier this year I revived "und mied den Wind" set to Bach's cello suite.

What do you consider as your major achievements since you took office in Zurich in 1996? Creativity?

Yes, creativity. Also the standard of the company has improved considerably. And I've managed to do more touring too. In Germany I didn't travel as much. It's very important to realise that dance is international without any language barriers, and so one has to be conversant with the latest happenings in the world. That's what is so nice about dance, in that it can travel anywhere. Also one has to look at the global picture of dance, instead of just from a local angle. That's what I am after.