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Christopher Hampson,
Conversing with a Tamara | |||||||
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Christopher Hampson, a dancer and young choreographer with ENB, has been keeping a diary for us since November 97. Initially he covered the creation of his new ballet ‘Country Garden’ but now he has lots and lots of other things on the go.....
Here is a link to the previous column in the series.
October 10th 1998 I started back at English National Ballet two months ago, and already I’ve managed to sprain my ankle, create three short ballets and... well, one thing at a time: I received a ‘phone call a couple of weeks ago from Harold King (director of City Ballet of London) to ask if I could create a solo for Thomas Edur, to be performed at the Grosvenor House Hotel as part of a charity gala for his company. I agreed immediately and arranged to call him back after I had discussed the project with Tom. Just before I hung-up, Harold asked me for a title, composer and duration. "Don’t worry about that" I told him, "I’ll meet with Tom first, and then I can give you all the details you need for the programme…" "Do you know when the gala is?" Harold asked; an obvious question which I’d forgotten to ask, and the answer was no, I didn’t. Harold told me the date and with not a moment to lose I supplied him with the title, music and duration of the solo. If I didn’t exactly fax Tom the choreography, I still had to get a move on as the Gala was in two days time. I cut short the extremely important meeting I was having in the pub, went home and listened to Tango music all night. The next day I met an enthusiastic Tom at the studios. "Hold that thought", I said, as I needed to finish the pas de deux I was creating for Tamara and Chang. I finished the ballet inside of an hour and asked the artist who had quietly sat in the corner of the studio sketching if she’d mind giving Tom a shout to come up to start work. Once I’d packed off Tamara and Chang, I put on the Tango music I’d chosen and sat to watch Tom’s reaction, which I was pleased to see was him dancing around the studio - hardly any need to choreograph anything: just add water. This was a good start. I had dreaded him just looking at me with "Hampy, what planet are you on?!" written all over his face. We set to work. After a couple of hours of me limping around the studio (I’d sprained my ankle, and had just lost the crutches), Tom jumping around with an energy I don’t think I’ll ever possess, a lot of laughter and half a packet of Dunhill, WE HAD A SOLO! The title was T.B.A. and it’s the fourth solo I’ve created under this title. All the others have been created under much the same circumstances, and as titles are one of the hardest things to think of for abstract work, I think T.B.A. is the most honest and abstract one I can muster. This is not the end of the Nescafé Instant Ballet saga: I was told that there would a short technical rehearsal on stage, then we would have time to change into Black Tie before Prince Andrew arrived for the banquet and... BANQUET? BLACK TIE? Nobody mentioned anything about black tie (I should have bought that cheap dinner jacket in Hong Kong), so Charlie (my notator) and I had to go hunting for a suit I could hire and I eventually found myself parting with £90. Charlie wasn’t very impressed as we had originally arranged to meet for coffee. She was even less impressed when having got the suit, I needed her assistance to find Tamara some knickers for my other new ballet. With both items acquired I went back to Park Lane to do the technical. After a very calm rehearsal and a few glasses of champagne (if I’d known there’d been Guinness I’d have made a Black Velvet) I watched the performance from the back of the Ballroom in my hired DJ, and enjoyed everything I saw. The after-show party was a performance in itself. As I mingled I came across a tall blonde lady in a frock that was held up by clever tailoring, a Soviet bra and a force that defied gravity. She asked my name and after a couple of minutes of vacuous conversation I asked her the same. "Tamara Beckwith" she replied. "I know a Tamara," I said. She smiled, and said she had to go. Strange girl… The morning after the gala I woke with a moderate hangover and saw a message I’d written to myself -Remember: Capriol Suite this evening, Technical@2pm. I arrived at the studios with enough time to do the lighting and sort out Tamara’s and Chang’s costumes. I told Tamara that her knickers were not a good idea (she agreed) and I tried to convince Chang to wear something without holes. I watched my ballet that evening and hated what they were wearing. My doubts were confirmed when I asked Derek what he thought: "Liked the ballet…what was Chang wearing?!" Quite! I have created three ballets this month (honest) but the third won’t be seen for a while yet. I now have to start thinking about my new commission for English National Ballet’s tour in March. Time is short on this project as well, as I’ve been told that Romeo and Juliet finishes on a Saturday, and the new work is premiered on the following Tuesday. Time to get the choreography granules out again… | ||||||||
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