Bintley in InterViews, News

Nevertheless, by the age of 12, Bintley was captivated by the music of Stravinsky. So, it came as no surprise that he turned to this composer when, at the age of 15, he choreographed his first work to 'The Soldier's Tale'. He told a story about how he did not know any ballroom dancing, which he needed for part of the piece. He went along, with the girl who was to play the role, to an Arthur Murray School of Dancing and boldly said that they wanted to learn the waltz, quickstep and tango in 1 hour - sadly we didn't hear the response.

'Galanteries' was discussed and Bintley told us that Mozart was his favourite composer. He was particularly appreciative of the elegant dancing of Bruce Sansom in this work and described how his solo '… at one stroke threw out all the Soviet male macho rubbish.'

'Tombeau' to 'Variations on a Theme by Hindemith' by Walton is also clearly an important work for the choreographer. He described how he had always liked the music and had been listening to it absent-mindedly one day when he suddenly visualised the 'Fred step' with a halt in the middle and by the end of the recording, he had sketched the entire ballet in his mind. It is intended as a memorial to Ashton, the Royal Ballet and classicism. Not in the sense of this being a dead tradition, but more an emotional reaction to an artist, an institution and a form that he reveres so much.

The theme then turned to the fact that Bintley has always been keen to commission new music for his ballets. He told us that the manner of working with different composers varies greatly, but gave as an example, 'Far From the Madding Crowd', where in Act III he defined 11 musical sections and talked us through the final 4 scenes. He gave the composer brief notes on the action and the length required. There was then an iterative process where themes for the various characters were discussed and at regular intervals the composer and choreographer would get together to review progress.

Turning to 'Hobson's Choice', Bintley described it as a fantastic journey in musical styles. He gave as an example, the passage that is a pastiche on Salvation Army tunes. In preparation, he listened to some actual examples from the period, which '.. were so melodramatic that they were impossible to use.' William Mossop's clog dance is a reminder of old English dance styles and comes at the end of a sequence where the different styles of dancing reflect the type of shoe that Mossop is bringing out of his basket.

He then talked about his collaborations with John McCabe. Bintley had been considering 'Edward II' for some time, when he was '…captured by the sound world of McCabe.' He told us that the surprising thing is that McCabe is a nice, rather quiet man and yet can produce all this angry, fiery music. He remarked that it was a great shame that so little of McCabe's music is recorded and in particular Bintley believes that the unrecorded 'Edward II' is the best music composed for ballet in this country since 'The Prince of the Pagodas'.

In more recent times, Bintley has turned to music reflecting the spirit and religion, in works such as 'The Protecting Veil' and ' Carmina Burana', which arise naturally out of his own Catholic faith. He told us about the renewal of interest in religious music by composers such as Arvo Part and James MacMillan. He is planning to meet Macmillan soon to discuss a possible collaboration.

The interview then moved on to 'The Nutcracker Sweeties' to music by Ellington and how he hoped that American audiences would understand the jokes about formation ballroom dancing. Finally, Bintley mentioned 'Still Life at the Penguin Café', and how he relies on his cultural memory of popular styles of dance rather than researching them in detail, as he feels that this does not benefit the process.

An interesting programme providing valuable insights for ballet lovers into a key aspect of the choreographic process and the work of David Bintley. Overall, the series has been an imaginative piece of programming and the BBC is to be commended for broadcasting it at peak time, in between 'The World at One' and 'The Archers'.