Mad'moiselle

Titles are difficult... first because you don't want them to reveal the piece too much, second because you don't want them to frame the piece as such that the audience watches it with only one expectation.

I found the title for my new ballet, "Mad'moiselle", while dining and drinking with two dancers of Ballet Hispanico. It was on a hot evening in August in a small West-African restaurant in Manhattan.

The main character of the piece would be a female figure that would show some signs of madness as the piece would progress... and there it was: Lady Maria became Miss M who became Mademoiselle M... Hmmm, still not happy. Let's play further with the words...

In Mad'moiselle I wanted to explore the iconographic name Maria in Latin culture through the sacred and the profane, going from Maria Magdalena to the Virgin Maria.

The word mad in the title does not solely refer to the crazyness of the main character but points out the quirky aspects of women, which I feel also captures who I am myself as a woman and choreographer.

I had a lot of fun searching for a compilation of music that would refer to the name Maria.The music score comprises 4 versions of Leonard Bernstein famous song "Maria", Maria Dolores Pradera, Mercedes Sosa, Chavela Vargas, Henry Torgue and of course last but not least, Gounod's superb Ave Maria. These variety of songs would have to be connected through a soundscape, which was composed by Bart Rijnink, who sampled excerpts of all the songs + additional sound excerpts of Bernstein's and Jose Carreras' voice.

 

The dancers and staff of Ballet Hispanico were open to every idea I'd bring in as the process would evolve. Even when I asked two dancers to perform a duet blindfolded by their wigs. Poor kids, O they were stressed. The idea is a take on the Belgian surrealist René Magritte's famous painting:

"La reproduction interdite (portrait d'Edward James)" 1937, René Magritte

During the duet the dancers would hide their real identity from each other until the very last moment of the duet. The wigs on their faces made them look like some kind of dogs. I've always been a bit afraid of dogs, I guess that's maybe why I like that image so much. It scares the crap out of me but fascinates me at the same time.

From the very beginning of the creation process I wanted to have the piece starting in hell and ending in heaven. Of course everyone has their own fantasy of what heaven looks like. I personally don't believe it even exists. I admit my take on the garden of Eden looks a little bit like Lady Gaga surrounded by her androginous angels. Who else is more iconic in 2010? Though she might be completely forgotten in 2011. I guess the icons of nowodays don't last as long as our holy Mother Maria! :-)

All pictures by EDUARDO PATINO, NYC.

Review from the NY Post.

'Mad'moiselle,' s'il vous plait

Posted: 11:04 PM, December 1, 2010

Leigh Witchel

DANCE REVIEW

Annabelle Lopez Ochoa knows how to work a prop. Her new "Mad'moiselle" has plenty of them -- it's a smart, spicy piece of dance theater and the highlight of Ballet Hispanico's season, which opened Tuesday at The Joyce.

Ochoa, a frequent guest choreographer at the company, is half-Colombian and half-Belgian. Dancing in the Netherlands, she picked up the Dutch mix of brash theatrical effects in ballet.

She keeps it simple yet eye-filling, giving her black-clad dancers one or two props per scene -- a shocking red boa or blinding white fan -- and using them skillfully.

picture by EDUARDO PATINO, NYC.

The music, an untitled but fascinating recorded collage by Bart Rijnink, might be called "Variations on 'Maria.' " "Mad'moiselle" is about images of Latin women, and "Maria" -- from "West Side Story" -- gets mixed and remixed with other songs.

The curtain rises on a woman in a bright-red wig, stiletto boots and a bustle with steam rising from it.

Another woman pulls her wig forward over her face, and a guy shuffles out wearing a shocking blue wig the same way. When they duet, he looks like Cookie Monster and she, like a cross between Cousin Itt and Elmo. Somehow it makes sense.

Just when you think the piece is finished, Ochoa goes on to give you an even better ending -- to "Ave Maria." Ochoa's theatrical ideas are so surefooted that it's a little letdown that the steps themselves, though fine, aren't as striking. But there's enough smarts on the stage to make it worth anyone's time.

Ballet Hispanico offers three programs for its two-week run, but "Mad'moiselle" is on all of them. This is one mademoiselle you won't want to miss.