Festival favorite returns to Dance Salad: A visit with Annabelle Lopez Ochoa
Celine Cassone and James Gregg of BJM Dance Montreal will perform Locked Up Laura.
Choroegraphy by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa.Photography by Gregory Batardon.
by Nancy Wozny
April means dance is in the air, with the yearly Dance Salad Festival at Wortham Center from April 21-23. This year the program includes performances by Ballet National de Marseille, Beijing Dance/LDTX, Staatsballett Berlin, BJM Dance Montreal, Eastman, National Ballet of Canada, Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company with Ahn Trio, Royal Ballet of Flanders, Jasmin Vardimon Company, Zoran Markovic & Maša Kolar, and Estonian National Ballet.
It's a time for us to watch new work and continue to follow our favorite choreographers, all carefully curated by founder Nancy Henderek. For me, that would be Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, who made her U.S. debut as a choreographer at Dance Salad. The half Colombian, half Belgian choreographer has set work on the Dutch National Ballet, Ballet du Grand Theatre de Geneve, The Royal Ballet of Flanders, the Pennsylvania Ballet, BJM Danse Montreal, Whim W'Him, BalletX and Ballet Hispanica, to name a few among many. This year, her extraordinary duet, Locked Up Laura, created specifically for BJM Dance Montreal dancers Celine Cassone and James Gregg, marks the fourth time her work has graced a Salad bill. Ochoa took a break from rehearsing in Dresden to visit with DSH.
Dance Source Houston:You have quite a history at Dance Salad. Can you give us a flash recap of your work at the festival?
Annabelle Lopez Ochoa: Yes, I do. In 2006, Nancy Henderek included the duet Before After (created for Dutch National Ballet) to Dance Salad. That was my very first introduction to Houston and to the States. Ellen Dennis, from the Fall for Dance Festival, was in the audience. After the show, she invited me to present the duet in Fall for Dance the following fall. This opened many doors for me.
Then came the duet La Pluie in 2007, a duet performed by Celine Cassone and Bruno Roy, who were then dancing with Ballet de Geneve. Next was One, for Jacoby & Pronk in 2008. I hadn't expected that Nancy would give us a shot, just after seeing the duet from a rehearsal video. I'm very grateful that she is so supportive of my work. I like Nancy's choices and I'm proud to be one of them.
DSH: Let's get to details of Locked up Laura, the piece on the 2011 Dance Salad bill. Can you talk about the creation process?
ALO: Céline Cassone is my muse. I worked with her for the first time in 2005 at le Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève. The duet La Pluie was the end of a long piece made for the entire company. Something happened between us, a current, an understanding, or a vibe. She said she felt like it was hand made on her, like a high-fashion garment on her body. I liked that expression.
Céline and I always told each other that we would work again together. The opportunity arose when she changed from that company to BJM-Danse Montréal. The director liked my work and gave me a week to do a workshop with his dancers. I decided to make a study about a jazz-dancer and Céline, a classical dancer. How would those two languages meet? I always need a theme for my pieces otherwise only random movements come out. So I chose Celine's story.
DSH: Let's get to the story of Locked up Laura, which addresses the self doubt that happens for many a performer before they enter the stage. Did this have an anchor in your own life?
ALO: The situation of Locked up Laura is real. Thirty minutes before a performance in London, Céline refused to go on stage. She was done, she wasn't feeling ready, she was insecure, she was tired, she had pain, would she make it to the end? I was backstage trying to cheer her up, the voice on the speaker called out the minutes left before the performance. At 10 minutes before curtain call, I decided to leave and take my seat in the auditorium. I had no idea if she would appear on stage. But she did, and she was stunning. I walked to her after the performance and congratulated her saying that it wasn't that horrible after all. But she made it clear that she would stop dancing very soon. Well, she didn't, and I'm happy she didn't because she's an amazing artist and it's a pleasure to watch her.
DSH: How does your own life intersect with Locked up Laura?
ALO: It's Céline's story, but of course, I always put some of my own experience in it. When I decided to stop dancing 9 years ago my contract was running for another six months. That period seemed like an eternity, and at times I felt like on an automatic pilot on stage. I despised that feeling. But it made it clear to me without a doubt that I would leave the stage. And I did, and I'm very happy I did. So the beginning of Locked up Laura is Céline's story, the end is mine. I left the stage without looking back, without any regrets.
DSH: Talk about how you approach a work which has been specially created for individual dancers. How does a particular dancer's quality enter into your own imagination?
ALO: I've been asked many times how I create so much diverse work, or where my ideas come from. Usually, half of the idea comes from watching/observing the dancer in front of me, perceiving his/her strong assets and vulnerable points. I try to challenge him/her and likewise the dancer challenges me in return. I like to have the feeling that I'm creating on their bodies/personalities.
DSH: Your vocabulary covers a broad spectrum of dance styles.
ALO: Yes, and my work looks very different in each company. Some might find this weak; I like to see it as that I want to be a chameleon. I'm grateful that a dancer gives me his body, time, energy to create, in return I try to give him a present, my choreography, becoming his. Each time I walk on a new choreographic path, I discover a bit more about myself, about the world around me and about what dance can express.
DSH: The partnering in your work is so organic and fluid, it's as if two bodies function as one at times. What draws you to the duet form?
ALO: As a dancer, I loved dancing duets more than solos. I believe there's magic happening when two bodies convey one feeling together. But as a starting choreographer, and I'm going back to 2001 now, a colleague of mine commented on my work, saying that I was a talented choreographer but that I sucked at partnering work. He said I would never make it as a choreographer if I didn't know how to craft a good duet. I made it a challenge for myself to investigate this specific choreographic language of two bodies dancing together instead of a male supporting or manipulating a woman. The duet Before After became my first study/research on partner work in 2002. At the time, I didn't know it would become my signature piece. I see every duet I create as a challenge to perfection my skills in partnering.
DSH: I have really enjoyed watching your career flourish. I appreciate that your work is on the rep of large companies and smaller more boutique companies, like Whim W'Him, where Houston Ballet principal Melody Herrera guests, and BalletX. Is that in the plan, to be very selective about who you choreograph for? What are you looking for in a company?
ALO: It's not a question of what I look in a company, but what they see in me. Usually, directors invite me because they believe my choreographic language could add something to their repertoire or teach something new to their dancers. I'm blessed that I have had the chance to work with incredible dancers in a big array, from contemporary to classical ones and also actors. I've learned tremendously from each one of them. I've not only had companies commission a new work from me, but also individual dancers have been asking me to collaborate with them.
DSH: You are quite visible on the web, and in some ways at the forefront of the future of independent dance makers. Do you see yourself as a pioneer as well?
ALO: I must say that I think that if the internet didn't exist I wouldn't have the career I have now. I love the technical aspects of the web and video and I'm always curious to learn about the latest gadgets. Youtube has opened many doors for me and reached to people that would otherwise never have seen my work. For example, the young Russian ABT Soloist Daniil Simkin crossed my path through my Youtube channel I have never seen him dance live, but I did see his videos on Youtube. Basically, we know each other virtually, and we are planning now to work on a duet this summer. You never know how visible you are when you post stuff on the web. I don't have an agent, so I feel like I have to put myself out there, reach out to my audience and, yes, sometimes this sells my work.
DSH: Dance Salad is very much a choreographers event, in that it is the actual piece of work that has been curated rather than the company per se. As a leading choreographer on the global dance front, what does having your work on the festival again mean to you?
ALO: At the beginning of a choreographer's career, you make a small piece and it is performed a couple of times in front of a small audience. There's nothing more rewarding for a choreographer and his dancers to share the work come to completion in front of an audience. We shared what we have been working on in the pure intimacy of the studio. We, the dancers and the choreographers want to share beauty, emotions, something that lifts up an audience or make them think.
The fact that a 4th piece of mine is coming to Houston makes me feel grateful that people like Nancy Henderek try to create an interesting evening of dance by inviting established choreographers and emerging ones. I was emerging in Holland when she invited Before After in 2006. Nancy takes risks and I love that about her, because I also see myself as a risk taker.
Dance Salad takes place on April 21-23 at Cullen Theater in Wortham Center. www.dancesalad.org
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