Wendy Inspires Adam Hougland's RITE OF SPRING

Louisville Ballet are currently preparing for the premiere on April 3 of a new version of RITE OF SPRING choreographed by Adam Hougland and starring the New York City Ballet's Wendy Whelan. Above: Adam and Wendy in rehearsal in a David Michalek photo.

You can read a great deal about LE SACRE DU PRINTEMPS - to give it its original title - here, with more links that can be followed from the Wiki page. At the Paris premiere on May 29, 1913 the combination of Stravinsky's music and Vaslav Nijinsky's choreography - both vastly different from anything heard or seen before - provoked an honest-to-god riot and resulted in one of the greatest scandals in the history of music and dance.

Above: the composer. Music has since gone far beyond Stravinsky's then-startling dissonances and RITE is now a staple of the orchestral repertoire. The idea of a new setting of this familiar music to be danced by my all-time favorite dancer was very intriguing for me, in part of course because it's Wendy and also because I have recently seen three vastly disparate works using the Stravinsky score (settings by Stijn Celis, Paul Taylor and Andonis Foniadakis) and I was fascinated to see how differently each choreographer responded both to the music and to the traditional narrative woven into the score.

How could I find out about the new Louisville Ballet RITE? By going directly to the creator and his muse: choreographer and dancer. Generously, both Adam and Wendy took the time to send me details of the creation of the new work.

I contacted Adam Hougland who kindly agreed to answer some questions about his new ballet:

Q. Regarding the new RITE OF SPRING, will you be following the 'original' plot scenario or have you developed a new take on it?

A. Well, my version is more of an abstracted one but there is definitely a dramatic arc. The company represents a group of people that have been completely drained of their life force and their connection to the natural world. Wendy's character is the personification of everything that is alive and beautiful and yet ultimately fragile and temporary. She is like a beautiful flower that blossoms only for a moment and is then destroyed.

Q: Are you taking a literal interpretation of the score?

A: I really tried to listen to the music as I would to any piece of music. It was always clear to me that she would be somehow sacrificed at the end but I think it's a little different because rather than being chosen or singled out you get the sense that what has happened to her has already happened to each of the people in the group.

Q: Is it a 'costume' ballet?

A: The costumes are very simple yet quite lovely. Marion Williams who is doing the costumes and sets for the ballet has collaborated with me on all of my works for Louisville Ballet. We are creating costumes that will make Wendy look as if she  is part of this group but her "newness" will be juxtaposed by their more ragged look.

 

Q: How large a contingent of dancers?

A: There are 10 couples plus Wendy so 21 total.

 

Q: Is Wendy the 'victim'?

A: Yes, but everyone else in the group has already experienced the same "rite" that she will go through so they are all victims in that sense.

 

Q: Was she the inspiration for the ballet or did you plan it and then find that she was ready, willing and able to participate?

A. This ballet was really inspired by her. I was trying to think of something for us to work on and realized she would be perfect for the central figure in RITE.

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Having heard from the choreographer, I then wrote to Wendy and asked her to tell me how her participation in the project came about and her impressions of the work from a dancer's point of view. Here is what she sent me, basically unfiltered: 

"Here is some info on Adam's RITE. I kind of want to fill you in on how it came about as well because I think it's kind of interesting.

Of course, Adam is the idea man and he has a vision of what it'll become, but I' ll try to give you my knowledge/impressions of how it started and where it's come to. I only met Adam a year ago thru Arch Higgins. I was taking a ballet class at City Center (one I don't normally take) and Arch introduced us. I said:  "Aren't you that guy who choreographs a lot for Louisville Ballet?" and he said: "Aren't you that girl who is from Louisville? " I had heard great things about his work from a number of dancers in NYC. And Louisville loves him, so later that day (on my doorstep) I said, "Maybe we could work together sometime? " and he said he would love that . 

Planning started immediately. Louisville Ballet invited me to guest in his next ballet and Adam asked me what composers I liked, and I told him of my love for Stravinsky. I NEVER IMAGINED or even implied for him to bite off the BIG one!!!!!! Next thing I know we are doing the Rite of Spring. (I had never voiced to anyone my secret wish to explore this music) So I was shocked and thrilled about it at the same time. I still hadn't even seen Adam's work really - only "heard" he was wonderful and interesting from a lot of people. That was enough for me.

We got to work together first last summer with Morphoses out in Vail. (Pauline Golbin had given Chris Wheeldon a DVD of Adam's work originally). Anyway, Vail is where we got to know each other in and out of the studio. He is a really fun person to spend time with, and I really enjoyed being in the studio with him as did ALL of his dancers. I was in his piece to Gavin Bryars' "South Downs". Kind of a creepy piece, which I loved!

Later in October, Adam came to NYC for 2 weeks and we started our work on the Rite. We spent 4 hours a day in the studio and worked out most of what I was to do in the ballet in those 2 weeks. Then he came back to New York in January for 1 week for a tune-up session and a fresh "look-see" at what we had done and to check its progress (which it had made - even with the time away from it). That was a very important week.

Adam got to Louisville about 3 weeks ago and started work on the rest of the piece with the company here. I just got here and had my first day or rehearsals with him and the Company dancers for 5 hours.

My understanding from seeing a sketch of the set (by Marion Williams) and from how the  choreography feels on my body, is that it'll be a very modern and starkish version, incredibly angular with some moments of real looseness and freedom: almost a feeling of improvisation, here and there. It feels like it has the aspects and rawness of a piece like THE CAGE which is why I have always been drawn to it physically and emotionally, but thankfully it's nothing like it. To me the set design looks creepy with a feeling of an old bath house or subway station in NYC. There are some technical/set aspects still in discussion. Lots of pipes and tiles. Their costumes will be very tinged and dirty, mine a little cleaner. My hair will be down and I wear pointe shoes. My death scene is incredibly fun to do. I am really enjoying the dramatics of it which kind of reveals itself more and more to me each day, and I find that really exciting. I am not really counting the music I am just immersing myself with it every day so as to be as familiar with it as I can be. Where I need to count something I figure it out for myself, but I am definitely not approaching this mathematically, or with a deep scientifically musical understanding. I am training my gut to understand the music slightly more than my brain.
I haven't yet seen what he has done on the group as we only got to the stuff I do with the group yesterday, but the dancers were really excited by the stuff I haven't yet seen.

It's been a thrill to follow from its conception (on my doorstep) to now. I will be really sad when it's over; I find this kind of thing to be very fueling to my spirit."

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Wendy noted also that the Louisville Symphony will be playing for the ballet.

All rehearsal photos are by David Michalek.

I want to again express my thanks to Adam, Wendy and David for sharing their stories and photos of the creative process, and I know you will all join me in wishing them a grand success with their new RITE OF SPRING.

Now: how can we bring this production to New York City?

In closing I wanted to share this photo of Wendy with Ioanna Toumpakari taken by choreographer Andonis Foniadakis after Ioanna appeared in a performance of his setting of RITE OF SPRING at Joyce SoHo last Autumn. I loved this picture when it first turned up on Facebook and Andonis has generously allowed me to publish it here.

Comments

[Nina]

Wendy Whelan is a great story-teller. This article is amazing and it seems like a real labor of love on your part, Oberon! Thank you for a most enjoyable read.

[Deborah]

Terrific piece, Philip!
Wendy inspires all of us who love her dancing so much!

[Douglas]

Great story, Obie, and WW's description of how the ballet evolved plus the choreographer's notes give us a real feeling for the event. The designer's website is a good addition, too.

[Sara P.]

Road trip to Louisville anyone? Thank you for a fabulous piece Philip! I love hearing artists talk about their work and the creative process. Thank you Wendy and Adam! :)

[Xenia]

Good reading this morning and the photographs are super. Thank you for this.

[Philip]

Thanks, I'm glad to see people are enjoying this story because it was something I really enjoyed putting together. Wendy, Adam and David did all the work for me!

Sara, let's rent a van and head for Louisville!

[TJM Jr,]

There's always good reading at the Grove but I think you have surpassed yourself with this.