Two years ago, Alain Honorez, ex-principal of Ballet Vlaanderen, together with his life partner and choreographer Altea Nuñez, started Junior Ballet Antwerp. An ensemble consisting of a group of highly trained pre-professional dancers from all corners of the world. Over a period of two years, these artists of the future participated in exclusive workshops, led by renowned coaches and dance experts, and their stage experience was honed. The focus is on the further development of their artistic and technical capacities. Eclecticism is thereby very important in their artistic formation.
Ballet is a top sport, both mentally and physically demanding. An important issue is also learning to deal with stress. In 7 choreographies, strongly differing in style and techniques, the dancers displayed their progress in 'Miniaturen' with an overwhelming package of what is physically coorderable. Without technical complexity being a concern, the far-reaching expressivity of the music in their dance and acting has full space. Result: an impressive range of their abilities.
Les
In the first choreography (Altea Nuñez and Alain Honorez), the audience gets a glimpse behind the scenes. A choreography based on daily routine. Before dancers can begin learning a choreography or a performance, they must warm up their muscles. Through a series of exercises at the barre and jumps, the dancer prepares for the rest of the day. This takes an hour and a half each time. On stage, a barre is set up on the left and right. All exercises are included: plié, the foot positions, cambré forward and backward, frappé, grand battement, et cetera in a coming and going of various dancers. Emi Morishita provides live piano accompaniment with recognizable melodies from the ballet repertoire.
Dancers: Emilee Blake, Josephine Bøttger, Leonie De Ripainsel, Laura Flügel, Maria Girardin, Soazig Drion, Natsuki Nishiyama, Rinka Matsuura, Mafalda Preto, Akihito Shimogata, Lucas Bierlair, Daimu Nakayamai
BLINK
This choreography was part of the performance 'Seasons 4.0' to music by Vivaldi and Max Richter. The first full-evening production of Junior Ballet Antwerp. Spanish choreographer Juanjo Arqués creates a playful and swift choreography deeply rooted in the structure of the music. The 6 dancers stride lightly at quick walking pace across the stage. After the gray winter comes the awakening of nature. Spring, the sap flows. This is translated into dance in rhythmic panache, powerful, playful and energetic, a childlike joy. Then approach grows. Hesitantly, couples seek proximity. They first wear a gray top, after a while this is taken off, like leaves or flowers trapped in the bud and then shedding the shell to show their splendor in full in a colorful painter's palette. The dancers are in high spirits and bursting with zest for life in a mix of contemporary dance, full of flowing movements and crazy jumps.
Dancers: Nanami Auwerkerken, Mafalda Preto, Leonie De Ripainsel, Natsuki Nishiyama, Daimu Nakayamai, Lucas Bierlair
3x2
These are three short pas de deux, stylistically with much variation. Starting with:
3.1 CONCERTO CON BRIO (part 2), music Dmitri Shostakovich
The French Yannick Boquin, as a world-renowned ballet master, is a highly sought-after and valued teacher at many important companies and ballet schools. He created this ballet especially for Junior Ballet Antwerp. It focuses on the different aspects of classical technique in dance: precision, musicality, footwork and graceful arm movements.
The stage is bathed in diffuse dark blue light. From a kind of mist, a lonely man strides forward. From the wings comes a girl dressed in night blue to meet him. The whole is melancholic. Man and woman become completely absorbed in each other. There is much pointework to be seen and lifts. The whole looks gracious and tender. At the end, the woman slips out of the man's arms, disappears back into the wings. He remains forlorn with empty arms. Was it all a dream? A particularly beautiful couple to watch at work.
Dancers: Rinka Matsuura & Daimu Nakayama
3.2 LIVE NOW, THINK LATER, music Sidney Bechet & NSI
This particularly witty choreography is by Russian choreographer Xenia Wiest. She created this work in 2013 on commission from the famous Kremlin Gala in Moscow. On stage you can see a diagonal strip of light. Bird sounds are heard. A man and a woman move in slow motion. The man feels his honor is at stake because the woman completely ignores him. On drum rolls and the captivating music of Sydney Bechet, a skillful piece of not only dance but also acting talent unfolds. How irritation and annoyance always play a role in the man/woman relationship. The man can explode like a volcano. The choreography shows all the nuances of human experience. Through the wit and sparkles of humor with which this happens, it leaves you wanting more. Performed and danced grandiosely by…
Dancers: Lara Wolter & Akihito Shimogata
3.3 A PIECE OF PEACE, music The Newton Brothers (world premiere)
French choreographer Stéphen Delattre is a driven creator who draws inspiration from the synergy of both classical ballet and contemporary dance vocabulary. The music has something claustrophobic about it. The two dancers cling to each other, glide over and around one another. The whole thing is ingeniously put together. The longing for warmth, love, security, peace with oneself in a broader sense is something everyone yearns for. 'A Piece of Peace' is like a sensory, organic mating dance to contemporary music in cosmic mode.
Dancers: Marta Dias & Lucas Bierlair
METAMORPHOSIS (part 2), music Philip Glass
British choreographer David Dawson is the artistic patron of Junior Ballet Antwerp. In November 2019, during a creative process with the dancers of JBA, he choreographed the first dance steps of METAMORPHOSIS, a new ballet that was to have its premiere in spring 2021 in Antwerp. Covid decided otherwise. His style is known for transforming classical ballet. What can be seen in 'MINIATURES' is the second part of this 5-part work. Pianist Emi Morishita provides live accompaniment. On a repeating musical thread, the dancers move in groups of 3 / 3 / 4 and at one point form a whole, a fusion with extremely synchronous movements. Only to then fall back into smaller entities and merge into a whole once again.
Dancers: Laura Flügel, Lara Wolter, Josephine Bøttger, Soazig Drion, Rinka Matsuura, Marta Dias, Maria Girardin, Natsuki Nishiyama, Lucas Bierlair, Daimu Nakayama
CLAROSCURO, music Hector Gonzalez Sanchez, Clint Mansell, Philip Glass, J.Klimek
After the intermission comes a choreography by Altea Nuñez that she originally created for the dancers of Ballet Vlaanderen in 2014 as part of Choreolab. Simply through the choice of music, this choreography is a creative cocktail. Music is and remains a deeply human form of expression that is visualized in dance through solos, duets, mass scenes. The lines sculpted, but fragile. Summed up in distance and proximity. The opening image is a tableau vivant. CLAROSCURO tells the story of a 17th-century Baroque painting that comes to life, in which the characters from the painting step out and in a graceful manner discover a new three-dimensional world, only to eventually become rigid again in a tableau vivant. Everything is beautifully balanced from beginning to end.
Dancers: Marta Dias, Emilee Blake, Lara Wolter, Rinka Matsuura, Laura Flügel, Leonie De Ripainsel, Lucas Bierlair, Akihito Shimogata
ALONE / TOGETHER, music Frederico Albanese, world premiere
The American choreographer Nicolo Fonte is known for his bold and original vision of dance. During the creative process, he reflected on the consequences of the pandemic for young people and in particular for young dancers. This resulted in rhythmic complexity and translates the inner movements of the mind into physical movements. The body serves as expression and means of expression. He succeeded in framing and making the uncontrollable reality comprehensible to the audience in a classicism permeated with warmth and emotion. One female dancer in a white outfit is surrounded by dancers in a dark blue suit. The panels of the vests swirl around the bodies, giving the whole a tremendous dynamism. Particularly beautiful is when the lighting illuminates the heads and hands in contrast with the blue suit. The whole has something magical, referring to Japanese imagery. Also when the dancers sit in a circle with a particularly expressive dancer in the middle, Akihito Shimogata, who expresses his emotions. The choreography further contains a skillful series of configurations and motifs in a visual and auditory relationship. The beautifully chosen music by Frederico Albanese stimulates body movement.
Dancers: Emilee Blake, Marta Dias, Laura Flügel, Rinka Matsuura, Natsuki Nishiyama, Soazig Drion, Leonie De Ripainsel, Nanami Auwerkerken, Lara Wolter, Mafalda Preto, Maria Girardin, Josephine Bøttger, Akihito Shimogata, Lucas Bierlair, Daimu Nakayama
Junior Ballet Antwerp… There is enormous potential present in the group. The emphasis is placed on musicality and interpretation of the music and rhythm. It was fantastic. 'Miniatures' in its entirety: impressive!
WHEN: 11 & 12 May
WHERE: hetpaleis, Antwerpen