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Nixon's not a man to dance around issues
Northern Ballet Theatre celebrates its 40th birthday this year. Artistic director David Nixon talks to Arts reporter Nick Ahad in a surprisingly candid and revealing interview.
Q The company has been here 40 years, you yourself for eight of those. Was it ever expected that a ballet company in the north could be feasible for four, let alone 40 years?
When Laverne Meyer founded the company in '69 he was hoping he would make a success, but any new venture is a risk. The questions are always how long, or if, it will last. This company has had many moments of possible closure: hence
all the moves. It started in Manchester, then started to lose funding there, so they moved to Halifax, and then started to lose funding in Halifax, then they moved to Leeds.
The Arts Council at one point did a review and decided it didn't need the company, so decided it should cut its grant. There have been difficult times for the company and yet, 40 years on, it's here, and on the horizon is this beautiful new building. I don't know that when somebody starts a company they think of it lasting forever. I just think they want or need to do it – and we owe a lot of gratitude to those people.
Q Why did Meyer want to establish a company?
It was thought there was something missing in the regions. Dancers in general feel the need at some point to have their own go, have their own expression of what a company can look like and do. I think that there has always been a real pioneering spirit about British dance. It goes back to Ninette De Valois in the early days of the Sadlers Wells ballet, which was always a touring company. We are a continuation of that.
Q Why do you think the company has managed to stay successful and stay here for the past 40 years?
It's difficult as I've only been here for eight of those years and I only know that part of it. I have a sense of what went on in Christopher Gable's time, before that I have no real context at all.
I think since Christopher's time there was a clear identity for the company that reached people in the North and gave them something to feel proud about and gave it a clear mission. I think we've become well-known for being dance actors and for providing an engaging theatrical experience in dance, and I think that's why it's survived.
Q What was the significance of Christopher Gable to the company?
He had this vision, coming firstly from the Royal Ballet, then theatre, then film, his concept was to combine the elements. I think prior to that it was much more of a regional theatre company.
During Laverne's time it did lots of little ballets or mini- classics, all of that to me is just trying to bring some sort of dance in some form, but Christopher actually formulated a raison d'etre for the company that makes it stand out from the other three English companies. It's not rep in the traditional sense, it's much more of an ongoing and creative company. We've created far more new work than any other company.
Q Does the company have the same kudos as dance companies in the South?
In some ways, no. It does lack a certain profile, and people don't always appreciate the nature of the company. It's a touring company, which means it's not going to necessarily have the stars. It's much more about an overall ensemble quality production. That's what we're doing, and we have a very good company of dancers giving a very engaging performance and if you're looking for the exceptional that's where we probably are not like some major companies. But if you're looking for an overall experience of dance and commitment from the company, then we're as good as anybody.
Q Does that mean you can't compete?
We don't have the budget of any of the other companies. The Arts Council funding is less than half of the RB and ENB and well on a million pounds down from the Scottish Ballet. So that's just the beginning of the funding base, and the Royal Ballet is way up there, there's no comparison at all.
Naturally everyone sends their most talented kids to the Royal Ballet School and they are naturally more inclined to go to the Royal Ballet if they are the best, or if not, maybe Birmingham Royal Ballet or ENB, but we are not going to get the star student because that's not where they're going to be.
That doesn't mean I'm devaluing the company, I'm just saying it's not a star- based company, it's an ensemble company and it's about a team of dancers executing at a high level.
Often if you see some ballet companies, there's a discrepancy between the top and what's supporting it, and it's not always that fantastic. The emphasis is on "if you have two fantastic dancers you can distract from some of the others". With us you have to dance more to fill up. Where numbers count in big companies, we have to make it work with movement.
Q Why do you have such an emphasis on the performance aspect?
One of my favourite teachers in school was my theatre arts teacher. She instilled in me such a strong understanding of how to research your roles as an actor, and how to think in those terms and bring that to dance, so from the beginning as a dancer I always did that. My Swan Lake debut was quite surprising because I did a different interpretation, and it's because I was not accepting at face value what I was given chorographically. I wanted to delve under. That was enhanced when I met my wife, Yoko Ichino, because she was also interested in how you create a performance, then we started to do it as a partnership. I always thought I was a stronger actor-performer than I was a technician. I always had a strong technique but I wasn't a bravura dancer.
Q And you want your dancers to do the same?
The one thing about NBT is that audiences never fault the commitment of the dancers. They may
not like the work or the subject matter, but what commitment is coming from stage they usually totally appreciate.
Q It's not a decision that has always appealed to the critics, particularly the national critics, who are not always kind. Why do you think that is and does it matter to you?
There's a lot in that question, whenever the critics come up. The inherent problem in narrative work with critics is that it's not their favourite form of dance, and they tend to want to engage with it initially only from the story point of
view and how you've done the story.
They don't always review it as a dance piece. I think most of the nationals are hired to review the opera house, anything else is on the side.
So they will go to every production at the opera house, where we only get new productions reviewed. They also look at a cast and see the company once, whereas down south if they are writing a review on Romeo, they may see maybe four shows before they actually write the review. It used to matter. One is always hoping for approval. Ultimately, in
print it makes you sound better. If you're getting good reviews, the impression is that it must be a good company. That's more why I hope for perhaps better reception to the work than we've had. It's definitely better than it was.
Q How will the company celebrate its birthday?
We're doing a series of revivals. I'm excited about this triple bill based around a signature work the company did called A Simple Man, which was choreographed by Gillian Lynne and danced by Christopher Gable. I chose this work because I think it was the turning point for the company in many ways: it was filmed, it put NBT in the minds of the general public and Christopher came to the company via this piece and then became artistic director and I think it was a fantastically groundbreaking work for a ballet company.
Then I wanted to show the company today so we're doing a scene from Bayadere and finally Angels in the Architecture, a contemporary piece which I've always loved. Later this year we'll revive Wuthering Heights, the first work I created for the company. Then the two signature works Romeo and Juliet and A Christmas Carol and we've decided to revive Peter Pan to improve the Christmas season.
Q What does the future hold for NBT?
A The new building will transform the company, give it a profile in Leeds and the payback from that has to be bigger audiences and to be more creative in how the company can work.
NBT: A HISTORY
1969-1976: Northern Dance Theatre, the name by which the company was originally known, was founded in 1969 by Canadian-born Laverne Meyer, a dramatic dancer whose formative years were spent with Bristol-based, Western Theatre Ballet. On November 28 1969 Northern Dance Theatre gave their first performance at the University Theatre, Manchester.
1976-1987: In 1976 Robert de Warren was appointed artistic director. A classically-trained dancer, he had previously worked with the Royal Ballet and the larger West German ballet companies. He renamed the company Northern Ballet Theatre. The company started to build an international reputation, touring Italy and Hong Kong. Under his direction it increased in size, enticed Rudolf Nureyev to dance as a regular guest artist, and secured Princess Margaret as NBT's Royal Patron.
1987-1998: In 1987, Salford City Council commissioned Gillian Lynne to create a new ballet for NBT celebrating the life and work of LS Lowry. Called A Simple Man, Lynne was determined that ex-Royal Ballet star Christopher Gable would play LS Lowry. It was Gable's first time on the dance stage in over 20 years. His experience as a dancer was followed by a distinguished career as an actor. Gable's impact was remarkable. In his 11 years as artistic director, NBT developed a strong audience following, who relished NBT's innovative and accessible productions. In 1996 Gable was awarded a CBE for services to British dance. When he died in 1998, NBT was gaining a worldwide reputation.
1999-Present: In May 1999, Stefano Giannetti became artistic director. A former principal dancer for English National Ballet and Deutsche Oper, his first ballet for NBT was an adaptation of Charles Dickens's Great Expectations. He left the company in May 2000. NBT's new artistic director David Nixon, joined the company in August 2001. His plans include UK premieres of international works and continuing with full-length narrative dance.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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