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Prescribed choreographers and works

Researching: Jardi Tancat

Spanish choreographer Nacho Duato created his first work, Jardi Tancat, in 1983. In order to understand the context of the work, it is suggested you research:

• the background and body of work of the choreographer
• the socio-historic context of the choreographer and his work
• influences on the choreographer
• what Duato says about his own work

and combine this understanding with a close reading and analysis of the work.

1. Duato's background and body of work

Biography of Nach Duato:

1975 - Joined the Rambert School, London
Pre-1980 - Joined *Bejart 's Mudra School in Brussels
Pre-1980 - Studied at Alvin Ailey American Dance Centre in New York
1980 - Joined Cullberg Ballet in Stockholm
Netherlands Dance Theatre
1983 - First major Choreography: "Jardi Tancat" performed by NDT2
1988 - named resident choreographer at NDT (with Kylian and Van Manen)
1991 - Joined Ballet Teatro Lirico Nacional de Espana in Madrid as artistic
director and choreographer
1993 - Ballet Teatro Lirico Nacional de Espana becomes Compania
Nacional de Danza

*indicates link to website in another language

For a more comprehsive list of choreographed works see:
http://cndanza.mcu.es/cnd1/portada/indexcir.htm
(Compania Nacional de Danza web site)

Selected choreographies from Duato's body of work:

1983: Jardi Tancat
1984: Sinfonia India
1988: Arenal, Raptus
1990: Rassemblement, Cor Perdut, Lamento, Ofrenda de Flores
1991: Coming Together, Duende, Kaburias
1992: Mediterrania
1993: Alone, for a Second, Cautiva
1994: Ecos, Empty, Tabulae
1995: Cero sobre Cero
1996: Por Vos Muero
1997: Remansos, Self
1998: Romeo y Julieta, Without words
2000: Arcangelo, Castratti
2001: Txalaparta
2002: Suenos de Eter
2003: L'Homme
2004: Herrumbre, L'Amoroso

2. The socio-historic context of the choreographer and his work

1. CATALAN FOLKLORE
Jardi Tancat is based on Catalan folk tales (folk tales from Catalonia), sung by Spanish singer Maria del Mar Bonet . Catalonia is the region in north-eastern Spain that extends from the Pyrenees mountain range at the French border down the Mediterranean coastline. See maps below for location of Catalonia (No. 9 on Regional map at right)

Map of Spain by Tourizm Maps © 2006

Because of its location in Europe, Spain was invaded again and again through history - by the Romans, the Vandals and Visigoths, the Moors and Arabs. This history of invasion influences the rich culture of the region of Catalonia. In the fifteenth century, Spain was proclaimed a Catholic nation and drove out people of the Jewish and Islamic faiths. Until 1978, Catholicism was the official religion of Spain. Jardi Tancat communicates some of the deep religious feeling of the Spanish people of Catalonia.

2.POLITICS

The following text is a summary of information about politics in Spain found on Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Civil_War

In the latter half of the 19th century, Catalonia became a center of Spain's industrialization; to this day it remains the most industrialized part of Spain, rivaled only by the Basque Country. In the first third of the 20th century, Catalonia several times gained and lost varying degrees of autonomy, but Catalan autonomy and culture were crushed to an unprecedented degree after the defeat of the Second Spanish Republic (founded 1931) in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) brought Francisco Franco to power. Even public use of the Catalan language was banned.

The Spanish Civil War (July 1936-April 1939) was a conflict in which the incumbent Second Spanish Republic and left-wing groups fought against a right-wing nationalist rebellion led by Generalisimo Francisco Franco, who succeeded in overthrowing the Republican government and establishing a dictatorship. It was the result of the complex political, economic and even cultural divisions between what Antonio Machado famously characterized as the two Spains. The Republicans ranged from centrists who supported electoral democracy to advocates of communist or anarchist revolutionary change; their power base was primarily urban (though it also included landless peasants) and secular and was particularly strong in Catalonia and in the relatively conservative Basque Country, two regions which had been granted strong autonomy by the Republican government. The ultimately successful Nationalist rebels had a primarily rural, wealthier, and more conservative support, were mostly Catholic, and favored the centralization of power.

Following the war, the Spanish economy needed decades to recover. The political and emotional repercussions of the war reverberated far beyond the boundaries of Spain and sparked passion among international intellectual and political communities. Republican sympathizers proclaimed it as a struggle between "tyranny and democracy", or "fascism and liberty". Franco's supporters, however, viewed it as a battle between the "red hordes" (of communism and anarchism) and "Christian civilization". But these dichotomies were inevitably oversimplifications: both sides had varied, and often conflicting, ideologies within their ranks.

After Franco's death (1975) and the adoption of a democratic Spanish constitution (1978), Catalonia recovered cultural autonomy and some political autonomy. Today, Catalonia is almost universally recognized as the most economically dynamic region of Spain and the Catalan capital, Barcelona, is second only to Madrid as a cultural center.

3. THE EUROPEAN DANCE SCENE
While Duato's work can be studied in the context of his Spanish culture, it can also be studied in the context of his engagement with dance. His biography shows the varied training he had. He spent time in Europe and America and studied and was influenced by seminal choreographers of the 20th century. It is important to understand some of the context of European dance to analyse his work. Dance in Europe varied greatly from country to country but there was an overall renewal of interest in ballet and modern dance undoubtedly helped by touring Americans such as Merce Cunningham and Twyla Tharp who gave Europeans a taste of what was happening across the Atlantic Ocean; soon, Western European countries began to experiment themselves with these "new" aspects of Dance.

3. Influences on the choreographer

1. SPANISH IDENTITY
Duato's cultural heritage has an enormous influence on his work. His themes celebrate a Spanish identity and he seeks to reveal the diversity of that identity. He is extremely proud of his work with the National Dance Company of Spain, and he feels he has changed the face of Spanish dance by providing a contemporary company with strong classical foundation.

2. EMOTIONAL THEMES
Much of Duato's work deals with human hardship and sorrow. His ballets often portray intense human pain. He states that he is not interested in making work that is humourous or decorative, that communicating deeper meaning is very important to him. One of his most recent works, “Herrumbre” (2004) is a plea for peace and a tribute to those who died in terrorist attacks in Madrid.

3. MUSIC
Duato is said to be passionate about music, perhaps even more so than dance. He uses a range of music from traditional Spanish songs to medieval music to the music of Bach. It could be said that Duato's music choices reflect his work at the NDT with Kylian. Critics acclaim his musicality in the same way that they do with the work of Kylian.

3. JIRI KYLIAN
Duato spent many years working with Kylian at NDT. Kylian was Duato's mentor through his early period as a professional dancer and an emerging choreographer. Critics suggest that much of his work contains Kylian characteristics, especially "Jardi Tancat" and "Arenal". Duato seems to discount this influence, suggesting that his work could be equally compared to Bejart or Ailey. He has also been compared to Jose Limon , whose work was renowned for dramatic expression, technical mastery and expansive movement.

4. WHAT DUATO SAYS ABOUT HIS OWN WORK

EXCERPTS FROM An Interview with Nacho Duato, Culturekiosque :

"For years, Spanish culture was reduced to bull-fights, castanets, and foot-ball. It was the image given by a dictatorial regime. Spain is so much more. I despair at criticism that the company has not enough ole, ole, for that is just what I am fighting against. We now have a very strong Spanish identity, but I certainly don't intend to bring bulls onto the stage to prove it".

"Classical ballet has no roots in Spain. We have no tradition, and no theatre. It was like trying to plant a cactus in Alaska. What could 65 dancers do in Madrid? Matters worsened when they tried to start a school, for nothing was properly worked out".

[ABOUT KYLIAN] "He inspires me simply because he is great. When I hear critics, especially in England, compare me to him, to Bejart or Ailey it's because they know I’ve worked with them. If I may say so, dance in England has stayed very much behind. They have Covent Garden, and then their totally avant-garde, modern choreography... they have not only not evolved in classical dance, but are aside and isolated on another road. It's bad for them for they are not allowing their public or their choreographers access to what is happening elsewhere. You have to be exposed to other ideas and companies. Classical dance has moved on since Frederick Ashton and these men are the great choreographers of our time."

"I listen to music all the time at home; images come into my head and my ballets are in fact interpretation of the music through movement. Often I choose a piece of music and take six dancers, barefoot or on pointe and try to see if it's possible to keep the audience's attention just by movement alone, yet making sense. I've always set myself this kind of exercise but now I'm ready to move further. After having written over thirty ballets and at the age of forty it's time to move a bit "up". I feel '’m ready to move people on stage in the right way, and balance the scenes."

EXCERPTS FROM: Nacho Duato And The Compania Nacional De Danza: Contemporary Dance With A Spanish Accent – Interview Dance Magazine , June, 2001 by Laura Kumin

"When people come to see us at the theater, they should see themselves reflected on the stage. I want them to find a way to connect our dancing to their daily lives, to the clothes they wear, to the music they listen to. I try to find a balance between what happens onstage and what happens outside the theater."

"I can do a period piece, such as Por Vos Muero, inspired by fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Spanish music, but when you look at it, it is a contemporary work because I listen with my ears from today. We try to explain that music with our feelings as people of the twenty-first century."

Duato has often affirmed that the richness of Spanish culture and folklore constitutes a never-ending source of inspiration for his work. "I still feel that way. The piece that I'm making for our next season at Madrid's Teatro Real opera house uses Basque music by the acordeonist Kepa Junquera. (The Basque diatonic accordion is called the trikitixa.) They sing and improvise in Euskera, the Basque language. It's amazing. It sometimes sounds like music from Senegal or Peru or Japan. I want to do something against terrorism, destruction, and violence. ETA [the Basque separatist terrorist organization] should listen to this and realize how universal their culture is...."

EXCERPTS FROM: Interview with Nacho Duato by Janet Anderson for CityPaper.net, November 2002

CP: What's your dance style?
ND: It's contemporary, of course, but with a very strong classical base. I don't think a modern dancer with no classical training could work with me. You must have the turn-out, the pointed feet, the graciousness that classical dance gives the dancer.

CP: Do you still dance?
ND: I am dancing this week in Multiplicity. I open and close the performance. I begin with a solo to an aria from the Goldberg Variations where I ask Johann Sebastian Bach's permission to use his music, and forgiveness for being so, you know... [laughs] stupid. And for putting in my hands his incredible composition. And then at the end, when Bach dies, I thank him for such an incredible legacy of music and culture.

CP: In other words, you're still dancing.
ND: A little bit. It’s good for me to keep more in touch with the dancers, and not forget how difficult dance is, how vulnerable the dancer can be. And also you keep more in shape. When I make choreography I cannot do it from a chair, I must be moving with them. So I make little appearances, like Hitchcock, here and there.

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