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Two Juilliard Composers Receive Premieres at New York City Ballet By DANIEL OTT
In the fall of 2002, I had the good fortune to be present at a near-weekly ritual on Wednesday afternoons: Just prior to her first-semester course on the Second Viennese School, graduate music faculty member Pia Gilbert usually receives an informal visit from President Polisi (who is likewise just about to begin teaching his class, American Society and the Arts, down the hall). As her assistant, I am usually present for this brief exchange of pleasantries and in prime position for a little subtle eavesdropping. This particular afternoon, their talk centered on a new collaboration between Juilliard and the New York Choreographic Institute (N.Y.C.I.), a program run by the New York City Ballet.
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| Max van der Sterre and Tiler Peck rehearse a dance with choreography by Albert Evans and music by Mathew Fuerst at the New York Choreographic Institute in 2004. (Photo by Ellen Crane, courtesy of the New York Choreographic Institute) |
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Founded in 2000 by Irene Diamond and Peter Martins, N.Y.C.I. is a twice-yearly workshop where aspiring choreographers can create new works, with ample rehearsal time and space, with some of the country's most talented young dancers from either City Ballet or the School of American Ballet. These workshops are then presented privately to an audience of donors and other members of the City Ballet "family." (Most importantly, these showings are free of critical scrutiny!)Having been impressed with Juilliard's Composers and Choreographers Workshop (co-taught by Ms. Gilbert and Elizabeth Keen of the Dance Division), the powers-that-be at City Ballet decided that they might like to try something similar at the New York Choreographic Institute—namely, to invite Juilliard composers to work in collaboration with choreographers who have been selected to participate in the institute, and then have Juilliard musicians perform the new works live. For help in this task, they sought the advice of Ms. Gilbert, who not only recommended the composers for the program, but also stayed involved in the process from beginning to end, lending her guidance and expertise along the way.I was very honored to be among the first composers asked to be involved with N.Y.C.I. during the spring 2003 session. My good fortune continued to play out in my pairing with City Ballet principal dancer Benjamin Millepied, an esteemed member of the company. Mr. Millepied and I worked closely together over the winter before heading into the spring session (which takes place during the first several weeks of March, not only coinciding with the break between the company's winter and spring repertory seasons, but with Juilliard's spring break as well). I found in Mr. Millepied an ideal collaborator, a dancer imbued with both an innate musical sense as well as a creative and searching mind. (My only regret is that I have not the same knowledge of ballet that he has of music—but I'm learning!)Composers often work in isolation—indeed, we tend to seek it in order for our ideas to be able to grow and take shape free of outside influence. So, when faced with the prospect of collaboration with a choreographer, I was at first concerned that my music would be treated as a backdrop, mere wallpaper upon which the movements would be hung. Therefore, I was delighted when Mr. Millepied expressed to me that, in his mind, the dance should always express the music, that music is the impetus for movement.We then began a process of organizing our separate ideas about form: how many dancers, how many musicians, of how many parts would this work consist? We sketched a rough draft of the piece (on the back of a napkin at a local café, mind you) using both pictures and words, and in the end we were able to agree upon a basic shape for the ballet that incorporated both sets of ideas. He was able to use the dancers in ensembles and solos in a way that interested him, and I was able to compose a piece that satisfied the musical issues that I wanted to address.
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| A rehearsal at the N.Y.C.I. of the New York City Ballet in March 2003 of a piece by Benjamin Millepied set to music by Daniel Ott. (Photo by Paul Kolnik, courtesy of the New York Choreographic Institute) |
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Since our initial collaboration (for which I composed a string trio), we have gone on to create two more ballets, with a fourth on the way this month at the School of American Ballet's spring workshop. And the process has been similar each time, though we approach each new work as an opportunity to try something that neither of us has done before (and we've graduated from a napkin to a notepad!).Bolstered by its initial success with this new venture, the New York Choreographic Institute decided again to ask for Juilliard composers to work with its choreographers the following spring. Mathew Fuerst, a fourth-year doctoral candidate, was one of those selected. When I asked Mr. Fuerst about his experience working with City Ballet principal dancer Albert Evans (a choreographer whose work Haiku has already been included in the company's repertory), and wondered whether writing for dance had altered his approach to composition, Mathew replied that the process had given him "something external to think about, as well as musical." He said it was a particular challenge to "write something along the lines of what Albert wanted, and that stands on its own as a concert work." He added that the result was "one of the best experiences I've ever had, and I look forward to our next project together."Mr. Evans was likewise thrilled with the process, which resulted in a pas de deux set to Fuerst's Clarinet Quartet, about which he said that "it was a dream come true, a vision that had a life from beginning to end. I am one lucky choreographer to have worked with such a talented composer!"Further fruit of both these collaborations can be witnessed this month during New York City Ballet's spring repertory season, when the company will present the premieres of the Fuerst/Evans pas de deux (which as of this writing had yet to receive a title) and the Ott/Millepied creation Double Aria, also a pas de deux (our second ballet together). The works will both receive their N.Y.C.B. debuts on May 4 at the annual Spring Gala, an entire evening of new choreography that will also include the premieres of Peter Martins's Tala Gaisma and Christopher Wheeldon's An American in Paris. Mr. Fuerst's quartet will be performed by company pianist Cameron Grant and members of the City Ballet orchestra. Double Aria, which is scored for unaccompanied violin, will be played by Juilliard alumnus Timothy Fain. The works will receive further performances during the regular subscription season (Double Aria on May 13 and 21, and the new Fuerst/Evans work on May 13 and 14).I think I can speak for Mr. Fuerst when I say that working with these highly talented dancers has been a thrilling experience for us composers. We have both found the ballet world (and N.Y.C.B. in particular) to be quite open to the idea of the new—–in choreography and music alike. And we can thank the New York Choreographic Institute (especially Peter Martins, Richard Tanner, and Ellen Sorrin) and Juilliard for allowing these relationships to grow. Other Juilliard composers selected to participate in the New York Choreographic Institute have been John Mackey (2003), Justine Chen (2004), and Kati Agocs and Manuel Sosa (both 2005). As for Ms. Gilbert, who has watched over these collaborations with a knowing eye, she says she is "very pleased and very proud of the process as well as the product."Daniel Ott, who earned his D.M.A. in composition from Juilliard in 2004, has been an adjunct faculty member in ear training since 2001 and also teaches theory in the Pre-College Division.
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