Wheeldon vs Cherkaoui: Broadway or Ballet?

Above all, do not mix the pumps Let’s sing in the rain and the tutus of Giselle. For a long time, the world was separated: on one side the distraught lovers of Cyd Charisse, on the other those of the British Margot Fonteyn, crowned “prima ballerina assoluta” during the Second World War, dream princess in the arms of Rudolf Nureyev in the 1960s. We pretended to forget that the divine Cyd Charisse, born in 1914 in Amarillo in Texas under the name of Tulla Ellice Finklea, had cultivated pointe, when young, in the service of Bronislava Nijinska, Léonide Massine, Michael Fokine, within the Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo. She then called herself Felia Sidorova and she perfected the curve of legs that would become her legend.

In short, shows on Broadway in New York or the West End in London were entertainment. The creations of the Paris Opera Ballet of art. Impossible to confuse them. Except that today, certain choreographers reveal themselves as brilliant and inspired in Swan Lake that in a musical. This is the case of the British Christopher Wheeldonformerly a soloist with the New York City Ballet, who will offer her version of An American in Paristo the splendidly mixed music of George and Ira Gershwin. This production saw the light of day in 2014 and, since then, it has continued to captivate people all over the world.

Christopher Wheeldon, 52, has no use for the dictates of the pundits of aesthetic purity. This freedom earned him the opportunity to stage plays at the Bolshoi and at the Neil Simon Theater in New York. Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui claims this same lability. The artistic director of the Ballet du Grand Théâtre thus moves, with the graceful agility of the squirrel, from a stunning version of Bolero by Ravel – co-signed with his accomplice Damien Jalet on a scenography by Marina Abramović – to the choreography of Starmaniaa rock opera reassembled by Thomas Jolly in 2022.

Should we conclude that fishnet stockings and leotards are less foreign to each other than we say? What does an artist benefit from changing sides regularly? Christopher Wheeldon, who has just choreographed his piece, Corybantic Gameswith the Paris Opera Ballet, and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui are convinced of this. They explain why.

You are initially great dancers, one in a neoclassical vein, the other in a more contemporary line. When did the musical enter your lives and how did it change your approach to dance?

Christopher Wheeldon : Thanks for the compliment, but Nureyev was a great dancer, while I, for one, was defending myself. I grew up in a family where theater was important. My parents loved it and regularly went to London, bringing back programs from their trip that I watched for hours. When I got old enough, they took me to see The Phantom of the Opera. I was immediately captivated by the majesty of this spectacle. It was the beginning of my love for the Opéra Garnier and the legend of the Phantom, and of my passion for the theater. If I could have sung, I might have done musicals, but my body was more suited to classical ballet, and I believe, alas, that I am destined to sing in my shower.

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui: Borders are foreign to me. As a child, I danced around the living room imitating Michael Jackson. I was a fan of Kate Bush. At the age of 20, I trained in contemporary dance at PARTS, the school in Brussels of Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, but remaining sensitive to all styles of movement. In 2022, I had the chance to choreograph Starmaniathis cult piece reworked, more than forty years after its creation, by Thomas Jolly, still with music by Michel Berger and Luc Plamondon. I was carried by the tragic and very topical subject of a work which describes a “West” where a president defends a racist vision of the world, where a protagonist, Ziggy, affirms his homosexuality in a context of repression.

Is there a difference between choreographing a ballet and a musical?

C.W. : Yes and no. In a musical, the structure of the song and story decides how much freedom you have, and I like the rigor with which you determine how much dancing is necessary. A ballet offers more freedom, but poses different challenges.

S.L.C : What fascinates me is the body, it is the human being, his dances. I have so much fun choreographing Starmania than to put on an opera like Idomeneus or Pelléas and Mélisande. Last summer, I took advantage of my vacation to perform the dance of Masqueradevariation around Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber edited by New Yorker Diane Paulus. It’s an immersive musical, the spectators are very close to the performers. In my vision of the scene, everything is connected. And I believe this is also the case for Christopher Wheeldon.

What is the technical difference between a ballet dancer and a musical theater dancer?

C.W. : They are trained to meet different requirements. Ballet requires rigorous line and technique, special strength and flexibility. Everything is extremely precise, which makes this art one of the most difficult. Musical theater requires versatile artists. A performer, even when he has a secondary role, must bring volume to the whole. He must sing, dance, live his drama.

S.L.C : For my dance shows, I look for performers who are not only virtuoso in gesture, but also willing to speak. I like to push a dancer to step out of the box: the voice brings another dimension. What fascinates me about musical theater artists is their ability to experience everything at once on stage. You have to be an athlete to achieve this mastery.

Do you have the feeling that the musical is renewing itself, that it is capturing the era?

C.W. : Yes, but I also believe that the great classics of the genre can be strikingly relevant in today’s world. Their themes are universal and, depending on the era, their resonance can be even greater.

S.L.C : I believe like Christopher that musical comedies often touch on existential subjects. Take Chorus Linewhich gave rise in 1985 to a film by Richard Attenborough with Michael Douglas. Young performers audition for Chorus Line exactly. And everyone tells their story in its most intimate way. The subject transcends eras, like a classic. In recent years, musicals have dealt with contemporary themes, but always in an accessible way. Accessibility is what sets this genre apart. This is his greatness.

In recent years, musicals have dealt with contemporary themes, but always in an accessible way. Accessibility is what sets this genre apart. This is his greatness

Choreographers who, like you, alternate ballets and musicals, are rare. How do you explain this separation?

C.W. : I think it’s less rare. An American in Paris marked the beginning of a new wave of musicals where dance plays a central role in the narrative. Going from ballet to Broadway is still unusual, but, for my part, I have always sought to create bridges between these two worlds, integrating complex stories, theatrical dynamics and accessible music on the ballet stage. This bridge, and my love of musicals, allowed me to move from one to the other more fluidly.

But the audiences don’t mix…

S.L.C. : It’s a matter of taste and culture. THE musical is specific to the Anglo-Saxon world. But you have to be patient. I am convinced that there is an audience ready to open up to this art. I hope he learns to enjoy himself.

C.W : Why not combine the refinement of ballet and the driving force of musical ? The limits imposed on us are already numerous enough. Let’s create from time to time an art that can open up to these two worlds, delight these two audiences.

What do you long for deep down when you go up An American in Parisor MJ The Musical this show that you dedicated to Michael Jackson in 2022?

C.W. : In all the noise surrounding Michael, we may have forgotten that his music is full of humanity. His life was not simple or rosy, but his legacy makes people happy and brings people together. We need it right now. Musical theater is an escape, and in a complex world, I feel privileged to create a “two-hour vacation” for audiences every evening.

Musical theater is an escape, and I feel privileged to create “two hours of vacation” for the audience every evening

Alexandre Demidoff trained in directing at the National Institute of Performing Arts and Techniques in Brussels. He then continued with a master’s degree in French literature at the University of Geneva and the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He collaborates in New Daily in 1994 and joined the Geneva Journal as a drama critic in 1997. Since 1998, he has been a journalist in the Culture section of Tempswhich he directed between 2008 and 2015. He spends part of his life in theaters.

Imperial Ball
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An American in Paris
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