MEN IN TIGHTS: MIRO MAGLOIRE

THE HUMBLE, YET BOLD MIRO MAGLOIRE

Director of New Chamber Ballet

Premiering New Works Feb 4th & 5th at City Center Studios

WHO JUST UP AND DECIDES TO DANCE IN HIS 20'S AND IS NOW RUNNING A CHAMBER-SIZED BALLET COMPANY IN 2011?  

READ BELOW A FASCINATING CONVERSATION WITH YOUNG DIRECTOR MIRO MAGLOIRE,  AS WE DISCUSS HIS PATH TO DANCE, HIS VIEWPOINTS & HIS VISION.  THEN CLICK AT THE BOTTOM TO GET YOUR TICKETS TO ATTEND WHAT IS SURE TO BE AN INTIMATE & MEMORABLE AFFAIR OF LIVE MUSIC & PERFORMANCE.

       

        Let's start with a bit of bio for those unfamiliar with you...Where were you born?     Describe your family...your heritage, etc. 

MIRO MAGLOIRE: I was born in Munich, Germany to Haitian-German parents, and I'm an only child.

You began as a musician -- a pianist, at age 6, if I am correct? Do you remember your beginnings -- was it a positive experience?

MIRO: Yes, I was around 6 or 7 years old when I started playing the piano. I enjoyed it, but I was really more absorbed in soccer.  My first piano teacher, a composer, realized I wasn't a prodigy (and didn't like to practice) but he found a way to make it meaningful to me.  He started teaching me how to look at the structure of music to see how it was built, and that struck a chord with me. The lessons were less about technique than about music itself. I think in many ways, my teacher's ability to sense this helped me discover my love for music.  Had there been any serious pressure to succeed at that point, I would've quit, I'm sure. 

Do you play any other instruments? Your family, are they also musical / artistic?

My parents are a physicist and a psychotherapist, respectively.  So there was never a push to "be a musician" or artist.  My main instrument has been the piano. I also learned the guitar for a few years, and  I've dabbled a bit in Latin Percussion. I even studied the double bass for a few months. 

You are of Haitian heritage  -- which has an impressive artistic & literary culture.... did this sort of make the arts a normal expectation for you growing up? Do you feel this heritage plays an important role for you, or was it simply in the background? 

I think it's very much in the background. I was raised in Germany, surrounded by German music, literature, and so on. When I grew up, in the entire city of Munich -- where there was a population of around 1 million -- there were only  4 or 5 other Haitian families. We knew them all and spent a lot of time together, but still -- I wouldn't call myself a "Haitian Artist" simply because my father is Haitian. That's too simplistic. On the other hand, even if that heritage is only in the background... the background can be a very powerful place, right?  

Lets talk about your first success as a Composer.... where was this....what piece....how did it feel to be honored as a musician at only age 17?

Well, until about age 13 I was completely obsessed with soccer.  Then I realized that I was not really good enough to make it a professional career. As a kid I was never really a "doer" -- I was a "thinker".  I was even kicked out of ski class for my inability to understand why we had to trek up the big hill on foot when there was a ski lift.  After that, the ski instructor commented that perhaps I "wasn't ready".  So much for that.  With soccer out of the question, I turned to music instead. But not to the piano - to composing!  Around the same time, my family moved from Munich to Cologne, and this separated me from most of my friends and gave me more time to focus on music.  I really threw myself into it, and spent all my free time composing -- my parents were supportive but never pushed me.  I suppose they were just happy that their teenage son stayed out of trouble... 

Cologne was the epicenter of Contemporary Music in Germany at the time, so of course I went to hear everything.  I entered the Forum For Young Composers Competition at age 17 -- and I won a prize.  It was bizarre.  Sure, the piece was audacious for a 17 year-old... But in hindsight I don't think it was very good.  The one thing the award did do, however, was to convince my parents that a career in music was possible for me.  That was a huge help -- probably the most helpful thing to come out of the entire situation.  Suddenly I had everyone's stamp of approval.  No one had thought it would be a serious pursuit until then. 

You then went on to study with Mauricio Kagel. Who is he? and what importance has this time of study held for you as a musician?

Kagel was an Argentinian-German composer -- amongst the leaders of contemporary composers in Germany.  He was part of the group young composers who redefined the music scene in Germany after World War II.  Most of the great composers prior to WWII had left Germany, primarily to America.  It was really a destitute time in Germany, and those young composers built it up from the ashes, so to speak.  By the time I became Kagel's student, he was in his 60's.  He had an extraordinarily strong personality -- it was open-minded, very interesting --  but it was incredibly strong and hard-driving.  He really put me to work.  He worked all of his students hard.  It was perplexing to be such a young student with such a demanding teacher.  On the very first day he told me that he thought I was too young to make the decision to be a composer... 

It then seems like you were a bit discouraged from composing... why?

The reality of being a composer really did not match what I had expected.  Composers work alone, at the desk, all day long. I wrote, and wrote, and I missed the human contact.  Also, as a composer you are in an executive position - you tell the musicians what to do, and you decide where the art form will go.  That's a large responsibility for someone so young, and I wasn't ready for that. 

Let's talk about Dance - and of course, particularly, Ballet -- was it love at first sight? How did you interest evolve in dance? What are some of your early experiences in the dance world. When did you move to NYC?

MIRO: While studying with Kagel, I had been accompanying dance classes to make some money on the side. At first, I took dance classes to better understand how to accompany them. But I immediately began to love it for its own sake. I skipped my music history class and went to ballet instead. At the time, the director of the Ailey School, Denise Jefferson, often came to teach in Cologne, and so I knew about that school - and when I stopped my composition studies, I applied to become a student there.  By this point I was 23 years old. I signed up for a 6 month course, and then I added another 6 months, and so on.  Until one of my teachers at Ailey, Yung Yung Tsuai, told me that if I really took my desire seriously I could become a dancer. That changed my outlook. Another teacher at Ailey, Kazuko Hirabayashi, took me under her wing, and when she became the director of the Martha Graham Dance Ensemble (the 'second' company) I followed her there. Without these two I wouldn't have become a dancer. 

Many of the most reknowned Choreographers in history are intimately aware of  music -- from Petipa to Balanchine to Morris, to Robbins to Astaire -- right down to even, Merce Cunningham --- do you think your beginnings as a musician have sort of made it an easier transition into the world of dance?

MIRO: Dance and music have the same ancestry - they used to be the same art form. So going from one to the other felt quite natural to me. (As an aside: I learned a lot about music from dancing!) And I suppose I've always approached my dancing, and now my choreography, from a musical point of view. For better or worse. In addition, now that I have a company it makes it easier to communicate with musicians - I am more aware of what can and can't be done with a piece of music.  The nuts and bolts of the process are easier for me.    

Whose choreography do you just LOVE? And what about music? Who are your inspirations?

MIRO: This is too difficult... I love so many choreographers and composers! Just for the sake of giving you an example, I am currently interested in Robbins: he never stopped trying new approaches. You can watch a season of his works and never see the same approach twice, and I find that really impressive. Always investigating how ballet can be theatrical. I admire that. Or, another example; the entire generation of composers active in the late 20th Century impress me. What they did with music fascinates me. I only regret that, because their music is perceived as "difficult", we don't hear it more.  

You are, pardon my French, ballsy -- or courageous! Essentially, you have chosen to work in one of the most elitist art forms going, with no formal pedigree in ballet -- why is that and what have been the barriers to that? Why not work within the modern dance world, where of course most ideas are at least given a nod to? What have been some of the challenges? What is your thinking on coming into an art that essentially turns nearly everyone away?

MIRO: I didn't come to ballet for "the pink satin experience".  I really appreciate the level of detail and definition in ballet. Pointe work, to me, is a tool, not an aesthetic choice. It's a tool that allows an incredibly specific way to shift your weight. A technical achievement, in other words, that can function within any aesthetic vision. It doesn't have to be about being light and airy.

And I never worried much about being accepted in ballet. When you decide to become a dancer at 23, you do it for yourself, not to get someone's approval.  It's not my business to convince others of my choices -- my business is to create good music, good dances. 

What led you to just go and create a company? How do you survive and how have you been received? What are the rewards -- and also the challenges? How long has New Chamber Ballet been in operation? What are your long term goals -- and what do you feel this sort of arrangement allows you to accomplish that can't be better accomplished in a larger company?   Would you like to have a full-time company of dancers and musicians?

MIRO: I didn't start out creating a company. I started out creating work, one piece at a time, and it has evolved to this.  New Chamber Ballet has now been in operation for 7 years.   Of course, I'd love to have the financial backing to have the company in session full-time, to offer a full contract to my dancers and musicians, because as we stand now it is just exhausting for all parties involved. Everyone is working to the maximum, really it is daunting.  A better financial structure would allow us to be even more productive, with less waste from sheer exhaustion.  But I don't want a larger company -- I am interested in what can be said with a chamber-sized group. It seems more practical to me. 

You insist on live music -- correct?   Do you ever use recorded music? Is using live music a limitation?

MIRO: That's right -- I do insist.  I used recorded music in the beginning, but really it makes no sense to me now. As I said before, music and dance came into existence together, and to give up on live music is to somehow sacrifice an important part of the art.  There is just no comparison for the audience to hear recorded music and see live dance -- just as you wouldn't go to see the NYCB and have a live orchestra with a video of the dance, right?  Of course this is limiting -- I can't afford to pay an entire orchestra, so I can't choose pieces that require a harp or a bassoon or even a clarinet.  That's why we use piano and violin, because there's a large repertory for these two instruments. It gives me, and the choreographers who work with us, a lot of options. But we can't go back to using recorded music.  It's just not the kind of experience I am trying to create.  I don't mind the limitations: art is about creating something from nothing!

You use primarily piano and violin --what other instruments appeal to you -- what of voice or choral work?

MIRO: I really love all of them, and the voice too.  My choice of piano and violin is simply a matter of practicality. 

Let's talk about your mentorship under Willhem Burmann -- OOOHHHHH he is IMPECCABLE -- intimidatingly so!  How did you meet, what was the connection? How has he mentored you? Don't you play for his classes sometimes?

MIRO:  I had been studying ballet with Peff Modelski. She really opened a lot of doors for me in terms of understanding how my body could work as a dancer. During that time I had gone to watch a class of Stanley Williams at SAB. I was fascinated by his teaching.  He passed away shortly thereafter and Peff told me I should try to take Willy Burmann's class.  At first I was hesitant -- his class had a reputation of being the most difficult, and I was wondering if I had any business being in there -- but I ended up going, 1 or 2 times a week at first, then daily.  And after a while I could hardly imagine training with anyone else. Physically, it resonated with me the way no other ballet class had before. But beyond that, it began to change the way I thought about ballet. He really insists that you build the artistry into the training, which makes all the difference.  Also, you learn from watching the people around you work.

There were two dancers in particular, in his class, who shaped my idea of what ballet can be: Wendy Whelan and Alessandra Ferri. They are completely different, but each in her own way took what she learned from Willy to a point where it became transformative for the rest of us. I mean, I used to go watch both of them dance whenever I could - I still do, in Wendy's case - because it has such an impact on me. Alessandra Ferri was also instrumental in another aspect of my career: I think she had heard me play the piano somewhere, and one day she asked me if I wanted to play for her private warm-up with Willy Burmann -- he gave her a warm-up for every performance. I was in awe -- what an honor! This led to my playing for Willy Burmann's classes more often, and of course, we eventually recorded a number of CDs of ballet class music. And just like he formed my dancing, Willy also profoundly changed the way I thought about playing for class. Many people have noticed his insistent manner of communicating with the pianists -- and well, honestly, it's great to have a ballet teacher who really cares about and has a vision for the music in his class. It may take a lot of effort to get it right. But it's worth every bit of it.

Ok lets talk about the Composers on the program this weekend...we've got Debussy, Saint Saens, Handel, and also Stockhausen.  What do these composers have in common -- anything?  Also, research suggests that Debussy and Saint Saens hated each other -- do you feel that this program could you know, excite them in the grave?

MIRO: The composers don't really have that much in common -- the program wasn't curated with regard to its music. The choreographers independently came up with these choices -- ironically yes, a Debussy and a Saint-Saens.  And yes, I heard that they weren't too fond of each other - that might cause a rumble. Maybe there will be a storm somewhere! Once the other choreographers told me their choices, I adapted my own so that it would make sense.  But really its just a product of moving within the limits of what we can perform live.  If you set the limits strictly -- such as 'only piano and violin' -- you can move quite freely within.

And the dancing -- what excites you about your fellow choreographers? What should the audience expect to see?

MIRO:  I try to find choreographers that are different from what I do, and who have a good rapport with my dancers. This weekend we have works by Emery LeCrone and Constantine Baecher. Emery -- she is just 24, she's prolific, and she'll try anything!  One moment she's doing something very weird and avant-garde in a small space -- the next an abstract ballet on a big stage. But through all that she has a lot to give to the dancers, which is an often overlooked quality in choreographers.  With Constantine, we've worked a lot together.  As an American who has trained and worked almost exclusively Europe -- he went to school in Hamburg, and is dancing with The Royal Danish Ballet -- he has a totally different viewpoint of what dance can and should be. His works are so theatrical. Sometimes it's a stretch for our dancers - but they really enjoy it.  So, between the two of them, I find the collaboration inspiring and energizing.

What do you look for in dancers that you work with ? How do you cast?  Do you have any thoughts with regards to training for dancers?  

MIRO: I look for someone who has a strong ballet technique that is entirely at the service of their desire to move. They have to like working with choreographers - not everyone has that spirit of exploration. They have to have enough experience to do solo work. And -- this may surprise you -- the first thing I wonder is, can they handle the schedule? This is so important, because NCB is not a 6 days a week, 10am-6pm company, but we try to achieve things as if we were.  That takes an enormous amount of focus from everyone.  I don't want a constant turnover of dancers. I need someone who can manage the demanding schedule, otherwise it won't work.  That's it, in a nutshell...
 
What would you hope that your audience can garner from a New Chamber Ballet performance that they may not be as able to get at say, a NYCB performance?

MIRO: A more intimate atmosphere, and a more direct experience of the work. There is no physical barrier between the performers, the musicians and the audience. It's almost a return to a more primal, "village square"-like situation, where everyone sits in a circle and someone goes to the center to sing, dance or tell a story. The transformation from "normal person" to "artist" happens right in front of your eyes. I find that more powerful. Our stage really isn't a "stage" but just a big square.  This is totally different than the experience in a large theater; its a totally different idea.  Other companies are explicitly drawing a line between the audience and themselves.  I am focusing on a different approach - not necessarily a better one, but certainly different.

Nearly every Creative has a muse  -- do you? 

MIRO: My dancers.

Are you also working on musical compositions -- aside from those for ballets?

MIRO: No. I rarely get around to compose, and if so, only for my own ballets.

Ok thanks so much Miro!  That was great.  Now, are you ready for your Proustian Questionairre?

MIRO: Aren't people given at least a week to compose fascinating answers to Proustian Questions? 

Really? Maybe, but not this time... can we try? Just your instantaneous responses?

MIRO: Ok...we can try. I'll try.  

MIRO MAGLOIRE'S PROUSTIAN CHALLENGE

YOUR LAST SUPPER: Homecooked veggies, rice, everything -- a raid of the fridge! Everything - prepared homestyle!

YOU HAVE A WEAKNESS FOR: Chocolate & Italian Renaissance Paintings. (My doctor barred the chocolate, so now I overdose on paintings alone)

A QUALITY YOU ADMIRE IN A WOMAN, A MAN: Warmth.  Is that boring? (MB: No!)

YOUR IDEA OF EARTHLY HAPPINESS: A Chocolate Dinner shared with all of my favorite Composers, served in a grand room decorated with the works by the brilliant Italian Renaissance Painter, Raphael. (But see above for Doctor's orders...)

SOMETHING YOU CANT LIVE WITHOUT: Dance & Music. 

DINNER FOR 2 or 3: 2

LOWEST DEPTH OF MISERY: Taking too much time off. Getting restless.

WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE LIKED TO HAVE BEEN: Until age 10, a soccer player.  Since Age 20, a choreographer and composer......oh wait, that's what I am!

RATHER BORN PAST OR PRESENT: Present.

LESSON YOU WOULD PASS ON:  If you want it, you can do it. But you really have to want it.

EARLY MORNING or EARLY EVE: Early Morning.

LOCATION OF CHOICE: RIGHT HERE.
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SEE NEW CHAMBER BALLET FRI & SAT FEB 4th & 5th at 8PM

New York City Center Studios, Studio # 4

130 W 56th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues

New York City

Also -- Check out the NCB Website: http://www.newchamberballet.com/

New Chamber Ballet's 2010/11 season continues with a program of five ballets to live music on violin and piano: 1.) "Prelude In Grays," a new ballet by Constantine Baecher of the Royal Danish Ballet set to music by Debussy 2.) The world premiere of a daunting solo by Emery LeCrone, performed by Alexandra Blacker, to music by Camille Saint-Saens 3.) A new trio by Miro Magloire, accompanied only by the sounds of percussive sticks 4) The revival of Magloire's "Klavierstück" to music by Stockhausen, in which the piano is on stage, with the dancers "circling and hugging it as if bewitched by it, yet also occasionally moving away..." [Jack Anderson, NY Theatre Wire] 5.) "Symmetry," a duet set to Handel violin sonatas.

Performers include Alexandra Blacker, Madeline Deavenport, Katie Gibson, Victoria North and Lauren Toole. The music will be played live by Erik Carlson (violin) and Steven Beck (piano).

"It's heartening to see work so focused on the meeting of dance and music." - Alastair Macaulay, The New York Times

Tickets are $22 ($12 for seniors, students with ID and professional dancers) and can be purchased at http://www.smarttix.com/ or by phone at (212) 868-4444.