Dance is the harshest of taskmasters. The demands placed upon the human body to stretch, twist, arch and leap are punishing to the muscles and bones as well as the mind. Dance is the embodiment of life's vitality even when a dancer is not moving but holding a pose. Dance is youth, especially in the ballet world.
Perhaps that is why the press in Taipei found it so hard to grasp the idea that dancers in their 40s, 50s or even, shock, in their 60s, still want to be on stage and share life with an audience. After all, doesn't everyone know that a dancer's career is over by 40, if not before? At that point they are supposed to move on.
There have been notable exceptions over the years, in modern dance, in tap, jazz and even in ballet. But such dancers -- Margot Fonteyn, who danced into her late 50s; Cuba's Alicia Alonso, who danced into her 70s, as did Martha Graham -- were prima ballerinas, or in the case of Alonso and Graham, ran their own companies.
But the truth is that for dancers, just like so many other artists, age brings a deeper understanding of the art, a greater maturity, and an increased ability. Dancers in their late teens and early 20s might have the footwork, technical know-how and the speed, but many sill haven't figured out what to do with their arms. To see Natalia Markarova, in her 40s, dance Swan Lake was to doubt that she really had bones in her arms, for surely no mortal could move that way.
Those dancers who want to continue dancing face both age discrimination and the need to find new choreographing. Who wants to continue to perform the same repertoire for decades, especially as it conjures up remembrances of one's younger self?
Now, imagine a small company of dancers, all over the age of 40, all of whom have had long, successful stage careers. A group of dancers performing works created just for them. A group whose repertoire and even size would change as the dancers themselves changed.
This was the vision that Czech dancer-turned-choreographer Jiri Kylian made real by founding the Nederlands Dans Theater III (NDT III) in 1991.
Kylian has been the artistic director of the Nederlands Dans Theater (now known as NDT I) since 1975 and has created more than 50 works for the company. In 1978 he created a second company, the Nederlands Dans Theater II, which focuses on experimental works performed by dancers aged between 17 and 22.
Kylian established his international reputation as an ingenious choreographer with Sinfonietta in 1978. His style has changed considerably over the years, moving towards abstraction and surrealistic images.
A reoccurring theme in his work appears to be the question: "What is reality and what is a dream?" How does one know what is real when the brain says one thing, but the heart another?
With NDT III, Kylian created the opportunity to add another dimension to a dancer's life.
NDT III has changed greatly over the years as dancers came and went. Originally the troupe numbered 16, then six and now there are four full-time members. The only member from the original group of dancers is Sabine Kuperberg, who previously danced with the Stuttgart Ballet.
The three other members are Egon Madsen, the Danish dancer who was a mainstay of the Stuttgart Ballet for many years and joined NDT III in 1999, Canadian ballerina and choreographer Gioconda Barbuto who joined in June 1998 and South African David Krugel. Working with these four as guest dancer with the company is Christian Fallangen.
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