Wang Tzer-shing (王澤馨) has built an enviable reputation over the course of the 11 ballet galas that her company, Art Wave, has produced in Taipei, as well as shows in Singapore and one last year in Taichung. It is a reputation for quality that not only attracts audiences from around Taiwan and abroad for the annual shows, but one that has some of the most famous dancers in the ballet world leaping at the opportunity to be on her call list.
FIRST-RATE CHOREOGRAPHERS
The program for the 12th Ballet Star Gala (2018 第十二屆國際芭蕾舞星GALA) is filled with works by some of the hottest choreographers working in ballet today: David Dawson, Wayne McGregor, Benjamin Millepied, Hans van Manen, Mauro Bigonzetti, Nikolas Arz and Angelin Preljocaj, as well as pas de duex from beloved classics such as Giselle, Swan Lake and John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet.
Photo Courtesy of Stuttgart Ballett
There is a world premiere, Arz’s Made of Stone, and three Asian premieres: Dawson’s At the End of the Day, an excerpt from McGregor’s Kairos and Millepied’s Closer. There will also be a Taiwan premiere, Trois Gnossiennes, by Dutch choreographer van Manen.
“Every year we want to include pieces that have never been seen before in Taiwan. The dancers also look forward to performing here. They want to show their best,” Wang said.
This year Wang decided to try something different, doing a show in Taipei and Taichung the same weekend, first on Friday at the National Theater and then on Sunday afternoon at the National Taichung Theater.
Photo courtesy of Helen Maybanks
The Taipei show also attracted sponsorship of BNP Paribas SA, which Art Wave worked with in 2015 to bring Sylvie Guillem’s Life in Progress show to Taipei as part of her farewell world tour.
However, for many ballet fans, who is dancing is perhaps even more important that what they are dancing.
The first to arrive flew in on Tuesday morning: Maria Kochetkova, who just retired from the San Francisco Ballet last month after 11 years, and Sebastian Kloborg, formerly of the Royal Danish Ballet and Gauthier Dance/Theaterhaus Stuttgart, who is now freelance guest artist and choreographer. Kochetkova has appeared in three previous galas, while this is Kloborg’s first visit to Taiwan.
Photo courtesy of Kim Youn-sik
From the Stuttgart Ballet come Friedemann Vogel, almost a gala regular, and Spanish-born Alicia Amatriain, who will be making her third appearance.
The Royal Ballet is being represented by Marianela Nunez, who danced in Taipei with the company in 2014, and Vadim Muntagirov, who was seen Taipei with the English National Ballet in 2011.
Igor Kolb of the Mariinsky Theatre is making his 10th trip to Taiwan, but his partner this weekend is a new face for local audiences, Oksana Bondareva, formerly of the Mariinsky and now a guest artist with Mikhailovsky Theatre St Petersburg.
Paris Opera Ballet principals Ludmila Pagliero and Karl Paquette are also newcomers, while from the Bayerische Staatsoper come Laurretta Summerscales and Yonah Acosta, who both moved from the English National Ballet to the Munich-based company last fall.
STELLAR PROGRAM
Kolb and Bondareva are scheduled to open the show with a pas de deux from The Nutcracker and then perform Made of Stone in the second half.
Kochetkova and Kloborg are dancing At the End of the Day, which they just premiered on June 5 in Moscow, as well as Closer, while Pagliero and Paquette will perform Trois Gnossiennes and an excerpt from Preljocaj’s Le Parc, and Amatrian and Vogel will partner in Bigonzetti’s Kazimir’s Colors and the Romeo and Juliet Balcony Pas de Deux.
Summerscales and Acosta will dance a 20th century classic, Diana and Actaeon as well as the Kairos excerpt, while Nunez and Muntagirov are sticking to the classics: a pas de deux from Giselle and the Black Swan Pas de Deux from Swan Lake.
Wang laughed when asked what her favorite pieces were.
“I am really, really looking forward to David Dawson’s piece. I admire him so much; also McGregor’s and Millepied’s,” she said. “It is hard to say which is a favorite, as each is unique, and they have different styles.”
“I am also looking forward to classic pas de deux like the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet. I saw Alicia and Friedemann perform last year in Singapore and their chemistry was so touching,” Wang said.
“The Royal partnership is strong,” she said. “Classic pas de deux are difficult to do, but they chose the two pieces they will perform.”
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