Seeking a Show of Their Own

For ballet dancers, being a regular part of a company is a must. But with that comes the limitations of the company’s repertory. With male ballet dancers, that can be especially poignant. If, as George Balanchine famously said, “Ballet is woman,” where does that leave the guys? These days, they’re creating their own opportunities.Just last week, New York City Ballet principal dancer Benjamin Millepied presented his own choreography at the Joyce Theater, and this weekend, his colleague Nilas Martins will do the same at the Dicapo Opera Theatre. These gents aren’t alone. It’s a model that another former principal, Peter Boal, was successful with. American Ballet Theatre principals Ethan Stiefel, Julio Bocca, and Jose Manuel Carreno also are pursuing projects outside their companies.Mr. Martins came to choreography almost by accident, he said, after writing a piece of music in 1995 for a School of American Ballet workshop. “Back then I thought it was a very cool thing to also choreograph,” he said. “It was the first time I tried choreography out. After that there were some offers here and there, and I took them because I was curious about it.”The chance to explore his art form further held Mr. Martins’s interest so much that now he’s got his own project on the side. On Saturday and Sunday, the Nilas Martins Dance Company will present “Puccini Passion,” which represents the first time that much of Puccini’s music has been set to classical dance. “I’m surprised that more people haven’t choreographed it,” Mr. Martins said. “Obviously he’s very well-known as an opera composer, but even in his operas there’s not much dancing.”In addition to several Puccini arias, Mr. Martins has set 11 of Puccini’s 22 non-opera songs to dance for this show. Mr. Martins also is gearing up for the 150th anniversary of Puccini’s birth in 2008. “There’s a big incentive in choreographing Puccini right now,” he explained. “I wanted to make a body of work of Puccini.”Squeezing in the time to direct his own company, choreograph new work, and maintain his position at NYCB is, of course, a challenge. “It really is a hard thing to do,” he said. “You can balance both worlds for a period of time, but you can’t just plan to be able to balance both of them over a long period of time. You have to schedule it very carefully by planning ahead and really taking advantage of your off-seasons.”In addition to providing a creative outlet, choreography allows Mr. Martins to tentatively plan a post-dance career, though he added that becoming a choreographer is not something that a dancer can necessarily plan. “I don’t really think you can be trained as a choreographer,” he said. “You try it out, but you never know how talented you are. You have to try out different venues to see where you’re going to go. It’s like an eliminating process – whether it’s staging or teaching or choreographing.”Mr. Martins rarely dances in his own work, preferring to remain behind the scenes and develop his skills as a choreographer. “It’s great to see people bring something out of dancers,” he said. “That’s why I like choreography. How can I make this dancer look the best they can look?”For Mr. Millepied, choreography is a vital component of his career in dance – despite the Herculean demands on his time and energy. “It takes so much work, funding, and organization, especially with the schedule I have at City Ballet,” he said. “If it wasn’t a necessity for me, I wouldn’t do it. I have to do it – it’s a real passion. I feel driven to do it.”Mr. Millepied choreographed one of the dances in his show at the Joyce, but the other three were by young choreographers who developed their work at Mr. Millepied’s workshop at the Morriss Center in Bridgehampton. “I don’t think of myself as a director or company at this point,” he said. “This show grew out of a workshop I had in the Hamptons, which definitely came out of wanting to do other things on the side. That’s why I think all of us do it-whether it’s choreography or doing other people’s work, we all do this work for different reasons.”The piece Mr. Millepied choreographed and danced in his show, “Closer,” originally was intended for Mr. Stiefel, who had to pull out because of a knee injury. Mr. Stiefel, who took over as artistic director of Ballet Pacifica last year, also has used his free time to deepen his creativity. He put together the touring show “Kings of Dance,” which featured premieres and repertory work for four top male dancers: ABT principal Angel Corella, Royal Ballet’s Johan Kobborg, Bolshoi Ballet’s Nikolai Tsiskaridze, and Mr. Stiefel himself. Within ABT, there are plenty of examples of dancers developing additional work. Mr. Bocca, who is retiring this year, has developed his own troupe, Ballet Argentino, with a touring project called Boccatango. Likewise, Vladmir Malakhov and Mr. Carreno have used their international reputation to build companies and projects on their own time.Though it may be a function of creating post-stage opportunities, producing one’s own show also permits younger dancers to get some exposure. The veterans end up helping to create the next generation of prominent names.And that’s a help to the entire art form. “The idea behind the company,” Mr. Martins said, “is to get new energies in putting things together, to give a chance to young dancers to excel, and employ talented dancers in the off-season.”“Puccini Passion,” March 25 & 26 (184 E. 76th Street at Lexington Avenue, 212-288-9438 ext. 10).

Seeking a Show of Their Own

Seeking a Show of Their Own

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