Kylie in Milton Keynes? Britain’s flagship modern dance company returns to MK under the new Artistic Director Mark Baldwin. He spoke to Katy Lewis about how he puts a programme together and that special guest appearance from the pop princess!

Established in 1926, the Rambert Dance Company is the oldest dance company in Britain.

They are committed to presenting a contemporary repertoire, with works of established choreographers appearing alongside the new and challenging in displays that are sometimes vividly theatrical, and sometimes just exhilerating pure dance.

Formerly known as Ballet Rambert, the company changed its name to Rambert Dance Company in 1987 to reflect this diverse nature of its work.

Mark Baldwin - Artistic Director, Rambert Dance Company (Picture by Hugh Glendinning)

The mixed bill that can be seen at Milton Keynes is an excellent example of the wide range of music and style that Rambert performs.

It is the innovation that sets it apart from the rest. Not only is there live music from the London Musici orchestra, very unusual for a touring company, but also some live singing and that appearance of Kylie Minogue.

Kylie
Pop superstar Kylie appears in a special digital film in '21', a piece about celebrity and adoration, choreographed by Rafael Bonachela who first worked with Kylie and Creative Directors' William Baker and Alan Macdonald while choreographing her award-winning Fever world tour in 2002.

"In the film, Kylie is seen to initiate some of the choreography" explains Mark. In other words, she does a move which is them mirrored and developed on the stage.

"It's also about partners and whether they are partnering or manipulating each other. It's a very athletic piece" he continues.

Ms Minogue also wrote a poem about celebrity especially for the piece and it is actually her voice at the end of the dance reading it out.

She even went to the Premier in Salford and was delighted with the finished product. "She said she was very pleased and felt like crying" Mark reveals.

"You have to remember that Kylie is an artist as well and this is a chance for a different platform for her, instead of just thousands of screaming youngsters" he continues, although he did admit that there was some screaming at a few performances!

Collaboration
Mark Baldwin's arrival at Rambert as Artistic Director has been marked by a body of work that above all encourages collaboration between choreographers and composers.

This creates works that are not only physical and emotional, but above all, entertaining.

Elsa Canasta (Picture by Hugh Glendinning)

'21' is just one example of this, but the programme you can see at Milton Keynes includes two other pieces, each completely different from each other, except in their brilliant innovation.

'Elsa Canasta' by the Venezuelan choreographer Javier De Frutos uses the popular music and songs of Cole Porter. Joining the dancers on stage will be a female jazz singer who will perform three of Porter’s songs, So in Love, Down in the Depths and Ridin’ High.

"She's a fabulous singer" says Mark. "Witty, dry and really clever and the orchestra whip up a storm."

These two pieces will be performed alongside Hans van Manen's Visions Fugitives, comprising 15 miniatures each lasting between 20 seconds and two minutes and set to music by Prokofiev.

New
Rambert is not only Britain's oldest dance company but it is the largest contemporary dance company in Britain. They perform in London as well as touring both in this country and abroad with triple bills of modern work.

"Our currency is new dances for the public to
enjoy," says Mark.

But with many traditions to uphold, how did Mark, who took over from Christopher Bruce as Artistic Director in December 2002, bring in something new, whilst still respecting its history.

"We perform works that include something about our past and are also to do with the times that we live in," says Mark. "For example, the piece '21' is about celebrity - but it is still art and dancing."

The Fijian-born dancer, who has a degree in Fine Art from the University of Auckland explained that his background in visual art has been instrumental in his individual approach to creating dance and helps with his vision for the company.

"I brought in new choreographers and different ideas to do with music," he explains. "We also do more work about the times we live in.

"There are also more dancers in the programmes so there are more chances to see more of the company."

Menu
For their Autumn tour, their first under their new Artisitic Director, Mark has put together a programme for each venue using three out of five pieces. But with a number of works in their repertoire at any one time and some 22 dancers to cater for, how does he decide on the line-up?

"Sometimes it's an accident," he admits. "But a
good analogy is that it is like working out a menu with a first course, second course and pudding!

"I aim to give people pleasure and enjoyment but also hope that they go away with something to think about. It's all about exposing our best product to the audience," he continues.

As Artistic Director, Mark has overall control of the dancers and the programme, including of course, the individual choreographers.

I imagined that working with the latter must be the hardest, because as a choreographer himself, it must be hard to take a step back and not rush in with some moves of his own. So how does he work with them?

“There’s no set way,” he says, but the key seems to be really getting to know their work and picking them carefully for what you want. He used Javier De Frutos, the choreographer of Elsa Canasta as an example.

“I had been following Javier's work and knew that he was good at working with large groups and an orchestra and was also good at design,” he explains. “We suggested some of the music to him though.

Almost too beautiful to be real

Sunday Express on 'Visions Fugitives'

“With others we let them just do what they want. There are no signposts saying you must work like this. You get to know what certain choreographers enjoy and pick them for that.”

Develop
And as for Mark himself, what’s his own approach to choreography. As a Rambert dancer for ten years, he explains that his main strength was development through improvisation.

“I tend to start with an empty space and develop ideas,” he says. “Sometimes it's to do with the music, hearing the moves in terms of rhythm and beat, but it's not always all about music, sometimes you don't need it.

“I just start with myself, make up moves and pass them to dancers and develop the ideas with them. Again there are no signposts.”

“I am always looking for new ways [of choreographing] because it's not prescriptive and not predictable,” he continues.

“It's what makes Rambert interesting and exciting. An audience knows they will get to see top notch dancers but they are never sure exactly what's going to unroll on the stage.”

With Rambert’s style of dance being so unpredictable, choosing dancers for the company is similarly non-prescriptive, although Mark knows what he is looking for it when he sees it.

“I look for articulation,” he says. “They must be smart with a core strength that they can use to articulate.

“Understanding themselves as a person is also important,” he continues.

I was quite surprised by this being a key characteristic as I always considered performing to be somehow coming out of yourself. But as Mark explains, they have to know who they are so that they are also clear who they are as a personality on stage.

Strength
Of course, it goes without saying that they also have to keep in condition. “To get down to practicalities, they have to be able to do a class every day and have the strength to do this,” says Mark.

“Some [of the dancers] have all of this and some have parts of it and I have to encourage them to develop the bits that they don't,” he continues, but admits that it’s hard to explain exactly what he looks for.

“It's hard to put a finger on it,” he says. It just seems to be the proverbial X-factor.

With such an exciting programme in store, dance lovers are certain to flock to see Rambert around the country, but what would Mark say to people who had never tried watching dance before, to encourage them to go and see his company perform?

He stresses that it is a real occasion that will interest a very wide range of people.

“It does go from Cole Porter to Kylie,” he explains, showing its range of appeal, before going onto explain that it is simply just very good!

“We are the country’s premier dance company, we are always forging ahead. The dancers and orchestra are excellent. It's a special event.”

“We are the Tate Modern of the dance world. There are thousands curious enough to trapse round that and we're coming to you!”

Rambert Dance Company can be seen at the Milton Keynes Theatre from 15-18 October.

The Company will also be at the Wycombe Swan from 29 October-1 November with a different programme. Elsa Canasta will be performed alongside PreSentient choreographed by Wayne McGregor and Living Toys by Karole Armitage.

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