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Rudi van Dantzig
Choreographer
The choreographer of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's production of Romeo & Juliet is Rudi van Dantzig. Originally created for the Dutch National Ballet in 1967, this ballet entered the repertoire of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in 1981.
Born in Amsterdam, Holland, on August 4, 1933, Rudi van Dantzig began his dance studies with Sonia Gaskell and was later strongly influenced by the modern dance technique of Martha Graham as well as the work of George Balanchine. Van Dantzig made his dancing debut in 1952 with Gaskell's Ballet Recital (the company that later became the Het Nederlands/Dutch National Ballet). From 1954 to 1959 he performed with the Dutch National Ballet and during the 1959/1960 season he left Gaskell to become a founding member of the Netherlands Dance Theatre. A year later van Dantzig returned to the Dutch National Ballet and became its co-artistic director in 1969. He spent twenty years as its artistic director beginning in 1971.
Van Dantzig choreographed his first ballet, Night Island, to the music of Claude Debussy, in 1955 for Gaskell's Netherlands Ballet. He was soon choreographing on a regular basis and is today one of Europe's most distinguished and prolific choreographers, with more than 40 ballets to his credit.
Van Dantzig has worked as a guest choreographer with companies that include the Rambert Dance Company, the Royal Ballet, the Royal Danish Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Israel's Bat-Dor Dance Company and in Canada with both the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and The National Ballet of Canada.
For the Royal Winnipeg Ballet van Dantzig staged Four Last Songs in 1979 and the pas de deux Moments Shared. On September 30, 1981 the company premiered his acclaimed full-length production of Romeo & Juliet, with sets and costumes by Toer van Schayk. The production proved a milestone in the history of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, as it was the largest production to enter the company in its then 43 year history. The ballet has since been filmed by the CBC in a production directed by Norman Campbell.
One of van Dantzig's most acclaimed ballets is Monument for a Dead Boy. Created in 1965, this work was staged for The National Ballet of Canada in 1975. In 1977, van Dantzig returned to The National Ballet to stage Collective Symphony. This ballet, first performed in 1975, was choreographed in collaboration with fellow resident choreographers of the Dutch National Ballet, Hans van Manen and Toer van Schayk and is set to Igor Stravinsky's Symphony in C.
Van Dantzig created ballets especially for Rudolf Nureyev, including the Ropes of Time (1970), and for The Royal Ballet, Blown in a Gentle Wind (1975) and About a Dark House (1978). For the Dutch National Ballet he has created many works, including Jungle, Ginastera, Giving Answers, To Bend or To Break, Epitaph, Room at the Top, Moments and No Man's Land.
Van Dantzig often creates in close collaboration with choreographer Toer van Schayk as his designer and, in earlier days, as his lead dancer. The two have also choreographed together: Life (1979) and Buigen of Barsten (1987). He has also worked in collaboration with a number of Dutch composers, including Jan Boerman, Peter Schat and Sytze Smit. A most recent work includes the first entirely Dutch version of Swan Lake, produced and choreographed in collaboration with Toer van Schayk.
As a choreographer, van Dantzig has used the medium of dance to convey his deep-felt feelings for humanity and its constant struggles, and he has been concerned with the psychological conflicts of the individual. He has also steadily developed his basic theme - the universal problem of acceptance of life's imperfections. His first ballets focused upon the opposing forces of good and evil within the individual struggling to recover a lost ideal of purity and innocence. This theme is elaborated in such ballets as Monument for a Dead Boy. Another important theme in his work is the acceptance of death as the inevitable result of life's stuggles, which is evident in Four Last Songs. Another key theme is the acceptance of erotic drives. Van Dantzig's choreography also emphasizes the relationships between people. Aggression born of frustration, and fear of another's aggression are key concerns in this new development.
In all of van Dantzig's ballets, each of these themes return with different emphasis but always stated in a language full of symbolism. In the contortions and convulsions of his dance partners, van Dantzig depicts the cruel afflictions suffered by desperate individuals. Van Dantzig often pictures a lacerated world full of tortured people in danger of perishing in a sea of despair. He uses the fluid idiom of dance to give expression to the deepest layers of the intuitions, the individual who does not know how to conquer but withdraws in defeat. His Romeo and Juliet provides van Dantzig with the material for such psychological exploration. It is in this non-idyllic portrayal of life that van Dantzig contributes to the aesthetic experience, an experience in which the spectator derives strange pleasure from watching harsh realism beautifully depicted in dance.
Many times, van Dantzig has been misinterpreted as a man with little faith in the world. Notes German dance critic Helmut Scheier: "Watching van Dantzig's choreography, one feels a constant search for something, which, when actually found, appears only in a very disguised form - due partly to shyness and also a deep-rooted skepticism - a fact characteristic of several of his other choreographic works. This is a quality of his work which is often disputed." But soft spoken and articulate, van Dantzig is brimming with life and an enthusiasm for exploring its many facets. "I am not one for just bringing entertainment to an audience. I like to suggest that some things in life are not that glorious and that there is every reason to improve them because life is worthwhile. I feel a necessity to say: `Come, we cannot go on like this; there is a generation to follow. What do we leave for them?'"
Van Dantzig's vision of humanity does illuminate some of the flaws. His objective is to inspire audiences to share that vision and attempt to make changes for the better. "For me a ballet does not finish when the curtain closes. It goes on."
In 1986, van Dantzig's first novel, For a Lost Soldier, was published in Holland.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Composer
As the composer of three of the most well known ballets in history, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky transformed ballet into a staged musical drama with his colourful and emotional orchestration. Born in Russia in 1840, Tchaikovsky turned to serious composition at the age of 14. He studied at the new St. Petersburg Conservatory before teaching at the Moscow Conservatory. In 1877 Madame Nadezhda von Meck became his patron and long time correspondent, which allowed him to dedicate himself to composition.
Under her patronage he began a period of rich productivity that included Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty. His final ballet The Nutcracker was created in 1892 and has become one of the most popular ballets performed in Western countries. In 1893 he died of cholera, though some experts believe that the cause was actually suicide. Tchaikovsky wrote 11 operas, six symphonies, three string quartets, three ballets, suites and symphonic poems, and numerous songs and short piano pieces.
Michael Eagan
Set & Properties Designer
Michael Eagan has designed for major theatres across Canada including the Stratford and Shaw festivals, the Manitoba Theatre Centre, Canadian Stage (Toronto), Neptune Theatre (Halifax) and the Centaur Theatre (Montréal). In New York, he designed Happy New Year on Broadway and has worked for the Juilliard School.
Mr. Eagan has worked extensively in musical theatre including productions at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto (Damn Yankees). For the lyric stage he conceived the décors for Manon de Massenet at the Vancouver Opera, Les Contes d’Hoffmann for l’Opéra de Montréal and The Rake’s Progress for the Banff Festival. He also designed Gehenna for Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal.
From 1988 to 1998, he was Director of Scenography at the National Theatre School in Montreal.
Michael J. Whitfield
Lighting Designer
Michael J. Whitfield comes to the Royal Winnipeg Ballet with an extensive background in lighting design for theatre, opera and ballet.
A native of Victoria, B.C., Mr. Whitfield received his training in theatre during the 1960's and early 1970's at the University of Victoria, Villanova University and the University of Illinois. Since 1974, he has enjoyed a long association with the Stratford Festival, where he has for many years been Resident Lighting Designer and has been responsible for the lighting design of a great variety of plays and musicals. He has also worked extensively in Canadian regional theatre, and his work is often seen at Winnipeg's Manitoba Theatre Centre.
Mr. Whitfield is also much in demand as a lighting designer for opera, and his designs have been featured at the San Francisco Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, the Minnesota Opera, the Dallas Opera, the Welsh National Opera and at Canadian companies in Toronto, Montreal, Hamilton, Edmonton, Calgary, Banff and Vancouver. His lighting has been featured at the Canadian Opera Company for over 20 years, where recent designs include Salome, Jenufa and Madama Butterfly.
In the world of ballet, Mr. Whitfield's work has been represented by Alice and The Nutcracker at The National Ballet of Canada, The Merry Widow at the American Ballet Theatre, and Romeo and Juliet at the Finnish National Ballet. His lighting has also been seen at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in The Sleeping Beauty and Anne of Green Gables.
Anne Armit
Costume Designer
Anne Armit was born in St. Andrews, Scotland but moved to Ottawa at age four. She attended Seneca College in 1972, was named Student Designer of the Year in 1975 and was awarded a scholarship to the Ontario College of Art.
After graduation, she worked for one year in the fashion industry before obtaining work as a seamstress at the St. Lawrence Centre. Anne also freelanced for organizations such as The National Ballet of Canada, Shaw Festival, Stratford Festival, Charlottetown Festival, the National Arts Centre and the Canadian Opera Company. A promotion to Junior Cutter at the St. Lawrence Centre was followed by an offer of employment from The National Ballet of Canada.
From 1979 to 1989 Anne owned her own business creating costumes for film, television and theatre, including the contract for Cats. She joined Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet in 1989 as Director of Wardrobe and this position has given her the opportunity to travel and design productions such as L.I.F.E., La Bayadère, Raymonda, The Sleeping Beauty, Creaturehood and more.
Shannon Lovelace
Costume Designer
Shannon Lovelace is a Winnipeg based visual artist and costume designer. She received her training at the University of Manitoba and Concordia University of Montreal. In 1980 she earned her Bachelor Degree of Fine Arts. After working as an assistant art director in an advertising and print company in Montreal, she returned to Manitoba. Her paintings have been exhibited extensively in North America and abroad and are sought after by both private and corporate collectors. Kensington Fine Art Gallery in Calgary currently represents her.
Ms Lovelace has had an association with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet since 1993, working as milliner, decorator, dyer and designer. The Sleeping Beauty is the second full length ballet she has designed for the RWB, following Butterfly in 2001. She has also designed for Fast Forward and the Anchorage Classical Ballet Academy.
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Rudi Van Dantzig
      
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Michael J. Whitfield
Anne Armit
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