interview with Ed Wubbe (Scapino paper SpitZ 4, January/June issue)
For his new piece 'The Brides', artistic director/choreographer Ed Wubbe picked ballet music with a celebrated history - 'Les Noces' (The Wedding) by Igor Stravinsky.
The composer was commissioned to write this monumental piece by Serge Diaghilev, artistic leader of the French-based Ballets Russes. The ballet and music were performed in 1923 with choreography by Vaslav Nijinska. It was the first of many performances.
Ed Wubbe: "Sometimes you have an idea in the back of your mind for some time, but it just won't gel. I knew I'd use the music of Stravinsky's 'Les Noces' at some point, but had to devise the right piece.
The penny dropped while I was working on 'The Yellow Green'. A piece for women. Like 'The Yellow Green', my 'Les Noces' had to be a composition for women only.
But I didn't want to make a new version of 'Les Noces'. Plenty of new versions have been created over the last few years to show the piece again.
'Les Noces' by Stravinsky shows how a bride is married off and the traditional rituals of a Russian peasant weeding.
The music drew on fragments of Russian folklore about weddings, and expresses tradition, rituals, bigotry and superstition.
My piece is a response to all that. I approach it through the women, who fight against these customs and conventions. They don't want to be trapped for the rest of their lives. They want to marry, but out of choice. It is an ode to independent women who challenge the limitations they're subjected to. Which is why it's not called 'Les Noces' but 'The Brides' - it's about them.
There are two aspects to this challenge - the music and the theme. Stravinsky's complex musical compositions are extremely difficult to choreograph.
You have to master and use the music, but the vision you're trying to get across has to be absolutely lucid. I deliberately chose the raw, controversial performance by the Prokovsky Ensemble.
The theme is current and universal. Liberty in general, and the freedom of women in particular, are still topical issues. The battle against oppression is ongoing.
Every woman, every character, has her own white 'bridal dress'. I didn't want to use any other props because anything you use weakens the symbolism of the nine individual women united in a common cause. Each woman has to be burned into your mind's eye. The music is the driving force. There are nine strong, free, independent women that express the frustration, panic and rage purely in movement.
The music is the scenario, the path I follow. I can ignore it; I can follow its dynamic, rhythm and structure. But in terms of content, I have total freedom. I can do whatever I want. Decide on the overall mood. Should I let the women join their voices in a lament, or remain strong and aloof.
The original choreography of Bronislava Nijinska consisted of four tableaux. During each scene change, the music continued and the lights were simply dimmed. I thought that was a great idea, which I've incorporated into my piece. I haven't constructed it in four parts, but that interpretation gives a marvellous sense of time passing.
And it's an apt reference to the original."
