Tamara Rojo charms thrive under the rays of the Caribbean sun; on the streets of London she would hardly hear so many compliments and wolf-whistles from men because there, those who know her look with respect at the director of the National English Ballet (ENB) and the ones that don’t know her, certainly don’t stare. To the eyes of the Cubans, the most international Spanish ballet dancer wears an angelical look of marble and an adolescent´s smile, her warmth does not seem European.
In a way, Tamara is also Cuban and, in fact, she arrived to the national ballet company to take classes just like everyone else. No one was surprised by her humility and constancy during the alleged vacation days; it was not the first time. Classes, rehearsals and when everyone believed that the famous artist started to break, she actually walked just a few blocks to take an extra second round of fitness advised by physiotherapists and rehabilitation. If anyone has doubts about how to become a star, Rojo embodies all the answers.
“Since childhood, I have seen great talents wasted for lack of discipline. I saw fellow dancers in my own school with more talent than me lose it, and then I have suffered the loss of dancers with whom I shared the stage and I thought that might be the stars of their generation. No matter how much natural talent you have, discipline is paramount, “said the prima ballerina and director in the Cuban capital.
Tamara vacations never involve a total disconnect from work. Seeing it as a sacrifice is to obviate the essence of her career: passion. Frequent return to Havana addresses three specific reasons.
“I come to see friends that I love and consider part of my family. Second, I come to train with physiotherapists and physical rehabilitation trainers Miguel Capote, father and son, who not only have always helped me get in shape but I have recovered from my more serious injuries, I owe them much. In addition, I come to continue practicing and taking classes with Cuban master Loipa Araújo, and thus prepare for the next season. ”
Tamara Rojo in the pas de deux from Le Corsaire in Havana with Cuban Carlos Acosta in 2009 / Photo: Nancy Reyes.
Rojo hoards lots of medals and titles as Prince of Asturias Award 2005 and the Benois of Dance 2008, considered the Oscar of the art form. The history of ballet in Cuba cannot ignore her for two milestones: being foreign artist who has danced with the largest number of Cubans on the planet and having been the main protagonist of the spectacular features had provided in Havana by the Royal Ballet during its only visit to the country. On that occasion, she performed with Cuban Carlos Acosta, longtime friend with whom she cannot avoid a symbolic marriage, or rather artistic as the world critics exalted them as one of the great couples of dance history.
However, the granting of a post as the director of ENB in 2012 is more related with her brainpower than her proven scenic intelligence. With this designation, the Royal-the most famous of the British companies, lost about the same time the brilliant teacher Araújo, appointed by Rojo as its Associate Artistic Director, and two female stars; since Alina Cojocaru soon joined the company as prima ballerina.
The new directive aimed at a famous classic that, despite being inspired by a national poem, had never been staged by an English company. The production of “Le Corsaire” received praise from major media for excellence costumes, scenery, dramatic design and performance of the dancers. From the beginning, the direction advocated the mixture of seasons of classics such as Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and Romeo and Juliet, with programs composed of neo-classical and contemporary works by Jirí Kyllian, Roland Petit, Maurice Bejart and Harald Lander.
Rojo wanted to give ENB its own choreographies and for that purpose she convened choreographers Akram Khan, Russell Maliphant and Liam Scarlett to compose Lest We Forget, a program to commemorate the centenary of a traumatic event in Britain, WWI.
“I wanted to give ENB a new dance style, much freer, energetic and youthful. For that I bet on a new generation of dancers with great potential and with the work of Loipa Araújo it gets better every day. I hope that this is the next generation of ballet stars, “she said.
Being director and dancer at the same time puts some distance between her and the bubble in which some managers live. Tamara does not demand for anything that she cannot prove. The main festivals in the world and international galas offer scenarios for her growing versatility. In them, the artist passes the demanding ballet academicism, printed in pas de deux as Raymonda to a different use of the body in most accounts of modernity as Five Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan, by Sir Frederick Ashton, or Dust, by Akram Khan.
While some see the contemporary as an opportunity of transition for the ballet dancer to prolong scenic life when capabilities of the body start its downfall, Rojo assumes a vision of dialogue between styles as strength and anchor in the present.
“The contemporary is the form of expression of the choreographers of today. Turning your back to it would be to ignore reality. It also helps the classical dancer, because it gives her fluidity, greater freedom and expands the range of possibilities of how to move, “she explained.
Prolonging the drama in this Khan work does not add tragedy or decline, as the departure of a genre and even its annihilation become (as they did in the context of the First World War) learning experiences and rebirth for the subsisting genre. The ancient creators would have never chosen such a subject for a dance but the dance now emanates more from life.
“The classical choreographers like Petipa always absorbed regional ballets and in his works included a Spanish dance or a Chinese, Italian, Russian or another, because at that time absorbing the popular dances was how to expand the vocabulary of ballet. Now it happens with contemporary dance and the dancer to learn their techniques will be able to contribute to the positive qualities and classic with this, not only expand the vocabulary but also the personal range of motion. Contemporary dance makes them much more fluid, natural and coordinated dancers, “ratified the artist possessing a theatrical technical mastery and versatility that the positions located in the top rankings of her generation worldwide.
In a time of economic crisis, the survival of classical pieces is reeling from the increasing cost of production. The sets, costumes and props related to past times are an expensive luxury.
“It is sad to say it but today it is impossible to make the classic ballet economically viable. The cost of the staging has increased. The salaries of the dancers and musicians are higher. Live orchestras, productions, tailors and stage technicians are very costly. However, the theaters we use are the same where we were dancing 200 years ago and cannot sell more tickets because they simply do not exist.
“Neither the public is more interested in dancing, we are unable to sell 11 consecutive weeks of the same program, is unsustainable. Then, unless government grants continue and we get to attract private grants, ballet is in danger of extinction. ”
In the remainder of the year, ENB will dance the Swan Lake, Coppelia, Nutcracker, and present an integrated pieces of French Roland Petit, Czech Jiri Kilian and Americans John Neumeier and William Forsythe. Of the latter, the director chose a pivotal work, In the middle somewhat eleveted with music by Thom Willems. The company will take its art to China, Singapore, Spain, Mexico and Colombia.
ENB current management tries to give a personality to the institution, with its own repertoire and a growing number of national and international tours. Tamara allows herself only other passion: a desire for continuous learning. The perfectionist zeal borders on the obsessive and her concern for the development of young talent make her a being with mind on earth and wings for art.
Authors
Martha Sánchez,
Martica
