One of the most powerful and admired classical music works of all time, Mozart's Requiem is the inspiration behind Northern Ballet Theatre’s latest production. For Norfolk dance and music lovers alike, this production comes as a real treat. The Norwich Theatre Royal is one of only three theatres in the UK who are presenting this exciting new work. An ambitious production, this provocative piece explores the relationship between Man and Death, Death's presence in the world and its inescapable power. Death is played by principal dancer by Jonathan Ollivier. He is delighted, if challenged, to have been offered the chance of dancing the lead role: "I was really happy because I like being the bad guy and I knew it’s an exciting part to play," he said. 
Jonathan Ollivier as Death |
"It’s hard because everyone has their own vision about how they see death and how they feel about it. The way Death is portrayed in Requiem is that it’s left as open as possible. "The costume is a bare top that is covered with just a black stripe of make-up that runs from the top of the head, through the middle of the face and down to the crotch. "From the front it looks amazing as it appears that Death has no features. You couldn’t have a Grim Reaper with a big costume and ask him to dance it in, so they’ve gone about it in other ways. It’s then left for the audience to interpret the character how they want to." Requiem, a mass for the dead, was Mozart's final work. It has enjoyed enduring popularity since it's debut in 1791. Local talent Solemn and exciting, inspiring and moving, Requiem will feature a live choir of 50 from the acclaimed, Norfolk based, Keswick Hall Choir. 
Keswick Hall Choir in rehearsal |
Spokesman Michael Philpott said working with the NBT is a great opportunity for the choir: "We're excited because this has offered us the chance to do something outside what we'd normally be singing. "This is quite different for us and it's a huge opportunity to be singing in a theatre of several thousand people who wouldn't normally come to one of our normal concerts. It's wonderful for us," he said. Choreographed in 1991 by the award-winning Birgit Scherzer, according Jonathan Ollivier, Requiem is a work that comes down to an individuals interpretation: "The story is quite hard to explain," he said. "It’s about whatever the audience wants to make of the ballet, there is no right or wrong." Demanding role Ollivier admits that playing Death is a demanding role: "It’s very tough. I think I go off stage once during the show and it’s only for about 30 seconds," he said. "It’s more exhausting because you’re dancing with guys as well. There are sections where I’m living a guy above my head and when you’re tired it's difficult lifting somebody who’s 12 stone. "It’s also very physical in that the movement are really powerful and to make them look really powerful all the time is very tiring." The NBT spend more than 30 weeks a year on the road and Ollivier feels this goes a long way to making dance more accessible to new audiences. "Everywhere we go we do an educational workshop. We get kids interested and friends from that area can come and see us in the class, we give talks and explain things about the production and the company. Changing attitudes "I think in general that attitudes to dance are changing. Dance is dance, whether its classical or contemporary. "It’s like having a favourite film. I love action films, but you still appreciate others. It should be the same with dance. "It's great the male dancer is being pushed harder. The male dancer is more butch, it’s more ideal for younger kids to want to do. 
Jonathan Ollivier |
"The tights and tutu reputation is disappearing slowly so the kids don’t get the mickey taken out of them at school so much. "Male ballet dancers are now quite big and physically very fit so it becomes something that people want to do. Ballet and bullies "I started dancing when I was about six. My upper school was fine, but in middle school I was bullied a bit, but I think it just wanted to make me dance more. I wanted to leave school rather than stop dancing, it wasn’t an option to stop dancing. It was something I enjoyed doing and I loved. "I think bullying happens to everybody and it’s a horrible thing. I’ve met a couple of kids and had a chat with them. They’d been severely bullied at school and they'd say ‘I don’t know what to do. Do I hit them?’ They get this fear of what to do and it’s horrible. "You can’t really give people advice as you not in their situation, but you can just say that things do get better, that they do get easier. When you get into a full-time dance school your with dancers all the time, that are all there because they love it. You’re not going to get bullied over doing ballet. "If you really want to be a dancer, when you do it professionally it’s one of the best jobs ever. To do something you love and be paid for it. To go on stage and to see people and to hopefully bring joy to them. That what I try and tell the kids - but I never tell them how to solve it. The way I solved mine is not necessarily the way to solve theirs. Pigging out On the issue of physical fitness, it appears there is hope for us all. According to Ollivier, dancers don't quite spend as much time eating healthy meals and living in the gym as we might think. "I do go to the gym, purely because it’s a different form of lifting. Lifting girls all day does make you stronger, but to lift dead weights at the gym builds up a different kind of strength, so I do work out. But, I do like having a drink in the evening and pigging out on whatever food I like really. "When we’re on tour I try to be a bit more sensible, but not many dancers are really that particular about it, I think you’d be surprised." [laughs] Requiem can be seen at the Norwich Theatre Royal from Tuesday 6 - Saturday 10 May, 2003. Don't miss the Requiem review. | 
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