Hidden in the article read via links re@Vail Valley Festival is the following:

"The second week of the dance festival will put the Vail Valley squarely in the global spotlight as one of the foremost choreographers in the world today Christopher Wheeldon brings his new vision to Vail in two performances featuring his new company, MORPHOSES, headlined by stars of the international dance world.

"Superlatives have been exhausted in describing the abilities of Christopher Wheeldon," said Woetzel. "And the honor of being able to introduce his new venture is enormous. Vail will serve as center stage for the world's most acclaimed young choreographer."

The main performance, Aug. 10, will include several of Wheeldon's most successful works, along with previews of his newest creations. In addition, an up close and personal evening Aug. 8 at the Vilar Center will introduce a select audience to Wheeldon the artist, with a one of a kind look at and discussion of a work in progress, hosted by Woetzel."

Has Mr. Wheeldon got a company called MORPHOSES, has it appeared elsewhere?

My apologies if this posted elsewhere.

I think he choeographed a work called Morphoses in 2002. I guess there's a chance wires have been crossed in the article, or maybe he's given his new company (if he has one), that name too.

OK, after writing the above I googled 'christopher wheeldon' I came up a minimal website called morphoses.org which closely mirrors a site called christopherwheeldon.com and has a form you can fill in to 'to learn our plans'....

However, strictly steaking neither site has confirmation that they belong to the same CW we are talking about here and there's no biog, pictures or anything to indicate it is him, but I guess we can pretty safely assume these are his sites.

Thank you for this information.

Wheeldon talks to the New York Times about the new venture:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/04/arts/dan...r=1&oref=slogin

If I read the NY Times correctly, the new company is to be called "Morphoses the Wheeldon Company." This kind of pretentious, unpunctuated prolixity doesn't work when actual people are involved. In baseball,"Oriole Park at Camden Yards" soon became just "Camden Yards," and, similarly, I trust this enterprise will be known as "the Wheeldon company."

Yup - or just plain 'Morphoses.' Whatever. The NYT article has some choice quotes.



Perhaps Martins should have had him sign a noncompete agreement.

On a less flippant note, this would seem to be a better move for Wheeldon, from the artistic point of view, than the peripatetic choreographic existence he’s been leading.

Oy hes got as much of a tin ear as Eliot Feld when it comes to naming his company it doesnt make sense anyway without punctuation but he he mght at least add one more word and let the world know its a dance company.

However, it's tremendously exciting news! I admire his boldness, and wish him the best.

He did, at least partially. That was why, when ABT presented its Wheeldon (VIII), it was a reworking of a ballet originally done on Hamburg. Wheeldon premieres in New York were the sole province of NYCB. I don't know whether that was a clause in his contract (and therefore null and void at contract's expiration), or whether NYCB has released him from that obligation out of friendship.

I'm very curious about the dancers he'll hire.

I'm going to hell for this, but "Morphoses the Wheeldon Company" reminds me in grammatical construction of "Toad the Wet Sprocket". http://www.toadthewetsprocket.com/

I keep thinking, "Well, yes but how?"

I'll be joining you on a bench there. I get so itchy when people give their ensembles tricky names. I've written calendar copy for years, and my eyes roll every time I get one of those twisters.

More central to the actual thread here, I'm wondering if this is in fact a good move for him. No matter how peripatetic the life of an itinerant choreographer (which, like any freelancer, is as much about getting the assignment as it is making the work) running your own shop has tasks and responsibilities that he hasn't had to deal with, as a hired hand. It may mean a certain amount of artistic freedom, but I don't know that it guarantees any additional time in the studio.

On the plus side, smaller ensembles are much more likely to tour than large groups, which may mean that people outside the bigger dance towns will see something of his work.

(ETA) The article mentions that the group will perform work by other choreographers as well -- any speculation about what work Wheeldon might program alongside his own?

He does have Lourdez Lopez to handle the admin tasks, according to the Times article. I have to wonder if Martins is smiling to himself, knowing that in his new position, Wheeldon will have to spend some of that studio time fundraising (and understanding how much energy and time it takes), although having partners like Vail and Sadler's Wells sounds like a great way to ensure base financial security.

What I find promising among the 30- and 40-somethings that are starting small troupes or taking over companies as they ease out of performing careers are the murmurs of cooperation among them.

Lordy. All I can think of is "Xerox the Document Company" (Or rather, it was all I could think of until Leigh brought up "Toad the Wet Sprocket" -- yes, Leigh, you will indeed burn in hell!) Maybe Martins helped him choose the name.

We can at least be thankful that the spaces were retained even as the punctuation was jettisoned -- i.e., that we haven't been presented with some variant of MorPHoseStheWheeldonCompany.

How does one say "Morphoses" anyway? Mor´phoses or Mor-pho´ses?

In any event, it sounds too much like Morpheus, which will be a gift to any critic rendered somnolent by a dull program.

I think the role is a good one for him to assume; he'll learn to think like a director, not just a choreographer.

Since I'm already in hell for Toad the Wet Wheeldon Morphoses Sprocket Company (This is the time on Shprockets when we dance!) I'm going to reserve my guest suite by wondering who wants to connect the dots and wonder what the confluence of events was between Morphoses and McGregor's appointment at the Royal?

They're awfully close together. Related, or not?

I confess that part of me was a little disheartened that Wheeldon said in the Times article that he wasn't interested in inheriting a tradition...that he wanted to start from scratch (at least institutionally). Of course, I can understand why he might want to do that--for a Wheeldon "fan" this can't be anything but great news.

But I feel that ballet and the great ballet companies need choreographers who ARE interested in inheriting traditions and working within institutional frameworks. Balanchine did otherwise--but if he had been offered the Paris Opera Ballet I don't know that he would have... Perhaps. In the Ballets Russes documentary Baronova (I think it was she) says he wanted to be the person in charge...

Forsythe (whom Wheeldon mentions) and Feld are more recent models whose work at least stands in some relation to classical ballet--I haven't seen anything of their recent work so I can't say much! But I still find it troubling that the most promising ballet choreographers seem impelled to operate on what one might call a modern dance model: a smaller company centered on the vision of one founding figure.

Leigh--are you speculating that Wheeldon might have hoped to have been offered the Royal Ballet position? I would certainly prefer that it had gone to him, as I see him as a ballet choreographer, rather than McGregor (despite the fact that I would not, in fact, describe myself as a Wheeldon fan...yet at any rate). But it's hard for me to believe Mason wouldn't have gone for Wheeldon had he been available, and if he wanted that kind of position why not stay on at NYCB especially since he intends to keep his own company in New York and use a number of NYCB dancers....It sounds to me as if he really does want to be on his own.

Moses Supposes Morphoses is Wrong?


It's great he's getting his own company together. It must help the choreographer's muse to have his own company. (I imagine he'll still be available for commissions from the larger institutional companies). I wish him all luck in keeping his time mostly free from the business side of the venture... hopefully Lourdes Lopez will manage to make that work for him. I have often heard good things about her. Just possibly Christopher Wheeldon has lucked out.

. . . supposes Morphoses erroneously!

if he gets more than just one, it can be Morphoses a Wheeldon Company like AOL a Time Warner Company and eventually The Wheeldon Group of Companies.

Traded on NASDAQ?

Boo to the article writers/NYT fact-checkers (if any) for letting "Philadelphia Ballet" slip by--especially since the Times has covered extensively Wheeldon's Swan Lake with the PENNSYLVANIA Ballet!

Ray, I think fact checking went out with epaulement

Here's the part of the article that really intrigued me:


Collaboration is part of the choreographic process for many choreographers, as I understand it. That makes sense. But collaborative casting? How workable is that?

That was the part that stood out for me, too, and I'm not sure I know what it means. But it does remind me of the close working group around Kenneth Macmillan described by Lynn Seymour in her autobiography. In the early years it included her and other dancers or designers for the Royal's touring company, I really forget the details. It is at least refreshing to expect the dancers to contribute to the content of his work, as opposed to the infantilization that often takes place.

It depends on whether the number is plural or singular which is not evident by the english spelling.

Assuming it's singular, it's μόρφωσις (MOR-fos-ses, meaning form, the act of shaping etc in newer usage it may even mean education) Assuming it's plural (more likely), it's μορφώσεις (mor-FOS-ses, meaning forms, shapes etc)

My hunch is that eventually he will find himself having to handle casting issues in a less than 'perfectly sensitive way.’ Maybe he'll send flowers or a nice gift along with the bad news?

Wow! The people involved with Ballet Talk know just about EVERYTHING, collectively at least !!!

So he's premiering at Vail with a company of superstars whose commitments must preclude them becoming fulltime company members for him... which is why assumedly they don't reflect the dancers he'll be forming the company out of... But with dancers of that calliber lining up to tempt him, will he find a muse among his own dancers? And if not, if guest superstars are frequently to be featured, seems he might as well have stayed a resident choreographer? I'm still trying to figure out the dynamics of this one.

In the meantime he is creating a one act ballet for the Bolshoi based on Hamlet with Tsiskiridze, Lunkina, Alexandrova and Klevtsov to music from Arvo Paart's 3rd Symphony which will be seen in London in the summer.

You and me both!

There was a lengthy article in the NY Times about Wheeldon's new venture.

He intends NOT to do story ballet, but new works with classical choreography drawing from talent from around the world. He intends to do a 34 week performance season and is presently focused on getting funds together to launch the company.

Martins and McKensie were mentioned saying that there is always more room for more good dance and they seemed to welcome the "competition" and Wheeldon's move to carve out a new niche for clasical ballet.

Sounds like it might be interesting and I am looking forward to seeing what he comes up with. Wheeldon says he is not trying to be a new/next Balanchine... obviously rather big shoes for anyone to fill.

Good on him at 33yrs old. The proof of the pudding will be in the tasting

There are a lot of intentions there. Now he needs the money.

Robert Weiss is quoted in today's NYT article as saying that there tends to be a lot of money and enthusiasm at the start - but things become more difficult over the long haul. I imagine that will be true even for someone commanding as much attention as Wheeldon.

Yet more on Mr. Wheeldon in yesterdays UK Guardian newspaper:
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/critic/feature/0,,1985101,00.html

Like many people in the dance world, I've been mulling this over since the official announcement last week, and I'm still grappling with what I think this might lead to. The previous comment (that Wheeldon, along with other ballet colleagues in his generation, seem to be using the traditional modern dance company as a model for their own independent ensembles) seems to have a great deal of truth and the choice will, I think, have a significant influence on his development as a dancemaker over the next several years. The kind of work that he will best be able to make inside this structure is chamber theater in size and scope -- the internal references will be between individuals and little groups -- the architecture of the space will live most clearly on a smaller scale. Part of what classical ballet has been able to do is illustrate geometry in space using large groups of people. I'm not sure that Wheeldon has been especially interested in that aspect of the art form (even his Swan Lake uses a relatively small group of swans) but he certainly won't have that as an easy choice in this new venture.

Regarding this detail, I'd have to disagree. I think that spatial geometry is Wheeldon's strength as a choreographer. He's shown a gift for it from Mercurial Maneouvres on; Evenfall is another example. Working with the geometry of the corps is the main way Wheeldon approaches classical choreography. Even the Swan Lake you mention, though it doesn't have a massive corps (it couldn't at Penna Ballet) shows a constant experimentation with formations and space - sometimes to the detriment of the story itself.

This doesn't affect the rest of your argument, of course - it's just a detail.

Thanks, leonid, for the article from the Guardian. It makes Wheeldon seem like an attractively thoughtful artist and an extraordinarily wide range of interests, ideas and plans.

The scope of his ambitions is striking. New bits and pieces seem to be revealed each day.

-- New work, "most ... on pointe."
-- Revivals, including McMillen's Las Hermanas and Van Manen chamber pieces.
-- Commissions from other contemporary choreographers.
-- Collaborations with Bjork !!!
-- A tie-in with City Center and Sadler's Wells.

If even a fraction of this actually works out, it should be impressive.

I was especially touched by this insight into the creative process as experienced by Wheeldon:

Interesting, too, is his comment that Monica Mason has been supportive at the London end. There is no parallel mention of support from anyone at Wheeldon's former NYC base.

OT...

As an architect I see ballet very much related to architecture... space, form, symmetries and experienced in time... In that sense, some of the larger productions evoke grand buildings. All the steps and so forth are almost like the classical elements of style... you see them repeated in great buildings and great classical ballet choreography.

So smaller productions might be "less" architectural... just a thought

To me opera performance lack this sort of form and space making experience of classical ballet.

I'm going to hell for this one (again) but I can't help noticing as time goes by:

At an NYCB talk Jock Soto told a story about the impetus for Polyphonia. He had been pushing Wheeldon to move away from classical vocabulary for a while.

Per the NYT Wheeldon gets the idea to have a company after having a beer with William Forsythe.

Per the Guardian he sees Wayne MacGregor in the other room and it dawns on him that he should be enjoying the process.

Obviously, these are selectively chosen examples - I doubt he's that "other-directed". Still, I've felt this in his choreography as well, which feels (with the exception of After the Rain) more and more like he is either holding back on his own thoughts, or is presenting us with what he thinks we want to hear. And this has become moreso with time, rather than less as is usually the case with artists who develop their voice with experience. What does Christopher Wheeldon actually want - or have to say?

I can see your point. Unfortunately an awful lot of opera singers, particularly chorus members, don't move very well so forming changing patterns of figures tend to be less than crisply formed. (forget about complex movement)


On the other hand, opera singers... sing.....so there is that whole element added to the mix

This would make a great general discussion (and feel free to start it, or I'll do so if we continue the topic) Bessie Schonberg, who taught at Dance Theater Workshop, said that "choreography begins at the trio" for similar reasons. Geometrically a solo might be compared to a point, a duet to a line, and a trio starts making designs on the stage. She was simplifying something that has exceptions, but it's a good point.

My post was mostly a reference to large ballet format as opposed to smaller ones and how it reminds me of architecture.

Though I love opera.. it is never architectural and formal (for me), though some stagings (at the Met) have literal architecture in them.

I suppose that is one of the interesting aspects of classical ballet to me, a complete novice, uneducated lout that I am... it's use of formalism (what I call it) to carve out form, space and so forth in time on a stage. Ballet resembles moving architecture or living sculpture... opera does not.

So for me new choreography, is like experiencing new (classical) buildings and the element of scale applies. So I look forward to creative people using classical language to create the experiences which are so precious and fleeting in a ballet performance...

This is another precious aspect of the ballet... and all performances... they pass by like a river... the same but always unique. Rant over

Bessie was, as you well know, an extremely smart woman about dancemaking.

You've certainly seen more of his work than I have, but this actually clarifies for me what I think I was trying to say -- is he, in this new situation, going to have the resources to work with the geometry, or is it going to be even smaller groups? Thanks again for helping iron out my wonky thought processes.

(I know that Pennsylvania Ballet doesn't have a huge roster, and although there were things about Wheeldon's Swan Lake there that made my forehead wrinkle, his use of the ensemble wasn't one of them.)

Interesting point, and I agree. Bringing in other choreographers, something I don't like about Cranko's Onegin is that it's a series of pas de deux with the corps for decor rather than meaning. Contrast that with Balanchine's A Midsummer Night's Dream which uses the corps dances in Act II to reinforce its point. Wheeldon knows how to use and especially move a corps de ballet; but what does the corps de ballet mean to him - are we on the same wavelength here?

Re Wheeldon and the corps: I gather I was one of the few people whose response to Evenfall was entirely positive. Yeah, there was kind of a hole a the center where the male principal should have been, but I found the corps so engaging and affecting that I just didn’t care. It even occurred to me that the hole in the center might have been the point. In any event, I left the theatre wishing that Wheeldon would take a crack at something along the lines of Le Tombeau de Couperin, which is one of my very favorite ballets. (Martins’ crack at it in Friandises – make that two cracks – didn’t really work for me, which was a shame because the dancers in the cast I saw were clearly giving it their all.) Lately, I’ve found that Wheeldon’s work for groups of dancers is more expressive and emotionally immediate than his work for soloists or couples – After the Rain and Quaternary being the exceptions. Let me hasten to add that I don’t think emotional immediateness is a necessarily a requirement of a good ballet. It just struck me that Wheeldon’s choreography for couples placed in the context of a corps is somehow more “effaced” than the choreography for the corps itself or for couples dancing alone. An American in Paris is another example – I can barely remember the central couple (which is a genuine issue in that case, I think).

I loved the look of Evenfall, by the way – it reminded me of one of those fabulous deco ocean liners or grand hotels that feature in early Fred Astaire movies.

Anyway, I'm interested to see what Wheeldon gets up to in his new venture. I just wish it were in a venue other than City Center. I don't think I've ever had a clear view of the stage there, even in the allegedly good seats. I long for a NYC dance and opera venue akin to the Juilliard Theater, and I promise to build one if I win Lotto.

I think we are, and it's an interesting question you've asked. I've had several conversations recently, about different groups and dances, that have all boiled down to the same element -- what does a group do in a dance? What is the significance of an ensemble, what can they tell us and how do they 'read' (how do we know what they're saying?)? This may not be the venue for this conversation, but I've been mulling it over lately, and the news of Wheeldon's new project just got sucked right in.

Some people think that the big leap of faith for ballet makers is the convention of the classical vocabulary and the artificial nature of the pointe shoe, but I think that there's an argument to be made for the uses of the ensemble. There are certainly examples of large group dances in every genre, but I think there is something particular about a corps de ballet that makes it very specific, and is central to our understanding of classicism and its manifestation in ballet.

Or, to make this very short, what is it about the Kingdom of the Shades that makes me weep before Nikiya takes a step?

I don't read much into this--the article is in a British paper while according to the NY Times on January 4th "[Wheeldon] said Mr. Martins gave his blessing" while the Times doesn't quote him discussing Monica Mason's support.

Sandik,

By “ensemble” do you mean a group of anonymous dancers (what I think of as a ballet corps proper) or groups of dancers generally, including an ensemble made up of dancers who may have been presented to us as soloists or couples elsewhere in the ballet or an ensemble that is somehow clearly a community of individuals? Thinking outside of ballet for a moment, Mark Morris has done all three. I agree that an individual or a couple set against an anonymous corps definitely “reads” like a ballet, even in another genre (Morris’ Dido and Aeneas being a case in point) but I can’t put my finger just yet on why that is. Something to do with hierarchy, perhaps?

It is indeed a very interesting question!

If the names so far mentioned as potentially joining Morphoses are true, it will be a chamber company of high profile dancers. When they are together they might be called an ensemble, but each it would seem will have other companies to go back to.

Given that the dancers mentioned come from a classical and neo-classical background, it would seem that they wish to develop other aspects of dance which their current casting does not enable them to explore as widely as they would wish. Why else would they take leave from their safe haven? Are we moving into an era of dancer power as opposed to company power?

What it will do, is to allow the dancers so called 'parent' company to give opportunities to develop young dancers in the major roles whilst their senior colleagues are absent.

I see potential conflicts in commitment, as major companies will want to take their 'stars' on foreign tours and so the relationship between dancers, Christopher Wheeldon and major companies would have to be finely tuned to avoid conflict. I am sure this has been taken this into consideration and I doubt that 'press releases' of such a full nature would not have been given out, if discussions/negotiations between interested parties had not taken place.

Many of the RB senior dancers will already have commitments to ‘guest star’ in the next few years. Surely contracts will change and perhaps dancer’s status as full company members of the RB and NYCB will also? Financial rewards will also undoubtedly change.

Personally I am concerned about the impact these will have on the classical ballet repertoire of the Royal Ballet if they are not always given with casts of a quality that audiences paying high prices are entitled to expect.

I had hoped that Christopher Wheeldon would have developed into a major classical/neo-classical choreographer and perhaps this may still happen as he does after all have an appetite for hard work.

It's very exciting for any dancer to have a talented choreographer create choreography on them. That doesn't necessarily mean the stars are wishing for different movement vocabulary, like say something from the modern dance world. Is that what you meant?

I wonder how often a year the typical principal gets brand new choreography to perform.