Jessica Lang's Twinkle - A Star-Studded New Ballet
The prolific American choreographer Jessica Lang talks to Culture Whisper about her first commission for The Royal Ballet, Twinkle, a work that’s star-studded in more ways than one
Jessica Lang in rehearsal for Twinkle with William Bracewell and Fumi Kaneko. Photo: Andrej Uspenski
We haven’t seen much of Jessica Lang’s widely admired work on this side of the Atlantic, but what we’ve seen, we’ve liked – a lot. Her 2012 Lyric Pieces for Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) won a Manchester Evening News Award; and with each new outing it’s been garnering glowing reviews, with one critic saying it ‘exuded a refreshing feel’ and another pronouncing it ‘just plain gorgeous’, with ‘a cinematic eye for stage balance and harmony.’
This extract from Lyric Pieces, the Phantom pas de deux, speaks for itself.
Now, though, Jessica Lang is on the verge of another landmark: her first commission for The Royal Ballet will have its world premiere this month (15 February) as part of the Royal Opera House Festival of New Choreography.
She is, naturally, thrilled.‘It’s definitely a career highlight’, she told Culture Whisper during a brief pause between rehearsals and checking in with the costume designer.
‘It’s been a dream of mine to be here working with this company. I feel so much respect for the organisation, the dancers and [Royal Ballet director] Kevin O’Hare’s commitment to creating new work, and also keeping ballet classics alive and appreciated, while creating new classics for the future.’
Her new piece, which will be shown alongside three other new works, is entitled Twinkle and was created to a very specific brief from O’Hare.
‘He said, can you, please, do the last piece in the programme and can you have it be uplifting’.
Lang loved the brief and set to work on what was to become Twinkle – and if that immediately evokes "twinkle twinkle little star" in your mind, you’re spot on. That was indeed the charming children’s lullaby that inspired the work.
‘I couldn’t get this idea of "twinkle twinkle" out of my head. I literally saw [RB principal] William Bracewell, the piano, the star… but I wondered if that was big enough… I thought, I’m going to have to add something to it. So, the lullaby, the childhood memories of this delicate tune, if we stay in that world of childhood and nighttime and lullabies and the stars, going to sleep, well, then let’s go to Brahms' Cradle Song
‘So, it starts with the lullaby, Cradle Song, into Twinkle Twinkle, into the twelve variations [of Ah vous dirai-je, Maman] by Mozart.
‘The poem, The Star, was written by Jane Taylor in 1806 in England, so I felt that was a nice tie to history; and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is kind of a universal song, that everybody sings.’
The ten dancers of her hand-picked cast are led by William Bracewell and fellow principal Fumi Kaneko, a glorious partnership we can't get enough of.
‘William I first met in my first creation for BRB; he was a first artist, so I feel like I’ve watched him take this star-like trajectory. I saw his potential, and now here we are; so, of course, why wouldn’t I ask for somebody I knew? We’ve arrived together at this moment in our careers when we say, what else can we make together?’
Naturally, then, Twinkle starts with William Bracewell alone out in the night sky; but gradually, the other dancers take up the space.
‘Each one is a star,’ Lang stresses.‘It’s like a platform to shine, to have this moment. Fumi and William are the principal couple in the cast, but it’s like a cast of soloists – they’re all equally balanced and represented in the space, shining for each section, and we just go through that dynamic.'
Lang’s work is essentially collaborative, both in terms of movement and the overall look of her pieces. She comes into the studio with a clear idea and a choice of music, but the movement evolves in collaboration with her dancers.
Jessica Lang and artists of The Royal Ballet in rehearsal for Twinkle. Photo: Andrej Uspenski
‘The reason why I wait for the movement to happen in the studio with the dancers who are going to perform it is, they’re the finest tools that you can have. So, if I get commissioned to do a painting, but I can’t bring my own tools, I wait to see how delicate are they, now rich is the colour that I’m going to work with. I come prepared to also be spontaneous. They have a voice, too. I have control of the room, but my heart opens out to them because they have such experience.’
Lang is also minutely involved in the overall look and design of her pieces; in fact, she brings along her own team, although this time around she is happy to work with lighting designer chosen by the ROH, Zeynep Kepekli , who’ll work across all four pieces in the programme.
“It’s not that I micro-manage, but I’m also the director. I’m not a choreographer that only contributes the steps and then sits back and says, you’re the lighting designer, wrap my package, clothe my child!
‘My costume designer is Gillian Lewis; she and I have worked together on various commissions and new works over the last five years from American Ballet Theatre to Washington Ballet to Sarasota Ballet and now The Royal Ballet.’
Jessica Lang has just added another string to her bow: after choreographing for big and small companies and opera, as well as directing her own company, she has become Artist in Residence at Sarasota Ballet. It’s been a career packed with challenges and variety; and that’s exactly what she likes about it.
‘I love the variety! I think that’s why I didn’t want to be a dancer. I was a professional dancer with Twyla Tharp and we were on tour, and it was the repetition of doing the same thing that I became bored with really fast. And so, the variety is important to me, and I think it’s challenging: you go from a big company to a small company to an opera company, it’s all the same skill sets but it’s different people so it’s adjusting and adapting and pushing the boundaries, but also conforming to what the organisation needs.’
We’’ll soon be able to judge for ourselves how Twinkle conforms to The Royal Ballet’s needs. If I had to guess I would say emphatically it will, while exuding that 'refreshing feel' that so enchanted the audiences of Lyric Pieces.
Twinkle will be on stage at the ROH as part of New Works 15-21 Feburary 2024.
This extract from Lyric Pieces, the Phantom pas de deux, speaks for itself.
Now, though, Jessica Lang is on the verge of another landmark: her first commission for The Royal Ballet will have its world premiere this month (15 February) as part of the Royal Opera House Festival of New Choreography.
She is, naturally, thrilled.‘It’s definitely a career highlight’, she told Culture Whisper during a brief pause between rehearsals and checking in with the costume designer.
‘It’s been a dream of mine to be here working with this company. I feel so much respect for the organisation, the dancers and [Royal Ballet director] Kevin O’Hare’s commitment to creating new work, and also keeping ballet classics alive and appreciated, while creating new classics for the future.’
Her new piece, which will be shown alongside three other new works, is entitled Twinkle and was created to a very specific brief from O’Hare.
‘He said, can you, please, do the last piece in the programme and can you have it be uplifting’.
Lang loved the brief and set to work on what was to become Twinkle – and if that immediately evokes "twinkle twinkle little star" in your mind, you’re spot on. That was indeed the charming children’s lullaby that inspired the work.
‘I couldn’t get this idea of "twinkle twinkle" out of my head. I literally saw [RB principal] William Bracewell, the piano, the star… but I wondered if that was big enough… I thought, I’m going to have to add something to it. So, the lullaby, the childhood memories of this delicate tune, if we stay in that world of childhood and nighttime and lullabies and the stars, going to sleep, well, then let’s go to Brahms' Cradle Song
‘So, it starts with the lullaby, Cradle Song, into Twinkle Twinkle, into the twelve variations [of Ah vous dirai-je, Maman] by Mozart.
‘The poem, The Star, was written by Jane Taylor in 1806 in England, so I felt that was a nice tie to history; and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is kind of a universal song, that everybody sings.’
The ten dancers of her hand-picked cast are led by William Bracewell and fellow principal Fumi Kaneko, a glorious partnership we can't get enough of.
‘William I first met in my first creation for BRB; he was a first artist, so I feel like I’ve watched him take this star-like trajectory. I saw his potential, and now here we are; so, of course, why wouldn’t I ask for somebody I knew? We’ve arrived together at this moment in our careers when we say, what else can we make together?’
Naturally, then, Twinkle starts with William Bracewell alone out in the night sky; but gradually, the other dancers take up the space.
‘Each one is a star,’ Lang stresses.‘It’s like a platform to shine, to have this moment. Fumi and William are the principal couple in the cast, but it’s like a cast of soloists – they’re all equally balanced and represented in the space, shining for each section, and we just go through that dynamic.'
Lang’s work is essentially collaborative, both in terms of movement and the overall look of her pieces. She comes into the studio with a clear idea and a choice of music, but the movement evolves in collaboration with her dancers.
Jessica Lang and artists of The Royal Ballet in rehearsal for Twinkle. Photo: Andrej Uspenski
‘The reason why I wait for the movement to happen in the studio with the dancers who are going to perform it is, they’re the finest tools that you can have. So, if I get commissioned to do a painting, but I can’t bring my own tools, I wait to see how delicate are they, now rich is the colour that I’m going to work with. I come prepared to also be spontaneous. They have a voice, too. I have control of the room, but my heart opens out to them because they have such experience.’
Lang is also minutely involved in the overall look and design of her pieces; in fact, she brings along her own team, although this time around she is happy to work with lighting designer chosen by the ROH, Zeynep Kepekli , who’ll work across all four pieces in the programme.
“It’s not that I micro-manage, but I’m also the director. I’m not a choreographer that only contributes the steps and then sits back and says, you’re the lighting designer, wrap my package, clothe my child!
‘My costume designer is Gillian Lewis; she and I have worked together on various commissions and new works over the last five years from American Ballet Theatre to Washington Ballet to Sarasota Ballet and now The Royal Ballet.’
Jessica Lang has just added another string to her bow: after choreographing for big and small companies and opera, as well as directing her own company, she has become Artist in Residence at Sarasota Ballet. It’s been a career packed with challenges and variety; and that’s exactly what she likes about it.
‘I love the variety! I think that’s why I didn’t want to be a dancer. I was a professional dancer with Twyla Tharp and we were on tour, and it was the repetition of doing the same thing that I became bored with really fast. And so, the variety is important to me, and I think it’s challenging: you go from a big company to a small company to an opera company, it’s all the same skill sets but it’s different people so it’s adjusting and adapting and pushing the boundaries, but also conforming to what the organisation needs.’
We’’ll soon be able to judge for ourselves how Twinkle conforms to The Royal Ballet’s needs. If I had to guess I would say emphatically it will, while exuding that 'refreshing feel' that so enchanted the audiences of Lyric Pieces.
Twinkle will be on stage at the ROH as part of New Works 15-21 Feburary 2024.
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