Alexander Ekman, the self-effacing choreographer of the three works being performed by the Royal New Zealand Ballet this season, hates mediocrity. He tells Rebecca Fox about his ‘‘crazy’’ international life.
Seeing the words ''Three by Ekman'' plastered on walls, television and billboards makes Swedish choreographer Alexander Ekman uncomfortable.
''I'm not sure I like that. I'm not sure I want to be the one in the spotlight,'' he says during an interview in a Wellington cafe.
''It conflicts with who I want to be as a person.''
However, he is not afraid to put himself in the spotlight when it comes to explaining his work - in the Royal New Zealand Ballet's performance of his three works Tuplet, Episode 31 and Cacti - a short video is shown featuring Ekman exploring movement and nature.
It is the first time the three works have been staged together.
''It is such an honour to be asked to do that. These three fit together really well. You can see the development of my work in them. Cacti is the end of that circle somehow.''
The RNZB considers itself very lucky to have Ekman come to Wellington for 10 days before opening night to help stage the show, finishing what stagers Fernando Troya and Ana Maria Lucaciu started.
Often only the stagers will help a company produce his Ekman's work, with the award-winning choreographer possibly spending two days with a company prior to opening, as he did with the RNZB last year for its first season of Cacti.
He was attracted back to Wellington by the hard-working dancers of the RNZB.
''They're very positive; it is a very good working atmosphere in general actually, so it's great ... it's not a given it is always like that in dance companies.
''It's why I come back. These days I only want to work in places where I have a good time and people are nice, where I have a nice click with the company.''
Ekman admits he is addicted to the moment when he feels the audience responding to his work.
''We have the possibility to create anything in this room.
''I've learned it is kind of an important job in a way, we really have that power to change how people feel: we can inspire, give them hope, lift them up, make them question things, feel things.''
Ekman began his career as a dancer with the Royal Swedish Ballet and then the Netherlands Dance Theatre Company and Goteborg Ballet, but it took four years for him to discover his skills lay in choreography.
''I tried one time with this little piece on stage in a workshop and it happened to work out really well.''
It was while putting on a piece at the Royal Swedish Opera that he recalled a childhood memory of building a little theatre to put on a ''theatre production''.
''I realised I am really doing exactly the same thing. It really made me question if you are born to these roles we are supposed to have.''
He questioned why he kept ''doing this'' and creating so much.
''Why do I have this kind of force and will? It's really tiring at times, and scary too, to create. To have creativity as a job is quite daunting.
''You have these premiere dates, invitations for these large procedures and opera houses. Now my name has become this thing.
''It's living with a lot of worrying, but that comes with the package.
As does the travel. In three weeks he has travelled from Chicago to Paris for a meeting, back to Stockholm and then to New Zealand.
After 10 days in New Zealand he is off to Oslo.
''I get on the aeroplane like its the subway, you know. I live a crazy international life. It's a dream. I've started meditating a lot lately then I can enjoy it more somehow.''
It is the jet lag that hits him the hardest. ''It just throws you off totally.''
Ekman muses that he needs a break, to find a job with no ''mystery'' and less responsibility.
''But I don't know. I love it. I'll probably keep doing it.
''It's a mystery I do not know why. I'm kind of addicted to it.''
Having his works produced in so many countries does mean subtle changes as different people perform the work.
''It always transforms into a new piece a little bit. And I think you have to do that, and that's really annoying sometimes as it can be lost in translation sometimes.
''It's not only dance steps, it's very theatrical, based on timing and all of these things and if it can be done in the wrong way. If the dancers try to be funny, for example, then the point doesn't come across.
''It'll look stupid. I worry.''
Ekman hates mediocrity, especially ''lazy humans'': dancers, technicians, choreographers.
''We don't want to go to the theatre to see something half-baked. With a production like this it's my job to make sure dancers really push themselves to the limit to be the best they can be.''
There are so many things that impact on what an audience sees and feels - from a cough to a phone ringing.
''That is the magic of theatre. During my 12 years in the theatre I've only felt the total magic a handful of times. It's extremely rare.
''So many things have to work together - the space, the audience relating to the work and when the work fits with the culture, the sound system has to be good, the audience needs to feel comfortable in their seats.''
He said the hard thing about touring was having to give up control.
''I hate my job for that sometimes. I would like to see it fresh.''
His works mostly involve groups, which can be both a negative or positive for a dancer.
''It's either an amazing feeling for a dancer or a really annoying one if you want a solo.''
He encourages dancers to enjoy collaborating with their fellow dancers.
''It redirects focus which is the beauty of collaboration.''
Ekman believes his works are easy for people to relate to.
In Sweden, his works had attracted young and old and he found it refreshing to see both laughing at his work.
''That is my goal: to try and do what I want to see when I go to the theatre. When I go to the theatre I want to be totally captivated and I want to forget about my own life for a second.''
He admits that goal is not so easy when people are so ''spoilt'' for options.
''People have almost forgotten the beauty of theatre. There is a lot of crap out there, honestly.
''But when you experience that moment in theatre it is beyond any experience you'll get on a screen.''
Such as his first full-length ballet A Swan Lake - a take on the first forgotten Swan Lake ballet in 1877 - where dancers performed on a lake of water on the stage of the Oslo Opera House.
''It was a very special creation. We walked round in robes for three months. It was very hard, scary. People worried what if the pool breaks it could destroy the theatre.
''That piece gave people a lot of happiness and joy.''
His next project is at the Paris Opera House where he will premier Play, which is all about the lost art of playing.
''Why are we so serious? The moral of the story will be we need balance of two to find harmony.''
