INNOVATION choreography by Jose Navas, Robert Binet, James Kudelka and Guillaume Cote. Presented by the National Ballet of Canada at the Four Seasons Centre (145 Queen West). Opens tomorrow (Friday, November 22) and runs to November 28, Wednesday-Saturday 7:30 pm, matinees Saturday-Sunday 2 pm. $25-$244. 416-345-9595, national.ballet.ca. See listing.
Owen Pallett is well known for his gorgeous baroque pop works and violin-playing with his group formerly known as Final Fantasy, and for his arranging and playing with indie supergroup Arcade Fire. But this week he debuts a new side: ballet composer.
Choreographer and Pallett fan Robert Binet tracked down the musician one day and asked if he’d write a piece for the National Ballet of Canada’s Innovation series of new works.
Although Pallett says he’s not much of a dance-goer (“I go to maybe four shows a year, and one of them is ballet”), he says Binet persuaded him.
“I looked at some of his previous works online and liked how he talked about his work and what he was hoping to do,” says the Montreal-based Pallett, in Toronto for a week of rehearsals.
“He had these wonderfully detailed ideas about what he wanted to convey, and it reminded me of when I was in my early 20s and things made me really happy and excited.”
The refreshingly down-to-earth Pallett says the two hammered out the concept of the 25-minute piece early on.
“He had some ideas about physical dissociation and otherworldliness, and I mentioned some Carl Sagan theories,” he says. “That began reflecting itself in the music and the costuming. I don’t know if the designer will be offended, but the costumes are very Star Trekkie – there’s a definite moonscape vibe.”
One of the few orchestral requests Pallett made was for a harpsichord drone. There’ll also be a soprano singing “something that sounds like the theme from Star Trek, but it’s not camp – it’s very serious.”
Pallett is excited about seeing how his strangely patterned rhythms are reflected in movement.
“In one sequence there’s this 15/16 groove that almost feels club-footed imagine an egg rolling down a hill with a lope to it,” he says. “It’s been amazing seeing dancers do these steps, spreading across the floor like butter on a piece of bread.”
When I ask if he’ll develop this ballet piece into an orchestral suite, the way some composers – Stravinsky, say, or Debussy – did in the past, he scrunches up his face.
“I have a belief that when you’re writing accompaniment, whether it’s for film or a lyric or a dance, it’s by nature incomplete and doesn’t function as concert music,” he says. “I was much more interested in larger dramatic arcs, knowing that moment to moment interest would be carried by the people onstage. Which isn’t to say I couldn’t see it working as a piece for listening. But I’d be nervous about suite-i-fying it.”
Speaking of film work, look for some of Pallett’s cues and orchestrations for the score of the new Spike Jonze movie, Her. And he’s getting ready for a new Arcade Fire disc to drop early in the new year.
How does he get all this done?
“You know how artists used to go through their speed periods?” he says, laughing. “Sometimes I feel like a speed freak because of the amount of coffee I drink.”
Interview Clips
Pallett on what he requested for his orchestra:
On scheduling:
On the Final Fantasy copyright issue and why he doesn’t feel comfortable performing as himself (Owen Pallett) onstage:
glenns@nowtoronto.com | @glennsumi
