A Conversation with Charles Askegard about On Parade, his new ballet for BAE.

What was your inspiration for this new ballet?

Working with the students from Ballet Academy East is always inspiring.  The students are very talented, and their work ethic is great.  This year working with the students from Level 6 is no different.  They always bring their very best to the rehearsals, and I’m sure they will do so as well in the performances, and that is so inspiring to me.  I also take a lot of inspiration from the music.  The combination of music and dancers gives me the greatest source of artistic inspiration. 

What led you to the music you selected?

I am using three selections from Shostakovich’s Jazz Suite Album.  Funnily enough, it isn’t jazz as we would call it.  I am using a March, a Waltz, and the Finale sections.  I have been listening to these selections of Shostakovich for some time now.  I thought they would be a wonderful ballet, and this was the right time to do this particular piece.  Watching the students’ reaction to the music has been fantastic, it makes them want to get up and dance.  I really love these pieces of music, and I hope the audience does as well.  

What do you hope the students take away from their experience working with you and dancing your choreography?
I would love for the students to feel that they have accomplished something great, and perhaps something they thought they couldn’t do a few months ago.  This is a big step for these students.  The ballet is ten minutes in length, it has three distinct sections that are different from each other, there technical aspects they haven’t performed on stage, there is a lot of partnering, and relating to one another on stage, and there are multiple complex patterns.  They have worked very hard on all of these things, and more, in the rehearsal process leading up to now.  It is my hope that they take this experience and use it as a building block in their development as a dancer and a person.  It takes a lot of confidence to do what they are about to, and I hope that stays with them.  

How do you want your piece to impact your audience?

Whenever I make a ballet, I think about what the music says to me and how will I translate that feeling to the dancers on whom I’m choreographing.  This particular ballet is joyful, swirling, and technical.  It is my goal to present the students’ technical abilities while showcasing their personalities and giving them a challenge to grow.  It is my hope that the audience will see all of that, and get swept up in the feeling of the ballet.