Artist Spotlight
 | | | Yuri Possokhov in Hirayama's Revelation |
6/10/2006
Since joining the Company in 1994, Yuri Possokhov has remained one of San Francisco Ballet’s most celebrated dancers. Born in Ukraine and trained at the Moscow Ballet School, Possokhov danced with both the Royal Danish Ballet and Bolshoi Ballet before joining San Francisco Ballet as principal dancer in 1994. In July, he will finish his career on a high note, performing with the Company at New York’s Lincoln Center.
Since 1997, Possokhov has increasingly turned his attention to choreographing. In May he was named Choreographer in residence, a position he will assume following the Company’s New York engagement. His first assignment is a commission by Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson to create a new production of Firebird. In the following interview, he talks about what is dominating his thoughts of late — creating ballets.
Why did you start choreographing?
I started thinking about creating when I was dancing in Copenhagen [at the Royal Danish Ballet]. While some people find their own sense of expression from dancing, it wasn’t until I started choreographing at San Francisco Ballet that I imagined going beyond being a dancer.
Choreographing wasn’t something I wanted to do. It is a way of expressing myself—my own source of creativity. For me, it’s not just about dancing or technique. Choreographing reveals my perspectives—different worlds in my mind.
The Bolshoi Ballet commissioned you to choreograph a new production of Cinderella (premiered in Moscow, February 2, 2006). What did that process entail?
I didn’t always believe commissioned work was a good idea for a choreographer. I didn’t think it was artistic enough. I worried that if it wasn’t my idea I would have to do things that were not necessarily true to myself.
After I completed my second commissioned work, La Valse, for Oregon Ballet Theatre, I realized what a great honor it is to be asked to do this kind of work. The process is about choreographing works I never would have had the opportunity to think about. But it’s definitely a challenge. I have to listen to the music; I have to fall in love with it; and I have to fall in love with the idea of the ballet.
As a choreographer, what was it like to approach Cinderella? Is it difficult to bring fresh ideas to a ballet so embedded in the audience’s imagination?
I wanted to create something the audience had never seen before, but at the same time, I knew it would be difficult to do that solely on my own. So I hired a drama director from the theatre to work alongside me. Without him, the ballet probably would have been much more ordinary. It’s not that I think my production is extraordinary but it isn’t like any other production I’ve seen.
Also, a huge help was Scenic Designer Hans Dieter Schaal, whose work I’d been following over the last couple of years at San Francisco Opera [set designs for The barber of Seville, 2003; Saint François Assise, 2002). As a designer, he really helped me to take the production to a new production level. Hans is a minimalist and I’m a romantic, so we really played well off one another.
As a choreographer, how do you bring all the production values together (music, choreography, staging, costumes, set design)?
That’s where collaboration comes into play. I only had two and a half weeks to choreograph Cinderella. Each act is 40 minutes of dance. Can you imagine the pressure? Collaborating on this project brought me
a renewed sense of energy and creativity. In the future I hope to approach all of my work collaboratively. I think it’s fitting for the twenty-first century. It’s an incredible way of creating a new theatrical experience for ballet.
What kind of creative state do you need to be in to choreograph?
Sometimes I have to be in an extreme situation to create. I don’t have to be in a perfect, spatial atmosphere. For me, having little time helps. In short, deadlines are good!
In an atmosphere where you’re surrounded by creativity, with whom have you enjoyed working?
I’ve admired almost every choreographer with whom I’ve worked. I don’t have to be that close to what they’re doing, but it’s the creative process I admire—a process I’m still very much learning about. I still don’t think of myself as an established choreographer but I prefer it that way. If I had my way, I’d be a student for the rest of my life.
How has SF Ballet changed in the 12 years you’ve danced with the Company?
When I arrived in 1994, the Company was working on finding its identity, in a sense attempting to establish its reputation as one of the great ballet companies in the world.
Twelve years later we’re no longer trying to convince people of our place in the dance world. That’s been accomplished. It’s now a very mature company. [Artistic Director] Helgi [Tomasson] did that step by step.
We just came off an incredible season and it’s definitely a time to be proud of our accomplishments, but you can’t preoccupy yourself with success for too long. Helgi isn’t that kind of person. He has always enjoyed what he does. The process of creating and making and doing—that’s what he cares about. That’s good for the Company. It’s his emphasis on creating new works that keeps things fresh.