Hardly. Just for starters the Bolshoi this 2010/2011 season is dancing works by William Forsythe, Wayne McGregor, Angelin Prelocaj, Twyla Tharp and Christopher Wheeldon. All of whom (like them or not) are higher profile than Duato.

"Higher profile"??? says who? sorry but this is question of judgement and taste...nothing against Forsythe,Preljocaj and the others they are absolutely great choreographers too! But I really can't understand such negativity towards Duato's work !!!? He is a fantastic choreographer ! ok he is a Kylian disciple...but I don't understand why a disciple of Kylian should be not considered as much as the Forsythe disciples that are all around the world and often less criticised !!!

I totally agree with this. Duato should have been given this possibility to create his own company -that should have been his private enterprise-. A Duato company that would have presented his work should not have been a government funded company. Not even Balanchine had that luxury. However, he was given a national company, classically trained, and with carte blanche to do as he liked. Which he did. He managed to get rid of most of the dancers, get rid of all the repertoire and present his work and the work close to his aesthetics. As a journalist at the time rightly pointed out: "the problem is not Duato and his childish neo-kylianism, the problem is that there is nothing but Duato." To say that his company was a "Cultural Ambassador of Spain" is more than questionable, when most of the dancers were foreigners while most Spanish dancers were populating dance companies all around the world. Moreover, Spain had had no more tradition in Kylian than it had had in Petipa. Kylian's aesthetics were as far removed from Spanish culture as Petipa's. And, lest we forget, Kylian's heritage company, the Nederlands Dans Theater, lives alongside the Dutch National Ballet and, I believe it is not fully government funded.

I really hope that Duato respects the Mikhailovsky repertoire and tradition because he has never been either very respectful, knowledgeable or interested in anybody's work, except that which he adheres to. I don't have a problem with Duato as part of a large repertoire, but I have a problem with the "nothing but Duato" motto he has lived by till now.

The point I was making was that the Bolshoi with its highly varied repertoire rather disproves your claim that:



As to the merits or otherwise of Nacho Duato's work, I have seen too little to make an assessment, but always bow to Ana's superior knowledge on all issues concerning the Spanish dance scene.

Hi AnaM. I totally agree with you and Cassandra re Duato, but the quote above was Clown's . Thanks!

Ooops... my apologies! I just clicked on the quote thingy and it came up like this!
Yes, it was Clown I was replying to!

Hi AnaM
well, Duato is spanish and I don't know any other spanish choreographer that has been revealed to be better in the last 20 years! So why shouldn't Spain support a Duato company? Preljocaj,Ek,Forsythe,Kylian,Roland Petit,Nureyev etc are still or have been totally supported by National funding! Kylian as a foreigner as been supported by Holland from day one!
The company under Nacho Duato has been performing many different choreographers over the years and yes he was the principal choreographer working for the company! This doesn't disturb me at all it's natural!
A dance company is a cultural ambassador of the country it is based in!!!! Not because of the nationality of the dancers!!!!!
Today the next start of Duato in Russia is totally another context than 20 years ago in Spain...he is not going to be able to repeat the same scenario there!

There is a new interview with Nacho Duato (in Russian): http://www.fontanka.ru/2010/11/09/143/

Among other things Duato said that he expects to "stay at the Mikhailovsky for 5-6 years as a minimum"
and that
"From March next year The Mikhailovsky will turn into the most modern ballet theatre in Russia. In a few years I want to see at Arts Square (location of the theatre) ballets by Jiri, Billy, Hans - in short, I want in prospect to see the best choreographers of the world working for the Mikhailovsky.

On the other hand Duato promised: "In February 2012, I will do a restoration of "The Sleeping Beauty" with Petipa's choreography." (!!!)

Hans is pretty good, but the other two? Don't make me laugh.

I predict a mass exodus of dancers leaving the company with the speed of rats from a sinking ship. By the way, one of the Mikhailovsky dancers confided that they had problems understanding Samodurov's new ballet in the summer and I imagine if a native Russian speaker had difficulty with these staunchly classical dancers, Nacho, Billy et al may find the job a great deal harder than they thought, but presumably payday will compensate for any problems.

The end of that article is interesting:

Сегодня я испытываю острое желание просто делать красивые вещи для танцоров, для публики. Современная хореография приучила нас к тому, что танец должен быть главным образом странным. Мне кажется, что сегодня многие забыли, о том что танец – это прежде всего красота. Я, признаться, очень жду перемен в своем хореографическом стиле – появления новых красок, новых кистей, новых инструментов. Я надеюсь на то, что Петербург меня изменит. Не думаю, что я стану ставить менее современно – но мои спектакли будут более ясными, более лиричными. Петербург уже сейчас очень на меня влияет. Мне очень нравится город и люди, которые ходят по его улицам.


(roughly) Today I hold the sharp desire to simply create beautiful things for dancers, for the public. Modern choreography has taught us that dance must be strange/different in its main impression. It seems to me that many people have forgotten today that dance is above all beauty. I very much await a shift in my choreographic style -- the influence of new colors, new wrists/arm movements, new instrucments. I hope that Petersburg will change me. I dont think that i will start setting less modern works, but my productions will be clearer and more lyrical. Petersburg is already influencing me a great deal. I love the city and people.

[quote="Clown"]A dance company is a cultural ambassador of the country it is based in!!!! Not because of the nationality of the dancers!!!!! [quote]

This is true, but poses a , well maybe not a *problem*, but a different impression, when the dancers are trained elsewhere, and exude the traditions and style of their home country/training/company ...and then move elsewhere, to another city/country/company. Are they really then representing the "new company"? I would argue that aside from officially being on the roster, no they are not. They as dancers are then experiencing the new company, and may absorb part of its influences technically speaking (freer arms, or sharper footwork maybe), but WE as viewers are still experiencing their home country style and heritage (in a different setting). For example, any of the Russian or Ukrainian dancers at ABT bring their home training..which is Vagnova-based and not American-based...with them when they join the US company. They may be at times slightly less traditionally Russian in their techniques than, say, the Russians who remain "at home". But they are visually not like the American dancers in the same company -- its very easy as a viewer to tell the difference, at least for me.

In the Los Angeles Times, Sergei Loiko profiles Nacho Duato at work in the studio of the Mikhailovsky Ballet.

LA Times

A CNN profile of Nacho Duato's first days on the job in St, Petersburg.

CNN

An interview with Mr Duato has been recently published in the Kommersant in Moscow (March, 11, 2011)

http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=1594149

Here is my translation from Russian of that interview.

For the last two months you’ve been living in St Petersburg. Is it long enough to start feeling the peculiar atmosphere of this city?
I work every day from midday till late evening, I almost do not go out. But this city is very strong. I read a lot of Russian literature so as to understand what is going on around. I think it would be good to use Tsvetaeva’s poetry and Rachmaninov’s music in ballet.
Is this going to be your next new work?
No, in June I am going to stage a small ballet to the Andrzej Panufnik’s music – to his beautiful piece for strings. I keep listening to it since last summer. I need to have lived with the piece of music before begining to choreograph to it.
Do you have a long contract with the Mikhailovsky?
My contract with the Miknailovsky is for five years. In ballet you can’t do something important in a year or two. So we agreed for a long term. But I came here not to break this theatre apart but just to push it to for changes of some kind. However everyone understands that I may leave at any time and equally Mr Kehman can any time ask me to leave. I think the decisive factor here will be the audiences’ acceptance of and reaction to my ballets.
As Creative Director, how do you divide responsibilities with Mikhail Messerer, Ballet Master in Chief?
I have not seen him for a while as our paths don’t cross that much. I think that first of all he is a very good pedagogue, wonderful teacher. His Swan Lake is not bad at all, I saw it some ten times. I’ve offered him to coach a little a boy and a girl and now they study with me. I will see to it that his Laurencia and Swan Lake are going to get brought to perfection. And as for the rep we discuss it together with Mr Kehman – to see what will take place and how.
Do you watch the company shows? Give corrections to the dancers?
Little by little I get to understand the company repertoire. So far corrections are not so many. I don’t want to be an elephant in a china shop. But I already found one couple for La Bayadere and DQ.
Is it true that CND is soon to loose the rights to your ballets?
I left the rights to my old company for one year in order for them to have something to perform while getting the new rep: it is not the dancers’ fault that I got dismissed. The year ends this July. Jose Martinez has written to me saying he would like to keep some of my ballets and I answered “no way”. And no one will be able to make me change my decision.
But what if your enemies from Spanish cultural ministry, who did not want to extend your contract, will be gone and you will be called back to your homeland?
I am happy right now – I have a company and I am permitted to do what I wish. To create beautiful pieces. And it does not matter where this is happening – here or in Africa or in Tokyo. The main thing is that I work with excellent dancers and I don’t need anything else. For me the most beautiful things on Earth are dancers and horses.
By the way what happened to you horses back in Spain?
I had to sell them, all of them.

An interview with Nacho Duato was alsop recently published in a Spanish magazine Ocio Gay. http://www.ociogay.com/OcioGay/Escena141.aspx

Here is one of the questions/answers from the interview (translated from Spanish).

- Was there no room for negotiation [with CND]?
-No, I offered to be hired as an artistic adviser, as assistant director to oversee my choreographies, but they said no. It was a personal thing because all the other directors have continued. So I have forbidden the company to dance my choreographies from July. The National Dance Company comes to Moscow and was scheduled at the Mikhailovsky, but I had them vetoed. The last thing would be for them to perform my creations in this theatre.