An Interview with Liam Scarlett, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Everyone’s best loved tale A Midsummer Night’s Dream is taking centre stage in Melbourne. Brought to you by Queensland Ballet, Artistic Director Li Cunxin of Mao’s Last Dancer fame says audiences “will be transported by the wonderfully musical choreography, fantastical sets and gorgeous costumes, delightfully cheeky characters and of course spectacular dancing.” Choreographer Liam Scarlett is the inventive talent behind this Melbourne debut. Appointed The Royal Ballet’s first Artist in Residence in 2012, he has created works for The Royal Ballet and worked in New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet and English National Ballet.

Milk Bar Mag was lucky enough to pirouette our way through the merry dance that is Liam Scarlett’s creative genius.

Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of his most accessible works. Its undercurrent of mischief is one that appeals to children and adults alike. Tell us a bit about your interpretation of his comedic play and what inspired you.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is without a doubt one of Shakespeare’s masterpieces, especially in the comedy genre of his work, and I think the reason for it’s universal success and popularity is because of its ability to capture both children’s and adult’s imagination at the same time. Shakespeare created a whole hoard of characters in this tale of love, mistaken identities and mischief, each so unique and captivating that they themselves are wonderful enough, even without the story on top, but when you do add the interweaving plots and sub plots, they become even more enlightening. When adapting the play into a ballet, I was very keen to keep the quick-witted pace that Shakespeare sets up with his prose, and to also really shape the characters into those unique figures that we know and adore, and make the most of their qualities and maybe understand a bit of the backstory of each of them. In Midsummer we are essentially dealing with two worlds that co-exist and somehow get tangled up together (that ‘somehow’, of course, is Puck). First we have the magical and mystical realm of the fairies, and then we have the mortal world with our unrequited lovers. This gave endless opportunities to switch between what is complete fantasy and then, what is reality.

All the inspiration that I needed was in the text that Shakespeare gave us and the beautiful music that Mendelssohn composed as incidental music, inspired by the play. The words have an amazing rhythm to them, and a flow that gains momentum – especially when read out loud and performed. I think the one thing that I had to keep reminding myself when creating the work was that this is not a book, it’s a play. It was always written to be performed, to be shared with an audience and that was a huge reassurance.

A ballet relies on movement and the spirit of the dancer to exhibit the traits of a character, rather than dialogue, and convey this to the audience. Which character was your favourite to choreograph and why?
My favourite character has to be Puck, his steps choreographically are fiendish and he some of the hardest passages in the work. He’s scattered everywhere almost like an excited puppy, that’s still being trained by Oberon. He is the reason that we end up in such a mess narratively, but you can’t help but to forgive him. I also really found a fondness for Helena. I don’t often do comedy within my work and so, was a bit hesitant at first. However, once I started working into Helena’s character, the comedy and laughs started to fall into place, and I think all the dancers that have performed this role have definitely added more and more comedy to it as they go along, which I love.

I love this piece because the range of characters means there is something and someone for everyone. Whether it is Titania or Bottom or one of the Rustics, they will each gravitate towards a certain individual, and then spend the ballet empathising with them and their specific tale.

Before you turned to choreography, you were a successful dancer yourself. Tell us about your decision to retire from professional dancing and what you love about being a choreographer.
I trained at The Royal Ballet School and then joined The Royal Ballet Company after graduating. I spent eight amazing years dancing with the Company before deciding to stop dancing and take on choreography full time. It was an incredibly hard decision to stop – I think any dancer will tell you that – but I’d had a great career and had been fortunate enough to perform and witness some of the incredible repertoire that the Company in London has, and that really inspired me to create my own work.

Luckily, I get to channel that same love of dancing into my creations. I take all my passion, knowledge and experience of dance and put it straight back into what I create. Although creative works is difficult, what I always endeavour to achieve is to evoke something from the audience. Art should create a response and should provide discussion, no matter how big or small, and hopefully bring people together in a live shared experience that will never be repeated exactly the same again. That’s what I love about theatre.

What is the biggest challenge when choreographing a ballet?
For Midsummer it was the first time that I had worked with Tracy Grant Lord, and when we initially sat down and talked through what we wanted to achieve on, one thing we were both very clear on was that we wanted to create a magical world that was truly fantastical but also, in a way, believable. The set and costumes to any ballet are so integral; they set a visual element before any dancer has even done a step, and so both have to marry with the movement. Tracy watched rehearsals and adapted costumes to fit with my movement, and then in turn I used every inch of Tracy’s set design to my complete advantage – it’s like a playground. Then on top of everything, and just as important as sets and costumes, is the lighting design, and Ken created the most beautiful enigmatic landscape that you could imagine.

What’s next for you?
It’s been a very busy year for me recently, possibly the most intense yet. I created a full-length production of The Queen of Spades for Royal Danish Ballet, and then a new production of Swan Lake for The Royal Ballet, which was a complete career highlight. On top of that, I am creating new works for San Francisco Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, and of course, a new work for Queensland Ballet for the beginning of next year.

Don’t miss out on your chance to spend a night dancing with the fairies. Liam Scarlett’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream opens 3 October at Her Majesty’s Theatre.