Eva Dewaele - Photogr.: Johan Persson
Choreographer Christian Spuck is fascinated by the German sense of beauty. He is not satisfied with simply making ballet: a ballet should also express the absurdities that shape the lives of humans. A story such as Ulysses' return home precisely enables us to convey this sort of experience. Ten years the Greek waged war on Troy. Ten years Ulysses had to wander before he could embrace his wife one more.
However, Christian Spuck prefers to tell the story of Ulysses' return from a different perspective. For twenty years Penelope has been waiting for her husband. All those years the suitors have been courting her. Ulysses may be king of Ithaca—the suitors are cynical and power-mad, and actually don't care about Penelope's well-being. To keep the suitors at bay, she has evolved a series of rituals; e.g. she knits a pullover, which every night she unknits again. When after twenty years Ulysses returns home, Penelope does not recognize him. Only when his identity has been established and some of the importunate suitors have been killed, Penelope recognizes her husband. Penelope seems a character from Becket's "Waiting for Godot". Spuck is not interested in telling Ulysses' story straightforward in his ballet. What he really wants is to express the absurdity of things: the absurdity of the suitors' struggle for power, the absurdity of the gods who do not heed the laments of humans, the absurdity of Penelope endlessly waiting and the sardonic irony of her failing to recognize Ulysses. Spuck enjoys the idea of a ballet performance that refers to Becket. In his notes for the production, he writes that "The Return of Ulysses" is neither tragic, nor philologically sound. It is a ballet that expresses the modern sense of life and presents it with great humour.
Christian Spuck, who since 2001 works for Stuttgart Ballett, has been fascinated by "The Return of Ulysses" for some time. He recently produced a 25 minute-film in which the great legend of ballet Marcia Haydée plays the part of Penelope. The fact that Spuck produced a dance film is actually a consequence of one of the choreographer's other fascinations. Spuck likes to turn his ballets into multimedia performances.
And this is a unique chance for the choreographer, as the score is performed live by the Royal Flemish Philharmonic. Already the previous season, the Royal Flemish Philharmonic played with the Royal Ballet of Flanders in "Sleeping Beauty". “But working with Christian Spuck is entirely different. In this instance we are actually involved in the creation of The Return of Ulysses,” Geert Riem, artistic director of the Royal Flemish Philharmonic, explains. The choreographer and the Royal Flemish Philharmonic have exchanged quite a few emails in the meantime. “We enjoy cooperating on productions that provide real challenges for our musicians. That was what motivated us in first instance to work with our neighbour, the Royal Ballet. Kathryn Bennetts has worked frequently with orchestras, so she really appreciates the input of the orchestra. Choreographers, on the other hand, sometimes have wild fantasies that are not always practicable. Christian e.g. would have liked us to perform music by Nono and Xenakis, but because of the character of this music, that is impossible. The discussion continues. We'll sort it out together,” says Geert Riem.
Both the Royal Flemish Philharmonic and the Royal Ballet of Flanders have become more demanding with regard to the venue where they perform. “And quite rightly so. Why should one play or dance in a space that is unsuitable and which therefore devalues your art? Fortunately now in Flanders we have concert halls with a pit that meet the needs of both the orchestra and the ballet. As far as I'm concerned, this is going to be an important production. I expect we'll have twelve first violins in it,” reflects Riem.
The German soprano Susanne Duwe, well known by the audience since her role of Christine in the Flemish version of The Phantom of the Opera, will sing Purcell’s arias.
Premiere: 24 November 2006 in the Stadsschouwburg, Antwerp